MY VISIT TO AGALEGA

By K. Sookee, forestry_mauritius

Agalega is located in the Indian ocean about 1200 kms North of Mauritius.   It forms part of the Republic of Mauritius and consists of two islands, North Island and the South Island. There are two villages in the North Island known as Village 25 and La Fourche, and only one village in the South Island known as Ste. Rita. The population of Agalega is around 350 individuals.

Welcome to Agalega

A stretch of sand separates both North and South islands. During high tide and adverse climatic conditions, the inhabitants cannot cross from North to South and vice versa. The island is densely covered with Coconut and Filao trees together with thick vegetation of Veloutier Vert.  Moreover, there are some scattered fruit trees such as bread fruit and some endemic trees such as Tatamaka. Huge Ste. Marie trees could also be seen here and there.

Thick clump of Veloutier Vert

Both islands are managed by the Outer Islands Development Corporation (OIDC).  As there is no harbour and a proper runway, Agalega is not accessible to tourists and visitors. The road networks comprises of sandy tracks. Only small aircrafts such as Dornier can land on the North island as there exists a landing strip made of compressed coal and sand. Cargo vessels anchor in the deep sea some 500 metres away from the only jetty.

Communication facilities do exist on both islands. However, internet service is slow. India has proposed to develop the island by the creation of a proper runway for bigger aircrafts and the construction of a bridge to ease access of the inhabitants to both islands.

Government Primary School at South Agalega

There are one government primary school and one State secondary school on North island whereas only one primary school is located on South island.  Some of the students cannot attend school during high tide and rough seas because the stretch of sand between the two island is not accessible. Sometimes they have to stay at home for an undetermined period of time until situation improve.

The level of education is somewhat low. Only a few students are successful at School Certificate. Consequently, limited number of students pursue tertiary education, and they must come to Mauritius to do so. Most of the Agaleans work in the public sector as Scavengers and handy man. Their main duties are to pluck coconut for the manufacture of coconut oil and maintain cleanliness of the village.

In order to improve communication facilities and the standard of living of the inhabitants, the EMTEL Co Ltd is planning to install two towers at two different locations on each island and some 12 kms of cables.  The company has recently sent a team there for that purpose. It comprised Engineers, Technicians and Manual Workers, amongst others.  It has also sought the assistance of the Forestry Service.  In this context two Forest Officers were delegated, namely Mr. A. Surroop and myself, for assessment and advice in order to prevent massive destruction of trees in relation with the EMTEL project.

                                               

We advised them to place these cables along the existing sandy tracts to limit cutting of a large number of trees.   Only a few dry Filao trees have then been cut on our intervention.  However, I observed that a large number of Filao trees are being affected by a disease with high casualties. These dead Filao trees stand along the sandy road networks and are a constant source of danger to road users and vehicular traffic. No concrete measures have been taken to eliminate the hazard by the Outer Island Development Corporation. Some hygienic operations need to be done to get rid of the moribund trees and check the disease. 

Unfortunately, there is very little forest management on the island. The forests of Agalega should be properly managed (Sustainable Forest Management) by a competent organization with qualified and trained personnel.  Moreover,  I am of opinion that Agroforestry could play an important role in food security for the local population.