Entangling (non)human isolation and connectivity: island nature conservation on Ile aux Aigrettes, Mauritius

Abstract

This article discusses the Mauritian offshore islet and nature reserve Ile aux Aigrettes as an example of how the tension between isolation and connectivity of small islands plays out in the context of nature conservation. Combining approaches from island studies, anthropology, and geography, and based on ethnographic fieldwork and interviews, the article enquires into how ‘pristine’ nature on Ile aux Aigrettes is produced. It shows how the selective mobility of humans, animals, and plants is part and parcel in producing a seemingly isolated island, e.g. in the case of visiting scientists, species translocation, and invasive species. This shows how the production of the isolated ‘pristine’ island is dependent on global connections and flows. Isolation and connectivity of islands, I argue here, depend on each other, and are significantly co-constituted by nonhuman mobilities. Nature conservation on Ile aux Aigrettes will be looked at as a reference towards an ideal past or a utopian future, protected as signifiers for a world in socio-ecological balance.

Keywords

• boundaries
• ecological destruction
• island laboratories
• mauritius
• nature conservation
• nonhuman mobility
• small islands