What of send everything to fry asparagus and go live on an island It is something that, more or less, has occurred to everyone. Now, whether you do it is another thing. If we talk about buying an island, the circle is already closed to a few and although the story we are going to tell is not from today and does not have current prices, the reality is that the 8,000 pounds that Brendon Grimshaw paid for the small island of Moyenne in 1962 (approximately 200,000 pounds today, about 230,000 euros) they gave him to buy almost three houses in his native Britain. He would have had real estate to speculate on, but the world would not have the Moyenne National Park.
But let’s start at the beginning. Brendon Grimshaw was a British journalist who, after starting his career in popular newspapers such as the Batley News and the Sheffield Star in his native country, moved to Africa, where worked in important media such as the East African Standard magazine or the Tanganyika Standard. At the age of 37, he made a drastic decision: he was on vacation in the Seychelles when he made the decision to acquire an island of just nine hectares.
Why buy an island? There are those who say that more than a vacation, he was looking for a purpose in life: to demonstrate his peace and love for nature. The BBC mentions “protect Moyenne from excessive urban development” as its initial objective, but it must be said that Until 1973 he continued working as a journalist and visiting the island on vacation. From that date on, he said goodbye to his profession and moved there to create a natural paradise that would last over time.
The Sheychelles were beginning to emerge as a tourist destination and although it was abandoned, it would be a matter of time before someone arrived and set up a resort. And he changed Moyenne from top to bottom. The island had not been inhabited for half a century, except for a family of fishermen, and was in a scruffy state as a result of negligence and excessive human intervention: impenetrable thickets where invasive species reigned, as he himself says in the documentary. A Grain of Sand (which before it was a book). Note: globally the concept of environmentalism and care for the environment was being forged and was beginning to take off (the first “Earth Day” dates back to 1970).
He was not alone in this mission: he worked hand in hand with the local René Antoine Lafortunea 19-year-old young man from that family of fishermen. Throwing everything away and setting up a five-star hotel is much easier than restoring an ecosystem, something that It took him a lifetime, literally.because Grimshaw died in 2012. René died younger, in 2007, leaving Brendon as a true Robinson Crusoe for five years.
A restoration plan that took a lifetime
Its areas of action can be divided into three: massive reforestation with native species, tackling the rat infestation and introducing some infrastructure.
In A Grain of Sand narrates how the undergrowth was so thick that a coconut that fell from a tree did not reach the ground and that only four tall native trees remained that stood out, counted for the BBC in an interview. So planted by hand more than 16,000 trees of species such as mahogany, palm trees and other endemic species that had disappeared from the island.
In the documentary he tells how the silence impacted him due to the absence of fauna: the absence of native fruit trees and the dense layer of scrub made it not an attractive place for birds, which are looking for a nesting place with food and safety. The reintroduction of native species and the restoration of the flora attracted more than 200 species of birds.
Grimshaw also explained that when he arrived, there were also no giant tortoises that are now emblematic of the island: he introduced and bred Aldabra giant tortoises (Aldabrachelys gigantea) from other islands of the archipelago, which he later marked to continue their growth. Today there are more than 120 copies.
Less striking but also very useful was that They built almost five kilometers of trails to improve accessibility. Practically with pick and shovel.
In the 1980s, offers flooded in to buy the island, including that of a Saudi prince, who is said to have offered up to $50 million. Brendon Grimshaw’s response did not give rise to negotiations: “the island is not for sale“. The former journalist was getting older and had no children, so in 2009 and when Lafortune had already died, he arranged for the government of the Seychelles will declare to Moyenne as the Moyenne Island National Park to find legal protection for the island and its preservation.
Today Moyenne has an essential biological importance for the Sheychelles archipelago: it serves as a seed bank and refuge for species, since while other islands are plagued with resorts, there there are no shops, restaurants or hotelshardly a basic restaurant for those taking an excursion to the island from neighboring islands such as Mahe.
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Cover | Jean-Francis Martin and documentary A Grain of Sand on YouTube
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