The unique biodiversity of Mauritius faces a growing threat from an unlikely source: its own government. Last week's meeting of the Intergovernmental Platform on Biodiversity and Ecosystem Services in Bonn, Germany (see go.nature.com/dkyucn), should jolt Mauritius back into honouring its position as the first signatory to the Convention on Biological Diversity.
The Mauritian government is leasing important offshore islet nature reserves for activities that conflict with conservation objectives. This has introduced alien predators and caused the illegal destruction of protected species and habitat, without tangible consequences for those responsible. As a result, two populations of threatened endemic reptiles have already gone extinct from one of the reserves (see go.nature.com/4th4kt).
Under pressure from fruit producers, the government is also seeking to relax its Wildlife and National Parks Act of 1993 to enable culling of the Mauritian flying fox (Pteropus niger), a protected bat species that is classified as endangered by the International Union for Conservation of Nature.
Even some apparently positive actions — such as restoring habitats in the island's national park — are being mismanaged, resulting in rising costs that compromise restoration progress (F. B. V. Florens and C. Baider Restor. Ecol. 21, 1–5; 2013).
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Florens, F. Mauritius threatens its own biodiversity. Nature 493, 608–609 (2013). https://doi.org/10.1038/493608d
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/493608d
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