The water
Resorts desalinate and it is drinkable; Mahé local areas are bottled. Tap water: Varies.
Seychelles
Coco de mer, the largest seed in the plant kingdom, which grows wild only in the Seychelles (Vallee de Mai, Praslin).
RegionAfricaCurrencySCRPowerType C/D/M, 230VTap waterVaries
Good
Eco Index
What to expect on the ground
At a glance
Food & farming
As a small, remote archipelago the Seychelles imports the large majority of its food, with only a small domestic sector growing fruit, root crops and vegetables. Eating local in practice means fish, breadfruit and tropical fruit…Read more
As a small, remote archipelago the Seychelles imports the large majority of its food, with only a small domestic sector growing fruit, root crops and vegetables. Eating local in practice means fish, breadfruit and tropical fruit rather than a broad home-grown diet.
Local staples
Fish and rice, breadfruit, cassava, sweet potato, plantain, coconut, mango and other tropical fruit.
Markets
The Sir Selwyn Selwyn-Clarke market in Victoria trades daily except Sunday and is busiest on Saturday morning.
In season
Tropical fruit through the warmer wet season (December to March); calmer months are best for fishing.
Wildlife
The islands carry exceptional endemism, including the Aldabra giant tortoise, the coco de mer palm, endemic birds such as the Seychelles black parrot, magpie-robin and warbler, the jellyfish tree and unique sooglossid frogs, with…Read more
The islands carry exceptional endemism, including the Aldabra giant tortoise, the coco de mer palm, endemic birds such as the Seychelles black parrot, magpie-robin and warbler, the jellyfish tree and unique sooglossid frogs, with 122 threatened species recorded (IUCN via World Bank, 2022). Island rewilding has pulled species like the magpie-robin back from the brink of extinction.
Found nowhere else
Coco de mer palm, Aldabra giant tortoise, Seychelles black parrot, magpie-robin and warbler, jellyfish tree and sooglossid frogs.
Natural phenomena
Trade winds, two seasons, neither extreme; reef-safe sunscreen is non-negotiable.
When to go
The calmer, drier and cooler transition months.
Getting around
Ferries link Mahe, Praslin and La Digue; buses run on Mahe and Praslin; bicycles suit car-light La Digue.
Good to know
Cards widely accepted; SCR. Turtles need distance, not selfies.
Safety
Solo female travel: Easy. LGBTQ+: Mixed.
Only hereCoco de mer, the largest seed in the plant kingdom, which grows wild only in the Seychelles (Vallee de Mai, Praslin).
Assessed across 10 equally-weighted pillars
The Eco Index, pillar by pillar
57/100
Good
The Eco Index: Seychelles
12 pillars, equally weighted, from published sources. All 12 assessed. Blanks mean unverified, never estimated.
Only here Coco de mer, the largest seed in the plant kingdom, which grows wild only in the Seychelles (Vallee de Mai, Praslin).
- Forest cover
- 73.3%
- Land protected
- 68.1%
- Sea protected
- 32.6%
- Threatened species
- 122
- Found nowhere else
- Coco de mer palm, Aldabra giant tortoise, Seychelles black parrot, magpie-robin and warbler, jellyfish tree and sooglossid frogs.
- Renewable power
- 15.9%
- CO2 per person
- 5 tonnes (2024) t
- Air quality (AQI)
- 4.96
- Cleanest air
- Everywhere; the outer islands and the Morne Seychellois highlands are pristine.
- Water from
- Resorts desalinate and it is drinkable; Mahé local areas are bottled.
- Tap water
- Varies
- Safe drinking water
- 64.7%
- Cleanest water
- Aldabra and the Marine National Parks (Sainte Anne, Curieuse and Aldabra).
- In season
- Tropical fruit through the warmer wet season (December to March); calmer months are best for fishing.
- Plastic ban
- Banned plastic bags, cups, plates, cutlery and polystyrene takeaway boxes from 2017 and plastic straws from 2019.
- Watch out for
- Over-built luxury resort enclaves and industrial tuna transhipment around Port Victoria.
- Solo female travel
- Easy
- LGBTQ+ acceptance
- Mixed
- Best months
- April to May and October to November.
- Getting around
- Ferries link Mahe, Praslin and La Digue; buses run on Mahe and Praslin; bicycles suit car-light La Digue.
- Power
- Type C/D/M, 230V
- Currency
- SCR
| Pillar | Score | What we found |
|---|---|---|
| WaterWhere the water comes from, and whether there is enough of it | 2/5 | Fresh water comes from rainfall catchment, a few small rivers and reservoirs on Mahe, and increasingly from desalination, and only about 64.7 per cent of the population uses safely managed … Full assessmentrinking water (WHO/UNICEF JMP via World Bank, 2024). La Digue and Praslin face seasonal shortages in the dry season, so supply is genuinely stressed despite near-universal piped access. |
| Food and farmingWhat the island actually grows, and what arrives by boat | 1/5 | As a small, remote archipelago the Seychelles imports the large majority of its food, with only a small domestic sector growing fruit, root crops and vegetables. Full assessmentEating local in practice means fish, breadfruit and tropical fruit rather than a broad home-grown diet. |
| Plant based and real foodWhether you can eat unprocessed from local supply | 3/5 | Creole cuisine is built around fish, but locally available breadfruit, cassava, sweet potato, plantain, coconut and tropical fruit make plant eating workable, and tourist areas cater for ve… Full assessmentetarians. Choice narrows away from the main islands and much fresh produce is imported. |
| OrganicCertified and chemical free growing, which is not the same thing as plant based | 2/5 | The Seychelles has only a very small agricultural sector, and internationally comparable organic farmland data is not published (no FiBL country figure). Full assessmentSome family plots and agroecology initiatives use low-input methods, but the certified organic area is negligible in scale. |
| ConservationWhat is protected, and whether protection is enforced | 5/5 | The Seychelles protects about 32.6 per cent of its territorial waters and around 68.1 per cent of its land (World Bank, 2025), having designated 30 per cent of its ocean by 2020, a decade a… Full assessmentead of the global target (The Nature Conservancy). Enforcement is genuine, anchored by the strictly protected Aldabra atoll and Vallee de Mai UNESCO World Heritage Sites and a national marine spatial plan. |
| Wildlife and endemicsWhat lives here and nowhere else on earth | 4/5 | The islands carry exceptional endemism, including the Aldabra giant tortoise, the coco de mer palm, endemic birds such as the Seychelles black parrot, magpie-robin and warbler, the jellyfis… Full assessmenttree and unique sooglossid frogs, with 122 threatened species recorded (IUCN via World Bank, 2022). Island rewilding has pulled species like the magpie-robin back from the brink of extinction. |
| Natural materialsWhat you can eat from and carry here instead of plastic, and who still makes it | 2/5 | Traditional craft uses coconut coir, palm thatch and woven vacoa (screwpine) leaves for baskets and hats, and these skills survive at a small scale. Full assessmentEveryday life, however, is fairly import and plastic dependent, so the natural-materials tradition is present rather than dominant. |
| Pollution and plasticPlastic law and contamination | 4/5 | Air is among the cleanest measured, with an annual mean PM2.5 of about 4.96 micrograms per cubic metre (UChicago AQLI, 2022). Full assessmentThe country banned plastic bags, plastic cups, plates and cutlery and polystyrene takeaway boxes from 2017 and plastic straws from 2019, though drifting ocean plastic still accumulates on remote atolls such as Aldabra. |
| Recycling and wasteWhat actually happens to the rubbish once you have thrown it away | 2/5 | Formal municipal recycling is limited and most waste goes to the Providence landfill on Mahe, but a beverage-container deposit and refund scheme recovers PET, aluminium and glass at reasona… Full assessmentle rates. Capacity and separation infrastructure remain constrained by the country's small scale. |
| Energy and climateClean power, carbon emissions per person and the pace of decarbonisation | 2/5 | The Seychelles runs its electricity almost entirely on imported diesel and heavy fuel oil, with low-carbon sources supplying only around 14 per cent, mostly solar with a little wind. Full assessmentPer-person emissions are moderate at about 5 tonnes of CO2 in 2024, reflecting a small, tourism-based high-income economy rather than heavy industry. The government targets 15 per cent renewables by 2030 and has become a global leader in ocean climate policy, pioneering a debt-for-nature swap and blue bonds to protect nearly a third of its waters. The energy transition itself, however, remains at an early stage. |
| Culture and peopleIndigenous and living communities, and who the money reaches | 3/5 | Creole culture is very much alive in the Kreol language, music and cuisine, and there is a genuine guesthouse and small-operator sector. Full assessmentEven so, the tourism economy is heavily weighted towards foreign-owned luxury resorts, so a large share of value leaves local hands. |
| Living heritage and ancestral traditionsNational dance and music, and the ancestral and spiritual traditions still practised | 4/5 | Seychellois Creole culture carries strong African and Malagasy ancestral roots. Full assessmentThe moutya, a hypnotic drum dance born among enslaved people as a form of gathering and quiet resistance and once held after dark, is recognised by UNESCO and has been revived as a national art form. The lively sega and the European-influenced kanmtole are still danced at celebrations. Traditional Creole spiritual and healing knowledge, along with the Kreol language itself, remains part of island life. |
Before you go
Cards widely accepted; SCR. Turtles need distance, not selfies.
Where these figures come from
- World Bank, Forest area (% of land area) AG.LND.FRST.ZS, 2023 — source
- World Bank, Terrestrial protected areas (% of land area) ER.LND.PTLD.ZS, 2025 — source
- World Bank, Marine protected areas (% of territorial waters) ER.MRN.PTMR.ZS, 2025 — source
- The Nature Conservancy, Seychelles designates 30% of its ocean as protected, 2020 — source
- Ember via Low Carbon Power, Seychelles electricity mix, 2024 — source
- WHO/UNICEF Joint Monitoring Programme via World Bank, Safely managed drinking water SH.H2O.SMDW.ZS, 2024 — source
- University of Chicago EPIC, Air Quality Life Index, annual mean PM2.5, 2022 — source
- IUCN Red List via World Bank, threatened species (mammals, birds, fishes, higher plants), 2022 — source
- Government of Seychelles, single-use plastic bans (bags, utensils and polystyrene 2017; straws 2019)
- Our World in Data, CO2 country profile: Seychelles, 2024 — source
- Low Carbon Power, Seychelles electricity generation mix, 2023 — source
- UNESCO Intangible Cultural Heritage, Moutya, 2021 — source
- UNESCO World Heritage, Aldabra Atoll and Vallee de Mai Nature Reserve — source
Living heritage and ancestral traditions
The culture still danced, played and believed
Seychellois Creole culture carries strong African and Malagasy ancestral roots. The moutya, a hypnotic drum dance born among enslaved people as a form of gathering and quiet resistance and once held after dark, is recognised by UNESCO and has been revived as a national art form. The lively sega and the European-influenced kanmtole are still danced at celebrations. Traditional Creole spiritual and healing knowledge, along with the Kreol language itself, remains part of island life.
- Moutya ancestral drum dance
- sega and kanmtole dancing
- Kreol language and storytelling
- Creole ancestral healing and spiritual traditions
- vakwa leaf and coconut-fibre weaving.
Sleep well, tread lightly
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