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Vallé de Mai is the world's smallest nature reserve and the UNESCO Site located on the island Praslin in the Seychelles . It is situated in the middle of the island. The Vallé de Mai became the nature reserve on 18th April 1966. The reserve includes mostly forests consisting of Coco de Mer palms and five other species of palms. more »
The palm Coco de Mer can be found only at this locality. Palm forests are actually the remains of primeval forests which existed there at the time when the Seychelles were a part of the prehistoric continent Gondwanaland. The reserve is the habitat of a number of rare animals - mammals, crustaceans, snails, reptiles and birds. The rarest bird species is the Black Parrot. The whole territory of the Vallé de Mai was inscribed in the UNESCO World Heritage List in 1983.