The name Aldabra, originally Al-Hadra or Al-Khadra (with several variants), was given by
Arab seafarers for "the atoll's harsh, sun-baked environment"; this name was included in the
Portuguese maps of the 16th century. The islands were already known to the
Persians and
Arabs, from whom they got their name. They had named the Indian Ocean as Bahr-el zanj. It was visited by
Portuguese navigators in 1511. In the middle of the 18th century, the atoll became a dependency of the
French colony of
Réunion, from where expeditions were made for the capture of the
Aldabra giant tortoises. In 1888, the first settlement was established after the Concession was granted by the Seychelles authorities. In the early 1800s, concessions given to individuals almost destroyed the forests and tortoise habitats in many islands in Seychelles; on Aldabra Atoll, in view of its remoteness and rugged topography, only small areas of forests were cleared for agricultural operations (mostly coconut plantations) but the tortoises were intensely captured for meat and trade. However,
James Spurs, who had the concession of the atoll, was responsible initially for saving the tortoises on the atoll when he banned killing them in 1891. Following
World War II, exploitation of Aldabra for commercial use came to an end and restrictions were imposed on the number of people who could stay on the islands; this number was fixed at 200 at a time. Introduction of invasive species was banned, faunal species were protected under law, and active research on the ecology and biodiversity of the atoll was undertaken by the
Royal Society of London from the mid-1970s. Aldabra, along with
Desroches and
Farquhar, was part of the
British Indian Ocean Territory from 1965 until Seychelles' independence in 1976. In the 1960s, as a part of their 'Ocean Island Policy', and to support
East of Suez commitments, the British government considered establishing an
RAF base on the island and invited the United States to help fund the project in return for shared use of the facility and a settlement of 11 million dollars. Simultaneously (mid-1960s), the
British Broadcasting Corporation became interested in Aldabra as a possible transmitter site, to broadcast the
BBC Overseas Service (BBC) into the African mainland. The BBC mounted a fact-finding expedition (Expedition Turtle) to assess its suitability for this purpose. The BBC relied on the
RAF for developing the atoll as without this their project would not have been feasible. After an international protest by scientists (known as 'the Aldabra Affair'), however, the military plans were abandoned and the atoll instead received full protection. got the British venture torpedoed. In 1966, British Defence Minister
Denis Healey had observed: "As I understand it, the island of Aldabra is inhabited - like Her Majesty's Opposition Front bench - by giant turtles, frigate birds and boobies." Subsequent to the thwarting of plans to establish a military station at Aldabra (which instead focused on
Diego Garcia in the
Chagos Islands), the
Royal Society of London resumed their scientific study of the flora and fauna of the atoll with Professor
David Stoddart as the leader. The Royal Society bought the lease of the atoll in 1970 and their research station became functional from 1970. After completion of their assigned work, the Royal Society left and the
Seychelles Islands Foundation (SIF), a public trust of Seychelles, assumed management and protection of the atoll in 1979. SIF functions under the patronage of the
President of Seychelles and Aldabra was declared a Special Nature Reserve in 1981; it became a
UNESCO World Heritage Site on 19 November 1982. A brass plaque inscribed with the citation "Aldabra, wonder of nature given to humanity by the people of the Republic of Seychelles" was erected on the atoll. This appreciation befits the atoll which is truly one of the greatest ecologically undisturbed
raised coral atolls in the world. ==Geography==