Man buys an entire island for $10,667 — and turned it into a sanctuary for the world’s rarest animals
With the ever-changing climate, overexploitation, habitat loss, and environmental degradation, many animals are either going extinct or rapidly becoming endangered. This has led to a severe loss of biodiversity, which has disrupted the ecosystem as a whole, causing widespread repercussions in human life. In such a distressing situation, imagine if someone were to invest in a plan aimed at preserving this wildlife! To our good fortune, there actually exists an island called "Moyenne," bought by Brendon Grimshaw in the 1960s, which continues to preserve endangered flora and fauna actively. Notably, after Grimshaw's tragic demise in 2012, the island has now become the world's smallest national park, as reported by My Modern Met.
In 1962, Grimshaw visited Seychelles for the first time. Although he was working as a journalist back then, Grimshaw was desperately looking to switch careers. During this time, buying an island seemed like a new project to him — one worth his time and energy. This was when, thankfully, Grimshaw stumbled upon Moyenne and purchased it for £8,000, as per the report. The small island was almost abandoned except for a local fisherman and his family who loved the life they were living there. Grimshaw and Rene Antoine — a local — bonded over the island's many facets, its allure, and worked together to make it a heavenly place.
"His vision was to leave an unspoiled island for future generations of Seychellois and the world. He wanted a mini-Seychelles. He wanted to try and replicate what Seychelles and its islands were like before tourists came," Suketu Patel, another friend of Grimshaw, shared. Interestingly, when Seychelles became a popular spot for tourists, the man was even offered to sell the place, but he refused around $50 million without a second thought. Later, in 2009, Grimshaw established a trust with the Seychelles' Ministry of Environment, since he had no heir. At present, the island has a small restaurant and a museum, with fewer than 50 visitors allowed on it at any given point in time, to ensure that the island's beauty remains untarnished.
The incredible story about Brendon Grimshaw was once again highlighted when an individual who goes by u/adorable-cell-1812 on Reddit, shared his information in a post. u/newmanufacturer4252 commented, "That really is wonderful. I wish the world were filled with this kind of people. It probably is, but yelling makes money for a fraction of the population." u/kizmitraindeer wrote, "Man. This guy would have been the child me’s hero. I wanted to save animals and live with them!" u/marto17890 pointed out, "This is one of the first examples where I have seen a rich guy doing something worthwhile with their money, Musskrat should take notes." On the other hand, u/unworthy-2313 asked, "I really wish I had millions to do the exact same thing. Who can help me save the environment?"
On a lighter note, u/danger_caution23 joked, "The photos between the second and the third went from 0 to 100 real quick," referring to the pictures uploaded alongside the post, "I was surprised, not going to lie. He aged well, though. Salute to you, sir!" u/dry_garden_69, who was aware of Grimshaw, revealed, "With the help of his best 'friend' (that he later married haha), they created a whole natural conservatory with many local and endemic species of flora and fauna. You can still visit the whole island. It's been made into a natural reserve that you can visit in the morning. He has saved many species, and the whole island is landscaped so that animals can roam freely. If you ever get lucky and travel to Seychelles, it's an amazing place to visit. Source: I'm Seychellois and have visited the place many times."