The ecosystem on Rodrigues has suffered from devastating damage at the hands of humankind; the island's natural resources have been exhausted through deforestation and the slaughter of animal species (with tortoises being among the first to suffer). This reserve is striving to reintroduce several hundred giant tortoises into a reconstituted ecosystem. An educational initiation into a natural environment in the process of reasserting itself. The reserve also has 11 caves, including Grande Caverne (490m long).