Wilderness

58 islands of undeveloped ground. The tag describes a condition, not an achievement, and the register is careful with the difference: 46 of these islands also run a documented conservation programme, and the rest are simply wild.

Being wild is a real product and the register treats it as one. It means no lights along the paths, animals that were there first, weather that reaches the buildings, and a maintenance bill the property pays rather than the landscape.

It also means the land can change without anyone deciding. Several islands here have lost beaches to storms and gained them back; one lost a third of its vegetation to a cyclone and the card says so rather than showing the planting that preceded it.

Not for travellers who want groomed ground. Wilderness on an island means insects, uneven paths, and an operator who will not spray the mangroves to fix either.