The Dauban family and their coconut plantation helped to claim and improve the land of Silhouette Island. When the price and production of copra was no longer viable, the plantation was more or less abandoned and taken over by the new Republic of the Seychelles. The old head quarters building now houses the Silhouette Island Historical Society. It's a shoestring operation with very little funds even for the maintenance of the building itself. Tourism is the main industry in the Seychelles. The main notoriety of the island today was the Giant Tortoise Rescue Project headquartered nearby. Unfortunately the Nature Protection Trust (NPTS), established in 1997, that had been housed and given the task of operating the conservation efforts was evicted by the Silhouette National Park in 2011.  The buildings were slated to be demolished. Resident tortoises have been moved with some resettled to their original atoll home of Aladabra.