[1] It has an area of 27 hectares (67 acres) and is the largest islet in the Grand Port bay, 850 metres (2,790 ft) off the south-east coast of Mauritius and roughly a kilometer (0.62 mi) from the coastal town of Mahebourg.

Ile aux Aigrettes conserves the world's only remaining piece of Mauritius Dry Coastal Forest—a once plentiful vegetation type.

[3] Reptile species include the large, slow Telfairs Skink, several species of ornately coloured day gecko, and a population of non-indigenous Aldabra giant tortoise, brought to Île aux Aigrettes to take over the important ecological role of the extinct Mauritian tortoises.

The large tortoises eat and spread the plant seeds and thereby help the forest to rejuvenate naturally.

[4] The rare, endemic ebony tree species Diospyros egrettarum, is named after this island, on which it is plentiful.