Also unique to the park is its wildlife, including birds such as the rare Seychelles black parrot, mammals, crustaceans, snails, and reptiles.

[4] This forest, with its peculiar plant and animal species, is a relict from the time when the supercontinent of Gondwana was divided into smaller parts, leaving the Seychelles islands between the present day Madagascar and India.

[4] It is located to northeast of Mahe, about 45 kilometres (28 mi) away[7][4] It is the lower region of a valley near the head of a stream.

[9] The British General Charles George Gordon propagated a myth in the 19th century after he visited the island on a military mission in 1881.

[4] Based on a Kabbalistic review of the Book of Genesis, he visioned Vallée de Mai as the Garden of Eden.

[9] Inscribed by UNESCO in 1983 under Criterion (vii), (viii),(ix), and (x),[2] Vallée de Mai is one of the organization's smallest natural World Heritage Sites.

[12] The park is the habitat for endemic coco-de-mer, which is reported as the "flagship species of global significance" growing to a height of 25–34 metres (82–112 ft).

These six species of palms are not only unique to this reserve but also to the Seychelles, and are not found anywhere else in the Indian Ocean in its pristine ancient state of evolution.

Six species of caecilians, a group of worm-like amphibians, are reported from the deep moist soil layers of the park.

[7] Mollusca found in the park are Praslin snail (Pachnodus paslinus) which has a twirled and pointed shell, and the large Stylodonta studeriana.