The Chesterfield-Bampton and Bellona atolls, hitherto preserved by their remoteness from human activities, are among the last refuges of tropical marine biodiversity. The importance of the islets and sandy cays of these atolls for the conservation of seabirds and sea turtles is here assessed from a compilation of seabird counts produced by various authors over the last three decades. The islets are classified individually according to population size by species and three biodiversity indices (species richness, Shannon diversity, population weight by species in relation to the total). A principal component analysis distinguishes three homogeneous sets of islets and sandy cays that differ by their total abundance of seabirds, as well as in their importance as defined by their biodiversity. The classification made here differs significantly from that decreed by the government of New Caledonia, where, in particular, islets Mouillage no. 2, Mouillage no. 3 and Loop are excluded from the list of socalled "integral" reserves. These islets here appear as a priority for the preservation of the seabirds of the Chesterfield-Bampton and Bellona atolls. The importance of the Chesterfield’s "V" for the reproduction of 12 species of seabirds, as well as for the green turtle, is here confirmed. The fragmentation of this site into two categories of islets as defined by the governement, one in theory relatively protected from human activities, the other open to activities deleterious for the reproduction of seabirds and sea turtles is arbitrary.