BirdLife prepares for biggest tropical island habitat restoration ever
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.jpg?&width=640&height=480&format=webp&webp.quality=85&scale=down "Polynesian Ground-dove is under heavy threat from invasive rats. Photo: Pete Morris (BirdLife International).")
BirdLife International is about to start a huge operation to remove invasive species from French Polynesia, home of numerous endangered endemic birds.
The importance of tropical island restoration has been simultaneously recognised by and international scientific journal. The May 2015 issue of international journal Biological Conservation is dedicated to tropical island conservation, and recommends best practices for restoring islands to their former glory. Paramount is removing rats, which have caused incredible destruction since they were introduced by humans. The previous biggest rat eradication project was on the sub-Antarctic island of South Georgia.
The techniques involved have been pioneered in the Pacific by BirdLife and its partners such as Island Conservation, and are now used around the globe. BirdLife's mission boat is now preparing to depart for the remote Acteon and Gambier archipelagos, a project which has currently reached 79% of its funding target. You can donate here.
The operation is taking action for Critically Endangered species Tuamotu Sandpiper and Polynesian Ground-dove, through tried-and-tested science that has seen BirdLife remove rats and other predatory invasives from 34 islands in five Pacific countries. Before the boat can leave, however, it still needs your help to reach the target and implement over one year’s careful planning and research.
Invasive rats are known to have travelled with humans to over 80 per cent of the world’s island groups, where negative impacts have been recorded on 173 species of plants and animals, many of which are threatened. Rat removal is one of the most immediate and significant actions needed to help restore these ecosystems. However, rat removal on tropical islands has had a lower success rate than the same process in temperate zones, recently dropping below 80 per cent and creating a critical gap in the conservationist 'island restoration toolkit'.
The special edition of Biological Conservation includes 10 peer-reviewed papers focused on cutting edge tropical island research on rat biology and management, recommended best practices for rat removal and emerging technologies which may be game-changing for island restoration. This represents a path forward for improving research and removal of rats on tropical islands. Ultimately, this means we can work towards saving more endangered island species faster in the tropics where conservation is most sorely needed.
Steve Cranwell, manager of the Invasive Alien Species Programme at BirdLife International, said: “The benefits of this collective knowledge are being applied to the operation to be conducted by BirdLife and its partners (including Island Conservation) in French Polynesia in May. This collaboration and the resulting advancements will further improve the likelihood of success on six islands aimed at safeguarding eight globally threatened bird species. Importantly the operation will also continue to build the knowledge of is biologists and island restoration practitioners protecting the vulnerable habitats and highly threatened wildlife of tropical islands.”
The special issue can be accessed here, including free-to-download copies of the articles: 'Tropical island conservation: Rat eradication for species recovery' and 'Best practice guidelines for rat eradication on tropical islands'.
The importance of tropical island restoration has been simultaneously recognised by and international scientific journal. The May 2015 issue of international journal Biological Conservation is dedicated to tropical island conservation, and recommends best practices for restoring islands to their former glory. Paramount is removing rats, which have caused incredible destruction since they were introduced by humans. The previous biggest rat eradication project was on the sub-Antarctic island of South Georgia.
The techniques involved have been pioneered in the Pacific by BirdLife and its partners such as Island Conservation, and are now used around the globe. BirdLife's mission boat is now preparing to depart for the remote Acteon and Gambier archipelagos, a project which has currently reached 79% of its funding target. You can donate here.
The operation is taking action for Critically Endangered species Tuamotu Sandpiper and Polynesian Ground-dove, through tried-and-tested science that has seen BirdLife remove rats and other predatory invasives from 34 islands in five Pacific countries. Before the boat can leave, however, it still needs your help to reach the target and implement over one year’s careful planning and research.
Invasive rats are known to have travelled with humans to over 80 per cent of the world’s island groups, where negative impacts have been recorded on 173 species of plants and animals, many of which are threatened. Rat removal is one of the most immediate and significant actions needed to help restore these ecosystems. However, rat removal on tropical islands has had a lower success rate than the same process in temperate zones, recently dropping below 80 per cent and creating a critical gap in the conservationist 'island restoration toolkit'.
The special edition of Biological Conservation includes 10 peer-reviewed papers focused on cutting edge tropical island research on rat biology and management, recommended best practices for rat removal and emerging technologies which may be game-changing for island restoration. This represents a path forward for improving research and removal of rats on tropical islands. Ultimately, this means we can work towards saving more endangered island species faster in the tropics where conservation is most sorely needed.
Steve Cranwell, manager of the Invasive Alien Species Programme at BirdLife International, said: “The benefits of this collective knowledge are being applied to the operation to be conducted by BirdLife and its partners (including Island Conservation) in French Polynesia in May. This collaboration and the resulting advancements will further improve the likelihood of success on six islands aimed at safeguarding eight globally threatened bird species. Importantly the operation will also continue to build the knowledge of is biologists and island restoration practitioners protecting the vulnerable habitats and highly threatened wildlife of tropical islands.”
The special issue can be accessed here, including free-to-download copies of the articles: 'Tropical island conservation: Rat eradication for species recovery' and 'Best practice guidelines for rat eradication on tropical islands'.
