Until May 2012, Hawadax Island in Alaska was known as Rat Island. But thanks to the work of Island Conservation, the island is now known as a nesting ground for a wide variety of seabirds, including the Tufted Puffin—not seen there for almost 200 years. 

In a recent Canadian Wildlife Magazine article, Zack Metcalfe highlights the Hawadax Island project alongside many of Island Conservation’s other successes. The Channel Islands in California, Rábida in the Galápagos, and Palmyra Atoll south of Hawai’I all feature as places where our removal of invasive species brought about astonishing unforeseen benefits. 

 Coral Wolf, our Conservation Science Program Manager, shares that the return of native species and ecosystem-wide recovery are among the multiple benefits of invasive species removal. On Hawadax, native seabirds (auklets, gulls, petrels, and, of course, Tufted Puffins) fertilize the once over-grazed land with their guano, and native plants flourished. Similarly, as the birds regulated the population of invertebrates in the island’s near-shore ecosystem, coastal algae returned. The spillover effects from a single human intervention are astonishing. 

After eradication, Coral shares, islands “look different, they sound different, they smell different. It’s the best part of my job.” 

You can read Metcalfe’s full article on his blog. To support the rewilding and restoration of islands for nature and people, support Island Conservation today!