We use cookies to enhance your browsing experience, serve personalized ads or content, and analyze our traffic. By clicking "Accept All", you consent to our use of cookies. Cookie Policy
Customize Consent Preferences
We use cookies to help you navigate efficiently and perform certain functions. You will find detailed information about all cookies under each consent category below.
The cookies that are categorized as "Necessary" are stored on your browser as they are essential for enabling the basic functionalities of the site. ...
Always Active
Necessary cookies are required to enable the basic features of this site, such as providing secure log-in or adjusting your consent preferences. These cookies do not store any personally identifiable data.
No cookies to display.
Functional cookies help perform certain functionalities like sharing the content of the website on social media platforms, collecting feedback, and other third-party features.
No cookies to display.
Analytical cookies are used to understand how visitors interact with the website. These cookies help provide information on metrics such as the number of visitors, bounce rate, traffic source, etc.
No cookies to display.
Performance cookies are used to understand and analyze the key performance indexes of the website which helps in delivering a better user experience for the visitors.
No cookies to display.
Advertisement cookies are used to provide visitors with customized advertisements based on the pages you visited previously and to analyze the effectiveness of the ad campaigns.
Protects Millions of Seabirds, Coconut Crabs, and one of the Largest Remaining Tropical Coastal Strand Forests in the Pacific
The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (FWS),The Nature Conservancy (TNC), and Island Conservation(IC) today announced that summer 2011 fieldwork to restore Palmyra Atoll by removing destructive, non-native rats was just completed safely and efficiently, along with the first phase of scientific monitoring. The restoration project aims to protect 10 nesting seabird species, migratory shorebirds, the rare coconut crab, and one of the largest remaining native Pisonia forests in the Pacific Islands. Palmyra Atoll, approximately 1,000 miles south of Honolulu, Hawai‘i, is cooperatively managed by the FWS and TNC as a National Wildlife Refuge and a small research station. Research done at Palmyra can help inform conservation strategies around the world by providing essential information about how healthy ecosystems respond to global climate change, invasive species, and marine restoration, to name a few. Scientists are also learning how healthy ecosystems function free from human influences such as pollution and overfishing. In June 2011, personnel and contractors from FWS, TNC, Island Conservation, the U.S. Department of Agriculture, and the U.S. Geological Survey, successfully carried out the application of bait to remove destructive rats from the 25 islets that comprise the atoll, while minimizing threats from the bait to other animals. The operations followed extensive planning outlined in FWS’s May 2011 Environmental Impact Statement and was supported by years of scientific research. Comprehensive monitoring will take place over the next two years to assess the status of the eradication effort and how the atoll responds to rat removal. Several researchers returned to the atoll in August and completed the first phase of monitoring. After deploying hundreds of detection devices throughout the atoll, no signs of rats were found.
“Although it will be 2 years before we can confirm rat removal, the operations were a great achievement, having been carried out both safely and efficiently” said Susan White, Project Leader of the Pacific Reefs National Wildlife Refuge Complex and operations Incident Commander. “Each aspect of the project and each person on our 41-person team of highly skilled and dedicated professionals was essential to achieving this goal in such a complex and challenging environment as Palmyra.” Black rats, likely introduced to the atoll during World War II, prey upon ground-nesting and tree-nesting birds, consuming eggs and chicks. Rats are also likely responsible for the absence of several species of burrow-nesting seabirds such as shearwaters and petrels that would likely otherwise breed at Palmyra. Rats compete for food with shorebirds, attack native land crabs, and eat the seeds and seedlings of native trees. “The lessons learned from removing invasive rats from Palmyra Atoll is critical to the survival of seabirds and native species on islands around the world. Following upon successful projects in temperate climates, like Anacapa Island in the Channel Islands National Park and Rat Island in the Alaska Maritime National Wildlife Refuge, the methods developed for and proven at Palmyra set a precedent for subsequent efforts to restore other tropical islands, protecting species in places where it might have seemed impossible before,” according to Bill Waldman, Island Conservation’s Executive Director. The project goal was to expose every rat on the atoll to bait while mitigating impacts to native species. The project partners were particularly concerned about the potential for exposing native geckos and shorebirds to bait. As a precautionary measure, project staff held geckos in captivity during the month of June and successfully returned them to their respective islets after operations finished. Project team members also were some of the first people to successfully capture and care for Bristle-thighed curlews in captivity. In an effort to protect as many shorebirds as possible from potential exposure to the rodenticide, 13 curlews and one Pacific golden plover were captured and cared for between early June and early August. All 14 birds were safely released back to the wild on August 4th. Of the 13 curlews that were in captive care, 8 have been spotted since their release, having joined flocks of non-captured birds. The scientific knowledge gained through this capture and care provides significant contributions to future conservation programs focused on Bristle-thighed curlews and other shorebirds.
Bristle-thighed Curlew release on Palmyra Atoll. Photo: USFWS
The Palmyra Atoll Restoration Project was also part of a unique collaborative partnership to restore a series of islands in the Pacific in 2011, including Palmyra Atoll (USA), several islands in the Phoenix Islands Protected Area (Republic of Kiribati), and Henderson Island (Pitcairn Islands) by the Royal Society for the Protection of Birds. A combined expedition allowed three projects to share a support vessel (the Research Vessel Aquila), helicopters, equipment, and some personnel. All three projects were focused on safeguarding native animals and plants by removing introduced invasive rats. The last of the three projects was completed at the end of August and the crew and the Research vessel Aquila are headed home.
Trois îlots de l’atoll Tahanea en Polynésie Française ont été déclarés exempts de rats aujourd’hui par les partenaires d’un projet de conservation impliquant Island Conservation, l’Université Simon Fraser (Canada), la Société d’Ornithologique de Polynésie ‘Manu’ (représentant BirdLife) et la communauté…
Susan Silander, Project Leader, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (787) 851-7258 x 306 Amy Carter, Information Officer, Island Conservation (831) 359-4787 x 104 CABO ROJO, Puerto Rico – El Servicio Federal de Pesca y Vida Silvestre y “Island Conservation” anuncian…
The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service and Island Conservation are pleased to announce that operations to restore Desecheo Island’s native species and their habitat by removing non-native, invasive black rats from Desecheo Island have been completed safely and successfully. Susan…
Event Marks Successful Completion of Seabird Restoration Project on San Nicolas Island Press release Ventura, CA – Partners from the Montrose Settlements Restoration Program, the U.S. Navy, Island Conservation, Institute for Wildlife Studies and The Humane Society of the United States gathered on San Nicolas Island…
Island Conservation selects Dr. Ray Nias as our new Southwest Pacific Regional Director! Dr. Ray Nias brings to Island Conservation a wealth of experience in the Asia-Pacific region. He has been involved in many island conservation projects in Australia, the…
Rat Island author Will Stolzenburg writes about restoring Palmyra, Island Conservation, and the battle to save island species. With the summer 2011 fieldwork completed and the crews moving on, there is reason to be hopeful that Palmyra Atoll has just…
Island Conservation, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service and The Nature Conservancy complete implementation on Palmyra Atoll, Line Islands. As of Thursday, June 30, 2011, Palmyra Atoll Restoration Project implementation was completed. It has taken a monumental effort and years of…
Island Conservation selects Boris Fabres to advance its conservation initiatives in the Caribbean. Island Conservation is pleased to announce Boris Fabres as our new Caribbean Regional Director. Boris brings to Island Conservation a valuable combination of conservation work from…
Experience Island Conservation’s work from Island Restoration Specialist and surfer Rory Stansbury’s perspective A Mischief of Rats Cleaning up with Island Conservation By Matt Skenazy It’s 4:00 a.m. and the wind is trying to rip Rory Stansbury’s tent off…
See how you helped protect the Galapagos Hawk during implementation The Galapagos National Park, along with partners involved in a recent project to restore several islands, today announced that twenty Galapagos Hawks were released on February 17th and 18th back…