Rare birds recovering thanks to ambitious island restoration

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In 2015, BirdLife, SOP Manu (BirdLife in French Polynesia) and Island Conservation took on their most ambitious conservation project ever: the challenge of restoring the habitat and removing introduced species from six Pacific islands , thereby securing a future for four threatened species.

An immense amount of human power was needed in particular to remove the invasive tangles of the Lantana plant, but blood and sweat was well spent in the knowledge that many native plant species would recover and allow the fruit- and seed-eating birds to thrive again.

Prior to the operation, the once-widespread Polynesian Ground-dove persisted as a single functional population on their only remaining predator-free island, Tenararo. As of 2020, there are now three flourishing populations all on restored islands. The few that previously remained on Vahanga have since doubled, and on the neighbouring Tenania atoll they have re-established a secure and permanent presence for the first time in hundreds of years.

Tuamotu Sandpiper, another endemic, and an ancient cohort of migratory sandpipers that have lost their migratory ability, is making a slower but steady comeback. With over a thousand Tuamotu Sandpipers on Tenararo, they remain the most numerous species there. In a further affirmation of the recovery, nesting Polynesian Storm-petrels Nesofregetta fuliginosa (Endangered) have increased year on year and by more than 100% of their estimated 2015 population.

“This restoration success has demonstrated that carefully planned and well-executed operations across multiple remote islands can provide significant benefits for the biodiversity and local community simultaneously,” says Steve Cranwell, BirdLife’s invasive species expert, who headed up the operation.

Source- https://www.birdlife.org/news/2021/11/22/it-worked-rare-birds-recovering-thanks-to-ambitious-island-restoration/