Ascension : Seabirds Succeed on Ascension Island
Submitted by The Islander (Juanita Brock) 04.12.2006 (Article Archived on 18.12.2006)

Ascension Island, a small, remote, volcanic island in the South Atlantic, is rich in unique flora and fauna. When it was first inhabited in 1815, it was thought to host 20 million individual seabirds, including the Ascension frigatebird, a globally threatened species found nowhere else in the world.

Photo(c) A. Pelembe

Seabirds Succeed on Ascension Island

Ascension Island is declared feral cat free.

Ascension Island, a small, remote, volcanic island in the South Atlantic, is rich in unique flora and fauna.  When it was first inhabited in 1815, it was thought to host 20 million individual seabirds, including the Ascension frigatebird, a globally threatened species found nowhere else in the world. 

Following a 98% crash in numbers, the island seabird population decreased to around 400,000 individuals, mostly confined to offshore stacks and inaccessible cliffs. 

The seabird population on the tropical UK Overseas Territory had been devastated by feral cats which were introduced onto the island in the early 19th Century to control introduced rats and mice.

So far, the Ascension Seabird Restoration Project has encouraged 726 pairs of five species of seabird, including brown noddies, masked boobies and red-billed tropicbirds, to return and nest on mainland Ascension Island. 

The Ascension Seabird Restoration Project, implemented by the Ascension Island Government, and assisted by the RSPB with £500,000 funding from the Foreign and Commonwealth Office, has since 2001 removed feral cats from Ascension Island. Since February 2004, no feral cats have been seen on the island, encouraging the prompt return of the seabirds. Since this date, the island has run an intensive monitoring programme which has confirmed that the island is feral cat free.

The Ascension Seabird Restoration Project is a landmark in conservation history because it is the first time that feral cats have been removed from an island where people were allowed to retain their pet cats.

The Administrator of Ascension Island Government said: 'The project has been a great success and will make a crucial contribution to the conservation of the world's breeding seabird populations and the natural history of the island’. Tara Pelembe who runs the Ascension Island Government Conservation Department added ‘it would not have been such a success without a team of dedicated staff, and the support of the people of the island’.

Sarah Sanders the RSPB's International Officer for the UK Overseas Territories, commented:

'The UK Overseas Territories are astoundingly rich in wildlife and Ascension is no exception. RSPB has made a firm commitment to protect wildlife in the UK Overseas Territories and the success of the Ascension Seabird Restoration Project is evidence that well designed and funded projects can provide new hope for threatened species.  At the same time it has shown that the Ascension Island Government is highly capable of managing large projects.'

A celebration was held on Ascension on Sunday 26^th November 2006 to declare the island feral-cat free.

Editors Notes :
1) Ascension Island (7^◦57S, 14^◦22W) lies in the tropical South Atlantic. It is a small volcanic island with an area of 97 sq km^.

2) The cats on Ascension island were introduced in 1815 to control the populations of rats and mice. Roaming wild, these cats quickly decimated populations of seabirds on the mainland, forcing most of the seabirds, except the colonially-nesting sooty tern, to nest on offshore stacks, principally Boatswainbird Island. The project needed to remove the cats from the island. The project gained the active support and co-operation of the islanders and the Ascension Island Society for the Protection of Cruelty Against Animals. The feral cats were destroyed in accordance with animal welfare guidelines.

3) The project has worked with the local community to identify, register, microchip and, where necessary, sterilise pet cats, resulting in greater care of pets. Legislation was introduced through the project to prevent the reintroduction of cats to the island.

4) The Ascension frigatebird is a globally-threatened seabird, which is totally confined to Ascension Island. It is one of 11 species of seabird which regularly nests on the island.

For further information and to arrange an interview, please contact:

Tara Pelembe, Ascension Island Conservation Officer, on 00247 6359 . 

Photographs:

Photographs can be obtained from the Ascension Island Government Conservation Department: e-mail: conservation@atlantis.co.ac

Please note these pictures are only to be used in conjunction with the Seabirds succeed on Ascension Island story.

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