Tag: seabird

A Rat-Free Palmyra Atoll

February 5, 2013  |  by: Matt Miller  |  0

Located 1,000 miles south of Hawai’i, Palmyra Atoll is one of the most spectacular marine wilderness areas on Earth. The area includes 25 islets covering 580 acres of land, and 15,000 acres of some of the most diverse and spectacular coral reef systems in the world.

Palmyra Atoll is co-managed by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service and The Nature Conservancy. These two partners plus Island Conservation are working together on the Palmyra Atoll Restoration Project, which aims to protect ten nesting seabird species, migratory shorebirds, the rare coconut crab and one of the largest remaining native Pisonia forests in the Pacific Islands.

The first step in this restoration was a big one: removing non-native rats. That project recently completed and appears to be successful.

Alex Wegmann, program director for Island Conservation, recently shared his thoughts on the effort to restore a rat-free island.

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Most projections say at least 9 billion people will be alive on Earth come 2050 -- putting tremendous pressures on the natural systems that we all rely on for survival and prosperity.

Cool Green Science is where Nature Conservancy scientists and science writers discuss and debate how conservation can help meet those challenges head on -- in partnership with you, of course. You'll also find photos, videos and dispatches from our fieldwork, book reviews, raves and groans about new research, natural history accounts, citizen science opps, and much much more -- including stuff about critters that are just cool.

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