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Falklands Conservation |
Invasive Species Capacity Building Project Underway
Invasive species have been recognised as a threat to biological diversity worldwide, and the threat is particularly severe for island states. In order to build regional capacity to deal with this issue, the European Commission’s DG-Development has funded the South Atlantic Invasive Species Project, in which Falklands Conservation is a partner. The project has now been running for almost six months, and is being implemented by the Royal Society for the Protection of Birds (our BirdLife Partner in the UK). It will run until September 2009.
A local project officer, Brian Summers, has been appointed, and is sharing Falklands Conservation’s offices in Stanley. Brian is a Falkland Islander, and was Chairman of our Falkland Islands Trustees Committee from 1999 to 2002. He has a keen interest in the Island’s wild flowers. However, of the 350 plant species found in the Falkland Islands, 173 are native and 179 have been introduced. A few of these are invasive.
Brian (on the right) is looking forward to tackling more thistle clearance and other invasive plants that are slowly gaining a foothold in the Falklands.
Brian’s task will also include pest species such as rats and mice, and a feasibility study to remove the Patagonian foxes from several offshore islands where they prey on native birds.
A Patagonian fox on Weddell Island.
Work is ongoing to assess the status of invasive species in the Falklands, and a workshop is being planned for July to set priorities for project activities over the next two years.
For more information on the project, or the impacts of invasive species in the Falklands, please contact:
Clare Miller (South Atlantic Project Manager, RSPB, clare.miller@rspb.org.uk)
or
Brian Summers (Falklands/South Georgia Project Officer, bsummers.sais@horizon.co.fk).
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Patron: HRH The Duke of York CVO ADC Member of the International Union for Conservation of Nature | BirdLife International Representative |