LIFE STOP EXTINCTION IN FRENCH POLYNESIA

ongoing

In French Polynesia, 50 birds have disappeared and 20 of the 30 remaining endemic species are threatened. Of the ten classified as CR by the IUCN, five have fewer than 200 individuals. The Fatu Hiva Monarch, 19 adults, is dying out due to the combined action of rats, cats and avian malaria. The Rapa Shearwater, with an estimated 60 pairs is victim of rats and the Rapa Fruit dove, with an estimated 140 adults, see its habitat disappear. The Tahiti Monarch, 136 adults, faces 10 of the 100 worst Invasive Alien Species (IAS). The Polynesian Ground-Dove, estimated 200 adults, is a victim of rats. A consortium including the Société d'Ornithologie de Polynésie (SOP), the Copenhagen Zoo, the Louis Malardé Institute, the Institute pour la Recherche et le Développement and the botanist J. F. Butaud supported by the French Polynesia government with the Direction of Environment (DIREN), as assisted partner, will take concrete actions to bring these species out of the extinction vortex. This goal will be achieved through a six-year programme of activities: - Controlling IAS with: o Reinforced biosecurity o Innovative and unprecedented control of animal IAS o Eradication of rats and goats from the island of Meetia and rat from Karapo rahi, one of the Rapa islets o The fight against avian malaria on Fatu Hiva - the constitution of security populations: o in captivity for the Fatu Hiva Monarch, safe from predators and avian malaria, until a solution is found in situ o in the wild for the Tahitian Monarch on Meetia and for the Gallicolombe on Temoe - Habitat improvement and protection on an unprecedented scale on Rapa, Tahiti, Tenararo and Meetia; - Raising awareness of the populations aiming at societal change, the search for sustainable financing and international exemplarity and the massification of project’s results - and the monitoring of project impacts on those threatened birds, on IAS, and in other ecology, synergy and socio-economic aspects.