{"id":192031,"date":"2023-12-12T08:33:59","date_gmt":"2023-12-12T12:33:59","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/antiguanewsroom.com\/?p=192031"},"modified":"2023-12-12T08:33:59","modified_gmt":"2023-12-12T12:33:59","slug":"redonda-island-successfully-restored-to-biodiversity-hotspot","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/antiguanewsroom.com\/redonda-island-successfully-restored-to-biodiversity-hotspot\/","title":{"rendered":"Redonda island successfully restored to biodiversity hotspot"},"content":{"rendered":"
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GEOGRAPHICAL UK:Just seven years ago, Redonda, a tiny, little-known volcanic island in the Caribbean Sea, resembled a barren, dusty moonscape. Formerly a haven for breeding seabirds \u2013 among them the magnificent frigatebird and three species of booby (masked, red-footed and brown) \u2013 the island had been stripped of its vegetation by feral goats and its birdlife preyed upon by thousands of large, predatory black rats, brought by European colonisers who came to mine the island\u2019s mountains of guano (bird excrement).<\/p>

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Between the 1860s, when the first mining operations began, and the beginning of the First World War, hundreds of miners exported several tonnes of guano (known at the time as \u2018white gold\u2019) every year for use as fertiliser and in the manufacture of gunpowder. When they left, the damage continued; Redonda\u2019s unique species slowly disappeared and a number were driven to extinction. As the vegetation disappeared, loose soil and rocks slid into the sea, smashing and choking the coral reefs that surround the island. By 2017, just a single bird was still resident on the island.<\/p>\n

Today, however, Redonda (now part of Antigua and Barbuda) is lush and green once more, following the success of an ambitious restoration programme that has transformed the island into a thriving wildlife sanctuary. \u2018It\u2019s not often in conservation that we get to see the immediate results of our efforts,\u2019 says Mike Appleton, director of protected area management at\u00a0Re:wild<\/a>, an environmental NGO founded by actor Leonardo DiCaprio and the Global Wildlife Conservation organisation. \u2018It usually takes years, if not generations, to begin to see signs that species and habitats are recovering because of our actions.\u2019<\/p>

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