This time last week, I was making my first trip to the Isles of Scilly for 43 years. I was there to see the impact of our joint Seabird Recovery Project.
This project matters because the UK hosts a significant proportion of the world and European populations of two species: the European storm petrel and the Manx shearwater. Scilly’s population of storm petrel is the only colony in England while the islands are also one of only two locations in England where Manx shearwater breed. Yet, the breeding seabird population in Scilly has declined by nearly a quarter in the last 25 years primarily because of predation by brown rats which are not native to the islands.
The aim of the Seabird Recovery Project is to provide safe places for these seabirds to breed. That means removing the rats. The focus of the project has been St Agnes and Gugh and the tiny surrounding islands to create a rat free zone to allow the seabirds to successfully breed. Following an incredibly successful eradication programme (the first ever on an inhabited island), St Agnes and Gugh was declared 'rat-free' this February.
Having heard so much about the project, it was a privilege to speak to the community and team responsible for successfully removing the rats.
The biological impact of the project is already impressive...
...Manx sheerwater numbers are up from 22 pairs in 2013 (before rats were removed) to 73 pairs in 2016, with new areas being colonised.
...Storm petrels have been recorded breeding again with nine recorded storm petrel breeding sites and six chicks calling at night.
Yet, I was equally impressed by the universal support for the project from the community. And I mean, universal. Everyone I spoke to from farmers, councillors and even school children (shown below) were delighted by what they had achieved together and were playing their part in keeping the island 'rat-free' by regularly checking monitoring stations and being prepared to ROAR ('Rat On A Rat') if they find something suspicious.
It reminded me of the lessons that Professor Andrew Balmford drew from his excellent book, Wild Hope, which documented how many conservation successes around the world were dependent on the cultural context. Projects seem to work when the local community backed conservation action. I feel confident that the St Agnes and Gugh community will stick together to keep their wonderful island rat-free and it is pleasing to report that there appears to be interest and ambition from other islands within the Scilly archipelago to replicate the project on their islands.
It is easy to take these projects for granted - I was told that rat eradication had been attempted for twenty years without success prior to the start of this project. This time, the planning, funding, community support and professional approach to rat removal were critical in making the project so successful. Future projects require a similar approach. But, as we have demonstrated in Lundy and are currently proving on the Shiants, the results of rat eradication can be spectacular. The seabird return for the conservation buck invested in high.
The UK Government is committed to restoring nature in a generation, and it can take inspiration from what has been achieved through the Seabird Recovery Project: local people coming together with charities, government and funders to tackle big problems and delivering exceptional results for wildlife and people.
So, this Friday, let's give three cheers to the Seabird Recovery Project on Scilly.
More "great stuff" by the RSPB
redkite