|
Results Forum News 32 article: Barton Point Important Bird Area Purpose The purpose of the surveys is to establish robust and repeatable base line counts of the seabirds present on Eagle Island and Barton Point Important Bird Area. In 2006 Eagle Island was reported as being cleared of rats. If successful this clearance of the second largest land mass in the Chagos has a huge potential to increase breeding seabird populations. In order to monitor the effect of the rat clearance project on avian populations it is essential that the breeding bird, specifically seabird, populations are recorded both before and after. Scant records are held covering the breeding seabirds of Eagle Island prior to rat eradication and a trip to the island to establish a base line count of the breeding seabirds post rat eradication was planned for late 2006. Due to military commitments taking priority this most important trip was cancelled and has still not taken place. Dr Charles Sheppard, the Environmental Advisor to the BIOT Commissioner contacted Major Peter Carr to establish if the Royal Navy Birdwatching Society could take on the task of post-rat-eradication survey work on Eagle Island. This offer was accepted and has led to this application for funding for two visits, one in 2007 and the second in 2008. The establishment of a monitoring programme after eradication is acceptable as seabird populations are known from other eradication projects to be slow to react to clearances. Further, island restoration through the eradication of invasive alien species is a rapidly expanding and increasingly important area of biodiversity conservation. It can deliver major improvements in the status of many taxa. It is extremely important that eradication projects are accompanied by detailed scientific monitoring of impacts in order to
(1) allow decision-makers and practitioners to assess whether such projects deliver cost-effective benefits;
(2) allow lessons to be learned about whether, when and why benefits arise;
(3) to provide scientifically defensible case-studies to support the case for further projects - in too many cases this is not done and is vitally important that the opportunity is taken for Eagle Island. For Barton Point IBA (and all Chagos IBA's) there is a lack of data covering the breeding seabird populations collected using repeatable survey techniques and, there is no established monitoring programme for the avian populations of the Chagos. To complete the survey work of the breeding seabirds of Barton Point IBA carried out by the RNBWS in 2005 (BIO 301) it is necessary to conduct a repeat visit at the opposite end of the year from the initial survey (conducted in May 2005). This Proposed survey has already been sanctioned and funded by an OTEP grant but was cancelled due to military commitments taking priority at the planned time of the survey in 2006. This survey when completed will provide the first set of repeatable counts of a Chagos IBA and is essential as a base line for all future monitoring programmes. It should be stressed that in 2006 within the Chagos, a UK Overseas Territory there is virtually no understanding of the population dynamics of the globally important seabird populations, a situation that possibly should be rectified at the earliest opportunity. Outputs - A paper covering the establishment of base-line counts of the breeding birds of Eagle Island post rat eradication.
- In conjunction with data collected in May 2005 (BIO 21), a paper covering the annual cycle of the breeding seabirds of Barton Point Important Bird Area.
- An expedition report detailing all ornithological sightings from all areas visited.
Main Activities - A survey of the breeding seabirds of Barton Point IBA during October - December 2007.
- An ornithological survey of Eagle Island at the earliest date in 2007 agreed to by HQ BIOT.
- A further ornithological survey in 2008 of Eagle Island at a date agreed to by HQ BIOT.
Stakeholder Analysis RNBWS has been asked to conduct the Eagle Island survey work by Dr Charles Sheppard, the Environmental Advisor to the Commissioner of BIOT; Dr Sheppard has an oversight of all scientific expeditions to the Chagos which suggests that there is co-ordination with all of the other limited projects within the area. Both proposed projects would be undertaken with the full support of the International Officer of the Royal Society for the Protection of Birds who is responsible for the Overseas Territories and the Important Bird Area (IBA) Programme therein. The proposal has been tentatively discussed with HQ BIOT and PJHQ and with the caveat of 'military commitments permitting' has been approved. Critical Assumptions Risk 1: Cancellation due to BIOT military commitments overriding project
Probability: Low/Medium
Impact: High
Management: Reschedule in-year Risk 2: Not supported by OTEP grant
Proability: Low
Impact: Low
Managament: Financed by other sources Risk 3: Team Leader not being available through military commitments
Probability: Low
Impact: Low
Management: 2IC appointed to shadow Wider Significance The strategic, long-term goal of this work is to highlight the requirement and possibly be the catalyst to establish a regular ornithological monitoring programme of all of the Chagos IBA's and Eagle Island. This programme will provide the information required to assess the health of the globally important breeding seabird populations of the Chagos and sub-sequentially be able to be used to inform decision-makers on conservation policies within the area and assist in establishing ecologically and environmentally sound management plans. It will further allow monitoring of global change in a sensitive tropical area where other pressures are deemed slight. Other Information Funded by FCO/DIFD Overseas Territories Environmental Programme, 2007, project no BIO401 Multilateral Envrionmental Agreements The Chagos Archipelago is not a World Heritage Site, but the Government has undertaken to treat it as one, as long as this does not conflict with military requirements. Participating states have an obligation to regularly prepare reports to the Convention about the state of conservation of their sites. As such, monitoring of the key elements of biodiversity is essential. The Chagos Conservation Management Plan, commissioned by the BIOT Administration, has one of its three key actions the establishment of a "Scientific advisory group and a programme of regular monitoring and rapid managerial response" noting that "It is imperative to build up the base-line knowledge of BIOT, but also to actively commence monitoring changes over time. It is only through such work that we will be able to determine change". Clearly, the globally important seabird population is one of the archipelago's major biodiversity resources, as well as being a powerful indicator of environmental conditions. This project would help the Government to meet its commitments under the Convention on Wetlands of International Importance, 1971 (Ramsar Convention). Barton Point Nature Reserve forms part of the Diego Garcia Ramsar Site. Furthermore the BIOT Government has declared an aspiration to declare most of the Territory as a Ramsar Site when conditions allow. Regular monitoring of one of the key resources of the Ramsar site would assist the Government to meet its reporting requirements to the Convention. Contracting Parties further spell out their interpretation of their responsibilities in Resolution 5.1 (1993) of the Conference of the Parties ("Framework for the Implementation of the Ramsar Convention") as follows, "to advise the Secretariat of any change in the ecological character of the listed sites". Although the UK's ratification of the Convention on Biological Diversity has not yet been extended to BIOT, this project would assist the Government to meet obligations under Article 7 (Identification and Monitoring) and Article 8 (In-situ Conservation). It would also be relevant to the "island biodiversity" and "marine and coastal biodiversity" themes of the Convention and the "Invasive Alien Species" cross-cutting issues. The project will assist the Government to BIOT to meet its Environmental Charter commitments, notably no.2 ("restoration of key habitats, species and landscape features and attempt the control and eradication of invasive species") and no. 7 ("review the range, quality and availability of baseline data for natural resources and biodiversity").
|
