World Heritage Site shame for UK territories

Non-native rats eating islands' unique bird species

August 2010: Two out of five of the UK's natural World Heritage sites are in danger of being added to a black list because non-native rats and mice are killing and eating the unique bird species confined to them. At a UNESCO meeting in Brazil this week, the UK Government was warned that the outstanding natural qualities for which Henderson Island, in the Pacific, was listed would be jeopardised if rats were allowed to continue plundering unique seabirds and their eggs.

RAT ATTACK: Murphy's petrel is one of the birds on Henderson Island whose future is at risk because of non-native rats and mice. Picture: Mike Brooke

Another UK Overseas Territory - Gough and Inaccessible Islands - is already under threat of being added to a danger list if non-native house mice are not removed from the South Atlantic Island before 2014.

Between them, the two islands support eight species of bird found nowhere else on Earth, and several of these are being driven to extinction by the introduced rodents.

Commenting on the decision, Tim Stowe, the RSPB's International Director, said: ‘There are only 180 natural World Heritage sites, and the UK has responsibility for five. It is extremely embarrassing that the UK is failing in its duty to protect sites and species solely in our care. We are urging the UK government to take action to ensure the future of the 33 species of bird found in the UK Overseas Territories that are threatened with extinction.

Time is running out
‘The removal of rats from Henderson Island is one of the most pressing conservation actions of our time. It costs only £1.7 million and the RSPB has already raised more than half of the cost from its members and others. A detailed plan is in place, and specialists are on stand-by to act. Unfortunately, time is running out. If the outstanding funds are not raised within the next two months the eradication cannot take place in 2011, with the result of the cruel death of another 25,000 chicks and the knowledge that species are at greater risk of extinction.'

UNDER THREAT: St Georgia's wandering albatross. Picture: David Tipling

A leading conservationist has also called on the coalition government to fulfil its global responsibilities towards the UK Overseas Territories. Writing in the August issue of the highly-respected journal British Birds, Richard Porter, of Birdlife International, says the cost of safeguarding all wildlife in the 14 UK Overseas Territories - home to penguins and one third of all the world's albatrosses - has been calculated at £16m per year by the RSPB, or just 26 pence for every man, woman and child in the UK.

‘2010 is the International Year of Biodiversity. Wouldn't it be a great boost if the new UK coalition government could attend the UN Biodiversity Summit in Japan, in October, and lead by example by finding the cash and commitment to fund our unique wildlife treasures.'

The United Kingdom is responsible for 14 Overseas Territories. They are mostly small islands or island complexes dispersed across all the world's oceans, ranging from tropical coral atolls in the Indian and Pacific Oceans, to windswept volcanic landmasses rising from the depths of the South Atlantic. They are all of global importance for their biodiversity. Thirty-three species of bird are globally threatened in the UK Overseas Territories, with four listed as Critically Endangered by the IUCN and probably on the road to extinction if nothing is done about the devastation caused by introduced mammals preying on their eggs and chicks.

Richard Porter continued: ‘This is a significantly higher number than in Britain, or even Europe. Indeed, put them all together and the islands of the UKOTs are fifth in the world league table of bird extinctions, with at least ten species from the territories going into oblivion since AD1500, partially or wholly because of the impact of non-native mammals, such as rats, feral cats, mice and pigs.'