Search the SPREP Catalogue

To enhance their conservation value, several hundred islands worldwide have been cleared of invasive alien rats, Rattus spp. One of the largest projects yet undertaken was on 43 km2 Henderson Island in the Pitcairn group, South Pacific, in August 2011. Following massive immediate mortality, a single R. exulans was observed in March 2012 and, subsequently, rat numbers have recovered. The survivors show no sign of resistance to the toxicant used, brodifacoum. Using pre and post-operation rat tissue samples from Henderson, plus samples from around the Pacific, we exclude re-introduction as the source of continued rat presence. Microsatellite analysis of 18 loci enabled comparison of genetic diversity of Henderson rats before and after the bait drop. The fall in diversity measured by allele frequency change indicated that the bottleneck through which the breeding population passed was probably around 50 individuals, representing a census population of about 60-80 animals. This is the first failed project that has estimated how close it was to success.

PACPOL Banner

PACC reports

This plan has been developed to reflect the essential steps to initiate, conduct and terminate an emergency marine spill response in Niue NATPLAN provides a concise and easy to follow guide to the management of spill response and associated linkages to supporting documentation. This plan consists of two main parts, Part A: The core plan text designed to provide key supporting information to assist with spill response operations and planning. Part B: Appendixes which contain Operational information for Oil Spill Planning, Preparedness & Response.

This plan has been developed to reflect the essential steps to initiate, conduct and terminate an emergency marine spill response in Samoa NATPLAN provides a concise and easy to follow guide to the management of spill response and associated linkages to supporting documentation. This plan consists of two main parts, Part A: The core plan text designed to provide key supporting information to assist with spill response operations and planning. Part B: Appendixes which contain Operational information for Oil Spill Planning, Preparedness & Response.

This plan has been developed to reflect the essential steps to initiate, conduct and terminate an emergency marine spill response in Solomon Islands NATPLAN provides a concise and easy to follow guide to the management of spill response and associated linkages to supporting documentation. This plan consists of two main parts, Part A: The core plan text designed to provide key supporting information to assist with spill response operations and planning. Part B: Appendixes which contain Operational information for Oil Spill Planning, Preparedness & Response.