Environmental Philanthropy: Stories to Inspire
Preserving the biodiversity of Redonda, Antigua
Redonda is a small island off the coast of Antigua. It is home to a unique array of plants and animals, including rare lizards found nowhere else in the world; it is also an Important Bird Area. However, it had become overrun by non-native rats and a herd of long-horned goats that had been brought to the island by humans more than a century ago. Through predation and grazing, these animals had greatly degraded the natural wildlife and ecosystem of the island, and their impacts were also threatening the marine life off the coast.
Islands are interesting in terms of conservation because they are often home to unique, evolutionarily distinctive species, which are highly vulnerable to novel disturbances – such as invasive species like the rats and goats on Redonda – and in some cases may be free from human interference. Redonda, as an uninhabited island, represented an opportunity for us to see what potential there was for unfettered rewilding – once the rats and goats were removed, the island would be left entirely to nature and we could see if the endemic species would regenerate. In terms of other species conservation projects we have supported, Redonda stood out because we didn’t have to worry about people derailing it.
We provided an initial grant to Fauna & Flora International (FFI) to eradicate the invasive rats and goats from the island. Two years later, the plant, bird and marine life around the island is thriving again. Work continues to ensure Redonda and its surrounding waters are protected by law. This includes making those waters a Marine Protected Area – an area of the sea designated and managed for wildlife.
This grant has been particularly satisfying to us for two main reasons. Firstly, our contribution enabled FFI to leverage further funds – they could demonstrate that a donor had done the due diligence and decided to fund the project. Secondly, the speed at which the work could be undertaken was very gratifying! Just eight months after the clearance was approved by the Antiguan government, the island was cleared of the rats and goats. Then, because Redonda is in the tropics and because there was still a reasonable layer of soil, the island visibly sprang back to life with extraordinary speed, even within a year. It was great to see ‘success’.
Of course, the work there is not complete – there is ongoing monitoring and protection – but the results to date are hugely rewarding. Also, by sustaining our grant beyond the initial clean-up phase, we have enabled FFI to collect the data they need to support the area’s establishment as a Marine Protected Area. This is a form of directed unrestricted funding – we are not looking for project outcomes but are funding their core work and enabling them to keep the team together.