S Mitchell/BirdLife The Cook Islands is home to 15 Globally Threatened bird species such as Endangered Rarotonga Monarch. Zoom In

Conservation and the Cook Islands

20-07-2010

BirdLife International has received a grant from the Critical Ecosystem Partnership Fund (CEPF) to produce an inventory of priority conservation sites for biodiversity in the Cook Islands.

BirdLife has been working in the Pacific to identify Important Bird Area (IBAs) for ten years. "Important Bird Areas are islands, forests, and wetlands that are of critical importance for the survival of the region's native birds", said Don Stewart - BirdLife's Regional Director in the Pacific. "If we want to protect the birds, we will need to protect their habitat, those areas where they live".

To determine an IBA requires extensive research to identify bird species diversity and abundance within a specific area. This research then results in an inventory of sites that are wildlife conservation priorities.

“Important Bird Areas are islands, forests, and wetlands that are of critical importance for the survival of the region’s native birds” —Don Stewart, BirdLife’s Regional Director in the Pacific

Identifying IBAs in the Cook Islands is particularly urgent. "We have identified 50 species of birds in the Cooks of which 15 are Globally Threatened with extinction", said Jacqueline Evans from the Te Ipukarea Society (BirdLife in the Cook Islands).

The Cook Islands is home to Globally Threatened bird species such as Rarotonga Monarch Pomarea dimidiata. Once among the rarest birds of the world, this Endangered species has been brought back from the brink of extinction. Currently conservation measures are underway to develop an ecologically and commercially sustainable ecotourism venture on the island of Rarotonga where it is found. Intensive rat control is carried out during the breeding season, and an insurance population has been established on the island of Atiu.

"With the CEPF grant, BirdLife and the Te Ipukarea Society will produce the new IBA book for the Cook Islands," added Jacqueline Evans. "Out of this we will develop a conservation programme to work with the government and the local communities to protect the Important Bird Areas of the Cook Islands," she added.

“… we will develop a conservation programme to work with the government and the local communities …” —Jacqueline Evans, Te Ipukarea Society (BirdLife in the Cook Islands)

BirdLife's first IBA publication in the Pacific was 'Important Bird Areas in Fiji: Conserving Fiji's National Heritage' in 2006.

"Since its publication we have been working with Government, local landowners and the resource users at these Important Bird Areas to not only protect the birds, but show ways in which protecting an Important Bird Area can benefit the landowners," said Miliana Ravuso from BirdLife's Fiji Programme.