28 results
 Department of Environment,  Tonga

Late is an isolated and uninhabited island located about 55 km WSW of the island of Vava’u, in the Kingdom of Tonga. The biological integrity of Late is threatened by invasive Pacific rats that were historically introduced to the island. This report assesses the feasibility of restoring Late through the removal of invasive rats, and describes options, recommendations, and challenges to realizing a successful project.

 Cook Islands National Environment Service

Data on rats in Cook Islands

 Department of Environment,  Climate Change & Emergency Management (DECEM),  FSM

Enhancing the biosecurity of Pohnpei’s island ecosystems by putting together efforts to eradicate rats

 Department of Environment,  Tuvalu

Rats are invasive species in Tuvalu. Rattus rattus, or black rats, are rampaging through Tuvalu’s atolls and gnawing through the country’s chief export crop – coconuts. This dataset contains a brief introduction into a project that was implemented by a locally-recruited retired rodent management expert who showed coconut farmers how to dispose of the rats in an environmentally-friendly manner.

 Ministry of Natural Resources and Environment (MNRE),  Samoa

A completion CEPF project report - The project was designed to address the threats posed by two invasive alien species Pacific Rat Rattus exulans and Yellow Crazy Ant Anoplolepis on the islands of Nu'utele and Nu'ulua.

 Cook Islands National Environment Service

The Palmerston rat eradication program ran from August-September 2023. NZ Department of Conservation's Emmanuel Oyston, field team leader of the eradication, sent weekly updates on their progress - their updates are available here. 

5xpdf
 Tourism Resource Consultants

In June/July 2002 an eradication programme to remove Pacific rats from Maninita Island in the Vava'u group of the Kingdom of Tonga was initiated. The techniques used were similar to those
used in successful rat eradications in New Zealand, in that Pestoff 20R pellets and a network of bait stations were used.
Conditions on the island were not what was expected, the forest having been adversely affected by cyclone Waka and subsequent defoliation by caterpillars, resulting in an open forest canopy. Rats were found to be present on the island in high numbers and were breeding.

 Department of Conservation (DOC)

In June/July 2002 the eradication of Pacific rats from Maninita Island in the Vava'u group of the Kingdom of Tonga was attempted using Brodifacoum pellets in bait stations. In December 2002, Maninita was revisited and rat trapping carried out to determine if rats were present. While no rats were caught and none were seen, further monitoring in June 2003 is recommended before the island is declared "rat free '.

 Department of Conservation (DOC)

On 6 January 2004. cyclone Heta devastated much of the South Pacific island nation of Niue. Extensive damage was done to forest, particularly of the north- western sector, with many trees up-rooted and others stripped of branches and foliage. This report details our findings from a survey of Niue's birds and rodents during 3-19 September 2004 and compares these with results from a similar survey in September 1994.

 National Museum of Natural History

Williamson and Sabath (1982) have demonstrated a significant relationship between modern population size and environment by examining atoll area and rainfall in the Marshall Islands. The present work seeks to extend that argument into prehistory by examining the relationship of ancient habitation sites and size of aroid pit agricultural systems to atoll land area and rainfall regime along the 1,500-3,500 mm precipitation gradient in the Marshall Islands.

 Smithsonian Institution

The study of dispersal processes of small mammals, and especially of rodents, has a wide range of applications and until recent years there were few publications discussing the
colonisation of 'oceanic' islands by small mammals (cf. Crowell, 1986; Diamond, 1987; Hanski, 1986;Heany, 1986; Lomolino, 1986).

 University of Hawaii

A report prepared by the Invasive Partnership for the Pacific Islands Forum Leaders Meeting, Palau July 2014 as requested by the Micronesian Chief Executives in Resolution 19-01

Online only

Call Number: [EL]

Physical Description: 16p. ; 29cm.

 SPREP; IUCN

Situated between Fiji to the west and Samoa to the northeast, the Kingdom of Tonga (referred
to as Tonga) is comprised of 171 scattered islands of which less than 50 are inhabited. The islands are
mainly composed of limestone formed from uplifted coral. Current critical environmental concerns have
arisen due to deforestation; damage to coral reefs and the introduction and spread of invasive alien
species. Anthropogenic pressure has resulted in extensive modification of all ecosystems on the

 SPREP Pacific Environment Information Network (PEIN)

Global biodiversity loss is disproportionately rapid on islands, where invasive species are a major driver of extinctions. To inform conservation planning aimed at preventing extinctions, we identify the distribution and biogeographic patterns of highly threatened terrestrial vertebrates (classified by the International Union for Conservation of Nature) and invasive vertebrates on ~465,000 islands worldwide by conducting a comprehensive literature review and interviews with more than 500 experts.

 SPREP Pacific Environment Information Network (PEIN)

The Key Biodiversity Areas and Important Bird Areas (KBA's
& IBA's) approach is a simple, effective means of
implementing the protected areas elements of the Convention of Biological Diversity (CBD). KBAs and IBAs are places of
international importance for the conservation of biological diversity through protected areas and other governance mechanisms.

Available online

Call Number: [EL]

Physical Description: 38 p

 PLoS ONE

Invasive alien mammals are the major driver of biodiversity loss and ecosystem degradation on islands. Over the past three decades, invasive mammal eradication from islands has become one of society's most powerful tools for preventing extinction of insular endemics and restoring insular ecosystems. As practitioners tackle larger islands for restoration, three factors will heavily influence success and outcomes: the degree of local support, the ability to mitigate for non-target impacts, and the ability to eradicate non-native species more cost-effectively.

 SPREP Pacific Environment Information Network (PEIN)

Short website news article about rat eradication on Chagos Islands in the Indian Ocean and how bird populations increase without rat predation increasing nutrients from bird guano into the coral reefs; cites letter article in Springer Nature - Seabirds enhance coral reef productivity and functioning inthe absence of invasive rats, Nichaolas A.J. Graham, Shaun K. Wilson, Peter Carr, Andrew S. Hoey, Simon Jennings, M. Aaron MacNeil https://doi.org/10.1038/s41586-018-0202-3

 SPREP Pacific Environment Information Network (PEIN)

The isolated, small, low-lying resource-poor atolls of Tuvalu are clearly on the frontline against climate change, the escalating impacts natural disasters and declining food, health and energy security.

Available online

Call Number: [EL]

Physical Description: 101 p

 International Union for Nature Conservation (IUCN)

The world is facing a biodiversity crisis. Nowhere is that more apparent than on oceanic islands where invasive species are a major threat for island biodiversity. Rats are one of the most detrimental of these and have been the target of numerous eradication programmes; a well-established conservation tool for island systems.

 PLoS ONE

Earth’s most highly threatened terrestrial insular vertebrates (111 of 1,184 species). Of these, 107 islands were in 34 countries and territories and could have eradication projects initiated by 2020. Concentrating efforts to eradicate invasive mammals on these 107 islands would benefit 151 populations of 80 highly threatened vertebrates and make a major contribution towards achieving global conservation targets adopted by the world’s nations.

Available online

Call Number: [EL]

Physical Description: 10 p.