FINAL REPORT - Seabird Survey of Aleipata Offshore Islands, Samoa. 24-26 October 2022

The Aleipata group of offshore islands have been identified as one of eight Key Biodiversity Areas (KBAs) in Samoa. They are located at the south-eastern end of Upolu Island at 14o3’447.28”S, 171o25’23.84”W (Nu’utele) and 14o4’22.11”S and 171o24’36.17”W (Nu’ulua) offshore. This project updates population estimates and establish baseline data and information on breeding seabirds of the Aleipata offshore islands and investigate the feasibility of future tracking studies of some species.

Just one year after the launch of the Island-Ocean Connection Challenge (IOCC), Island Conservation, Re:wild, and UC San Diego’s Scripps Institution of Oceanography, along with a growing cadre of IOCC partners are excited to announce the first eight island-ocean ecosystems selected to be res

Harnessing island–ocean connections to maximize marine benefits of island conservation

Islands  support  unique  plants,  animals,  and  human societies found nowhere else on the Earth. Local and global stressors threaten the persistence of island ecosystems, with invasive species being among the most damaging, yet solvable, stressors. While the threat of invasive terrestrial mammals on island flora and fauna is well recognized, recent studies have begun to illustrate their extended and destructive impacts on adjacent marine environments.

Buyers of Ian Gowrie-Smith’s private atoll in Papua New Guinea must show care for the islands and maintain conservation activities, but will anyone cough up? Each of the 21 islands is ringed by powder-white sand and capped with jungle, teeming with butterflies, tropical orchids and PNG’s fab