[Annual Rodent Control Issue] Finally!

A remarkable chapter recently drew to a close on the sub-Antarctic island of South Georgia. The South Georgia Heritage Trust concluded the baiting phase of its multi-year project to remove invasive rodents that have destroyed most of the native birds on one of the world’s most important seabird sanctuaries. But the story is not over: The Habitat Restoration Project now has entered a new phase, which will include intensive monitoring to identify whether the baiting phase has been successful, and sharing the experience and lessons learned in order to contribute to the future success of other eradications around the world.

“When I first began coming to this magical island 20 years ago, I only dreamed that it could one day be free of rats, and now because of our work, I can say that it is very likely that South Georgia is now rat free,” said Project Director Tony Martin, professor of animal conservation from the University of Dundee in Scotland. “Already the South Georgia pipit, the world’s most southerly songbird, and South Georgia pintails, both endemic species found only here, are returning in numbers we could never have imagined, along with other species which were the victims of rats. But it will take decades, even centuries, before the birdlife returns to the numbers which existed before man — and rodents — arrived.”
 

A Group Effort.

One of the many aspects of this project, which officials say is the world’s largest rodent eradication operation, is that it has been undertaken by a small Scottish charity, the South Georgia Heritage Trust (SGHT), based in Dundee.

The total cost of the Habitat Restoration Project, including the monitoring work still to come, is expected to be £7.5 million (about $11.7 million). It has been funded entirely by voluntary donations raised by SGHT and its U.S. counterpart, Friends of South Georgia Island (FOSGI). Donors include U.K., U.S. and Norwegian trusts and foundations; a wide range of individual supporters, including thousands of tourists visiting South Georgia on cruise ships; the UK government; and support in kind from U.S. and U.K. corporations.

SGHT says it also is grateful for the assistance received from the government of South Georgia and the South Sandwich Islands and the British Antarctic Survey, without whose support it would not have been feasible for the trust to carry out this conservation work.

“The Habitat Restoration Project is far from over, especially in terms of the ongoing fundraising,” said Alison Neil, CEO of the South Georgia Heritage Trust. “While we cannot yet be certain that South Georgia is rat-free, although the signs are really positive, what we can say with confidence is that the baiting work has been completed successfully, safely, on time and within budget!”

In January an 18-member international team known as “Team Rat,” led by Martin, set off for South Georgia to undertake the third and final baiting phase. Three months later the last pellet of bait was laid, and this British Overseas Territory in the South Atlantic is hoped to be free of rodents for the first time in more than two centuries.

Planning for the ambitious Habitat Restoration Project began in 2007, and the fieldwork was undertaken in three phases in 2011, 2013 and 2015. Statistics related to the scale of the project include:

• A total of 1,050 square kilometers successfully baited.
• 290 tonnes of rodenticide spread by three former Air Ambulance helicopters
• 100 percent of the island’s rat-infested areas now baited, making it eight times larger than any other rodent eradication area.
• 1,000 flying hours, equivalent to flying around the world three times.

During the third and final phase of fieldwork alone, 95 tonnes of bait were laid by the trust’s helicopters, using GPS tracking systems to keep an accurate record of bait coverage, as well as some hand-baiting over an area of 364 square kilometres. The three-month field operation involved almost 350 flying hours, requiring 260 bait pods to be laid and 350 drums of fuel to keep the helicopters in the skies above South Georgia.

“While a further two-year monitoring period is necessary before we can be fully confident of complete success, it is certainly possible — indeed highly probable — that South Georgia is now rodent-free,” said Howard Pearce, chairman of SGHT’s international board of trustees. “There have already been significant sightings of native species in areas where they have not been seen in living memory.”

For further information about the Habitat Restoration Project visit www.sght.org.