The Agreement on the Conservation of Albatrosses and Petrels launches World Albatross Day on June 19th, 2020.

Island Conservation’s mission is to prevent extinctions by removing invasive species from islands. We work with local communities, government management agencies and conservation organizations on islands with the greatest potential for preventing the extinction of globally threatened species. We develop comprehensive and humane plans for the removal of invasive species, implement the removal of invasive species; and conduct research to better understand how invasive species removal changes and benefits island ecosystems and to inform future conservation action.

Island Conservation is headquartered in the United States with field offices in Australia, Canada, Chile, Ecuador, New Zealand and Puerto Rico. Since our founding in 1994 Island Conservation and our partners have successfully restored 64 islands worldwide, benefiting 1195 populations of 487 species and subspecies.

We are proud to be celebrating World Albatross Day while implementing projects this year to remove invasive House Mice from Midway and Gough Islands in partnership with the United States Fish & Wildlife Service and the United Kingdom’s Royal Society for the Protection of Birds. These projects will help restore the breeding habitat of six species of albatrosses. Restoration of breeding habitat through removal of invasive predators is a proven conservation tool that can have lasting and permanent benefits for breeding marine birds, including albatrosses. The eradication of invasive species from islands removes one of the many pressures these birds face, and we are proud to be contributing to the successes of these globally significant programs around the world.”

Gregg Howald, Director of Global and External Affairs, Island Conservation

This year the Agreement on the Conservation of Albatrosses and Petrels (ACAP) has chosen the theme “Eradicating Island Pests” to mark the inauguration of World Albatross Day on June 19th of this year. By then the eradication efforts on both Gough Island and Midway Atoll will be underway or in the last stages of planning. Although their success will not be immediately known, all who celebrate World Albatross Day 2020 with ACAP and Island Conservation will surely be cheering for the successful restoration of these seabird safe havens.

Featured photo: Laysan Albatross on Lehua Island. Credit: Tom Green
Originally printed by: The Agreement on the Conservation of Albatrosses and Petrels