Restoring and rewilding islands that have been decimated by damaging invaders provides benefits to both the coastal and marine environment. It is possible to link land and sea in a way that will provide benefits for biodiversity, climate resilience and ocean health. The new era of conservativism focuses on the interconnectedness of the entire environment.
A new perspective titled "Harnessing island–ocean connections to maximize marine benefits of island conserve" was published in the PNAS today. The result is a model for effective land-sea preservation and management decisions by governments, foundations, Indigenous peoples, local communities and NGOs.
Stuart A. Sandin is the lead author of the perspective and a marine ecologist.
A disproportionate amount of rare plants, animals, communities, and cultures can be found on islands. A healthy land-sea system depends on a flow of nutrients from oceans to islands and from islands to oceans. Islands with high seabird populations are associated with larger fish populations, faster-growing coral reefs, and increased rates of coral recovery from climate change impacts, according to research.
Rats that eat bird eggs and young hatchlings on islands have driven many seabird species to extinction. On land and in the sea, the loss of these populations leads to collapse. One of the best ways to restore native flora and fauna is to remove invaders from islands.
"Islands and oceans are connected, something many people living along coasts have long understood, depended on and managed as a result," saidPenny Becker, PhD, a co-author of the perspective and vice president of the nonprofit IslandConservation. It is possible to protect and restore both islands and coastal regions by linking efforts on land and on the water.
The insights put forward by the authorship collaboration can help shape where the most impactful marine co-benefits of island restoration can occur. The environmental characteristics that can be used to prioritize island-ocean restorations are precipitation, elevation, vegetation cover, soil hydrology, oceanographic productivity, and wave energy.
The paper identifies islands with higher rainfall, lower wave energy, and other conditions that are consistent with high land–sea connections as having high potential to produce marine co-benefits.
Wes Sechrest, the co-author and chief scientist and CEO of the nonprofit Re:wild, said that the research was useful in helping to prioritize where to focus the most important work. By restoring and rewilding Floreana Island, we now know that we will also be restoring and protecting wildlife in the Marine protected area surrounding the island and beyond. It's crucial to build a sustainable Floreana for local islanders and a healthier planet.
The negative effects of Invasive species have been seen firsthand by the residents of Floreana, and they are playing a central role in restoring the island.
The island of Sonsorol has high land-sea potential. Due to the reduction in seabirds, the surrounding reefs are not as productive as they could be. The community of Sonsorol Island depends a lot on the local resources. Sonsorol Island residents used to live in harmony with their environment and thrived on the natural resources provided by the land and sea.
Kate Brown is the executive director of the Global Island Partnership and co-author. It is possible to improve our world's biodiversity both on land and in the sea. We can build resilient island communities by supporting healthy island and marine environments.
The Sonsorol and Floreana island restoration projects are part of an ambitious new environmental campaign called the Island- Ocean Connection Challenge, which aims to restore and rewild at least 40 globally significant island ecosystems by 2030.
Sandin, Stuart A., Harnessing island–ocean connections to maximize marine benefits of island conservativism, was a paper published in the National Academy of Sciences. The DOI is 10.1073/pnas.2122354118.
Journal information: Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences
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