Contributors to parakeet eradication project rewarded |15 December 2016

Members of the general public and various institutions have been recognised for their contributions to a project to eradicate the ring-necked parakeet (Kato Ver).

This took place during a ceremony held recently to mark the 33rd anniversary of the designation of the Vallée de Mai as a Unesco World Heritage Site.
The Seychelles Islands Foundation (SIF) and the Ministry of Environment, Energy and Climate Change (MEECC) organised this event to celebrate the progress made in ensuring that the Vallée de Mai remains a refuge for the Seychelles black parrot, a flagship species and the Seychelles national bird.
The ceremony, which took place at the El Coco Café at the National Botanical Gardens, was attended by the Minister for Environment, Energy and Climate Change Didier Dogley, SIF chief executive (CEO) Dr Frauke Fleischer-Dogley, SIF board members, SIF staff, representatives from the environment department, project funders – Environment Trust Fund (ETF) Seychelles; previous project team members, members of the police force and the Seychelles People’s Defence Forces (SPDF).

During the ceremony a presentation on ‘The Importance of the Vallée de Mai’ was led by English River school student Mahida Gobin.

The English River school team also received their prizes for winning a public speaking competition organised by the SIF.

The eradication project former team leader, Laurent Leite, also gave a presentation on the project, which was launched in July 2013 by SIF and the department of environment.

Mr Leite presented details of the three-year project in which a total of 547 birds have been culled to date.

Minister Dogley and trustee of the SIF board Stephen Rousseau presented two organisations and five members of the public with certificates and tokens of appreciation. Although the seven recipients were not the only members of the public who contributed to the eradication, they were selected as recipients of the awards because they had been in most regular contact with the project team and provided information on multiple birds over a long period of time.

In her remarks, Dr Fleischer-Dogley recognised and thanked all the stakeholders that have contributed to the eradication project, including the Public Security Support Wing (PSSW) and SPDF, who both provided key staff to attach to the project as escorts.

She emphasised on the importance of public input throughout the eradication effort.

“The information provided by the public was of vital importance at every stage but especially for the last elusive birds to be targeted when the parakeet population had plummeted,” she said.

Dr Fleischer-Dogley stated that if success is confirmed, this will be a significant achievement for Seychelles since it would become the first country in the world to eradicate the ring-necked parakeet, which is considered a pest and is locally controlled in many countries. 

“The last known parakeet was shot in May this year. There hasn’t been a confirmed sighting of a single bird since then but it is too early for us to declare eradication success. SIF will monitor the situation over the next few months and if we reach 12 months without a confirmed sighting we will be confident of success,” she said.

Minister Dogley gave a short address in which he highlighted the conservation successes in Seychelles, but also the threats.

“Some of the most important successes have been the eradications of several invasive species on various islands, such as the Red-whiskered bulbul and Madagascar fody and most importantly the collaboration between people and organisations working towards conservation goals,” he said.

The bounty award of R2000 for any sighting that can be confirmed by the ring-necked parakeet team remains in place.

SIF hopes to be able to announce the eradication of the ring-necked parakeet from Seychelles in 2017.