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ISLAND CONSERVATION
IMPACT REPORT
2014/2015
Why Islands?
From
fearing
extinction
to
cheering
existence
Few places on Earth rival the incredible diversity
of species found on islands. Islands make up less
than 5 percent of the world’s land mass, yet are
home to 20 percent of all bird, reptile, and plant
species. Some islands host hundreds—or even
thousands—of plant and animal species found
nowhere else in the world.
But these rare species are going extinct. Islands
contain almost half of all Critically Endangered
plants and animals. Extinction rates are
disproportionately greater on islands—they are
the site of 80% of all known extinctions, with
invasive species as the primary cause.
JUST AS THE THREAT OF EXTINCTION
IS HIGHEST ON ISLANDS,
SO ARE OUR OPPORTUNITIES TO
SAVE SPECIES AT RISK.
With your support, we are saving island plants
and animals from extinction and ensuring that
healthy island ecosystems continue to exist on
our big blue planet.
SAVING A SPECIES IS NOT EASY.
FOR MOST ORGANIZATIONS, IT’S
RARE TO HAVE THAT
LEVEL OF SUCCESS.
BUT NOT US.
WE’RE CHANGING THE WAY
CONSERVATION IS DONE.
SO, OUR PROJECTS
RESULT IN REAL,
MEASURABLE IMPACT
AND
THE LONG-LASTING
PROTECTION OF
THREATENED
ISLAND
SPECIES.
Photo: Endangered Tuamotu Sandpiper,
known as the “Titi” in French Polynesia
FEATURED PROJECTS
Meet the First Pinzón Giant Tortoises Born in the Wild in 100 Years
More than 100 years ago, rats invaded Pinzón Island and began feeding on the eggs and
hatchlings of the Pinzón Giant Tortoise (pictured), a species found only on that island.
Invasive rats consume not only tortoise eggs but tortoise hatchlings as well. So, in 1965,
conservationists initiated a captive-rearing program aimed at getting tortoises past this
critical life stage.
In December 2012, the Galápagos National Park, assisted by Island Conservation, The
Raptor Center of the University of Minnesota, and Bell Laboratories, Inc., completed a
bold project to remove invasive rodents from Pinzón and Plaza Sur Islands, eliminating the
primary invasive species threat to the tortoise. In early 2015, after extensive monitoring,
partners confirmed that Pinzón and Plaza Sur Islands are both rodent free. Scientists
also returned to the island and observed many wild-born hatchling tortoises thriving,
indicating that tortoises are successfully hatching new generations.
How One Tough Team Is Saving Two Threatened Species
Over the past two years, Island Conservation has been supporting a local field team
(pictured) in the Dominican Republic to protect two threatened iguana species on
Cabritos Island: the Critically Endangered Ricord’s Iguana and the Vulnerable Rhinoceros
Iguana. Invasive species on the island jeopardize iguana populations by eating their eggs
and young, destroying nests, and damaging critical habitat. Removal of these invasive
species will protect the iguanas from the threat of extinction and provide the opportunity
for the island’s natural ecosystems to recover.
Island Conservation and SOH Conservation are supporting the Dominican Republic
Ministry of Environment and Natural Resources in this international effort to restore
Cabritos Island. In 2014–2015, we trained and supported local field teams who continued
removal of feral cats and invasive burros from the island. We are striving to finish the
project in early 2016, and monitoring efforts will continue for at least another year.
Vulnerable Humboldt Penguin Protected in Chile
Two globally threatened seabird species nest on Choros Island, Chile: the Vulnerable
Humboldt Penguin (pictured) and the Endangered Peruvian Diving-petrel. Invasive
rabbits on Choros Island were destroying the ecosystem by occupying seabird burrows,
increasing erosion, and browsing on vegetation. Humboldt Penguins depend on intact
burrows for nesting, while smaller seabirds use vegetation and burrows for hiding and
avoiding native predators.
Beginning in July 2013, Island Conservation and local partners assisted the Chilean
Forestry Corporation (CONAF) in removing invasive rabbits from Choros Island. After
extensive monitoring efforts, including the use of a detection dog to verify the presence
or absence of invasive rabbits, the partners declared the island rabbit-free in January
2015. Early observations on the island, including the sprouting of healthy native plant
seedlings, suggest positive ecosystem responses may already be taking place.
To read about these projects,
visit our online Impact Report at
www.islandconservation.org/report/2015/
WELCOME FRIENDS!
Welcome to our new impact report! This booklet replaces our former impact report and is complemented by an enhanced
online report, which can be found at www.islandconservation.org/report/2015/. There you’ll find stories about all the projects
identified in this booklet, our 2014 donor list (found here as well) and partner list, fun and interesting statistics, an interactive
map of all the places where we’re working, financials (also below), and photo galleries from the field. We hope you will take a
few minutes to visit the site and let us know what you think!
With support from our donors, partners, and friends like you, we’ve had another amazing run this year. We’re excited to share
with you our incredible conservation impacts, from Extinct-in-the-Wild tortoise hatchlings surviving for the first time in more
than 100 years on Pinzón Island, Galápagos, to restoring six islands in French Polynesia to protect one of our world’s rarest
bird species, to native seedlings returning on Choros Island, Chile, thanks to a dedicated team and a furry, four-legged friend.
Thank you for being amazing partners and friends of Island Conservation. It is because of your action and dedication to
preventing extinctions that we are able to save species across the globe.
Sincerely,
P.S. If you’d like to make a gift to Island Conservation,
please feel free to use the enclosed envelope or
visit us online at our newly improved website,
www.islandconservation.org. Making an online
donation is now easier than ever and always taxdeductible.* Thank you for your support!
*In the United States
2014 FINANCIAL INFORMATION
Other Income
Contracts
Foundations and
Organizations
Individuals
2014 DONORS
Stephen Aronson
Autoridad Nacional del Ambiente (ANAM)
Bahamas National Trust
Bailey Smith Fund
Craig and Barbara Barrett
Austin Bates
Jackie Bates
Jill Bates
Bell Laboratories, Inc.
BOARDnetWORK
Bobolink Foundation
William K. Bowes, Jr.
Foundation
Anthony Brake
Eliza Brown and Hal Candee
H. Buster Brown
Todd Bryan
Kathleen Buchli
Patricia Callahan
The Campbell Foundation
Isabel Castro
Yvon Chouinard
Art Cooley
Corporación Nacional
Forestal, Chile (CONAF)
Critical Ecosystem
Partnership Fund
Dawson Family Fund, an
advised fund of the Silicon
Valley Community
Foundation
Irving Decatur & Cecile
Derouin
Alondra Diaz
Donors through the Island
Conservation Amazon
Smile Program
Kirk Elwell
Environment Canada
Janet Eyre
Cielo Figuerola
David Finkelstein
Solon and Diane Finkelstein
Matthew Fraker
Lesley Franz
Galápagos Conservancy
Lydia M. Garvey
Global Environment Facility
Global Wildlife Conservation
Ana Gonzalez and Julian
Sevillano
Government of Australia
Government of Tonga
Richard Griffiths
Hawai‘i Community
Foundation
The Leona M. and Harry B.
Helmsley Charitable Trust
Jon Hoekstra and Jennifer
Steele
Jose Luis Herrera-Giraldo
International Union for the
Conservation of Nature
Pat Jackson
Kaho‘olawe Island Reserve
Commission
Alan and Ruth Keitt
Janning and Scott Kennedy
The Kingfisher Foundation
Mary Kleinschmidt
Jennifer Lape
Jen Lape and Mark Readdie
Jim Lightner
Llagas Foundation
Finn T. Longinotto
Andrew Luk
MacKinnon Family
Charitable Foundation
Don Macnaughtan
March Conservation Fund
March Foundation
Kristen and Baldo Marinovic
Stephanie McAulifee and
Sheree Rife
Richard McCombs and
Claire Cummings
Susan McGreevy
Clark and Carol Mitchel
Mitsubishi Corporation
Foundation for the
Americas
The Leo Model Foundation
The Mohamed bin Zayed
Species Conservation Fund
Gail Monreal
Morrison Foerster
Will Murray
National Fish and Wildlife
Foundation
Laura Naughton
Susan Newman
Newman’s Own Foundation
Sally and Jimmy O’Donnell
Julie and Trevor O’Grady
ONF Conosur
Open Door Foundation
Kevin Osborne
Christopher Overall
The David and Lucile
Packard Foundation
Heath Packard
Panama Autoridad Nacional
del Ambiente
Ingrid Parker and Greg Gilbert
Patagonia, Inc.
Bruce Posthumus
Puerto Rico Department of
Environment and Natural
Resources
John and Evelyn Readdie
Liam Revell
RJM Foundation
Christine Russell and Mark
Schlesinger
Jennifer Rycenga
Salesforce Foundation
Sandler Foundation
Schmitz-Fromherz Family
Fund
Peter Schuyler
Susan Scott and Craig
Thomas
Walter Sedgwick
Wayne Sentman
Shanbrom Family Foundation
M. Gretchen Shea
Teri Sigler
Dan Simberloff
Peter Steinberg
The Steinberg Family
Steinberg, Nutter & Brent in
honor of Juanicio Steinberg
Evelyn and Thomas Steiner
Larisa Stephan
Roger Still
Mark and Leila Sutherland
Mike Sweeney
Jack and Rikki Swenson
Bill Taylor
Glen Tepke
Steve and Brit Thal
Kathryn Tosney
Tuscan Archipelago National
Park
United Nations Convention
on Biological Diversity
United Nations Development
Programme
United Technologies
University of Auckland
U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service
Bill Waldman and Olivia
Millard
Kathryn Waldman
Alex Wegmann
Karl Wegmann
Mary and John Wegmann
Devrin Weiss
David Weissman
Judy and Marlin Whitney
Margaret Willits
Willow Grove Foundation
Michael Owen Willson
Wolf Creek Charitable
Foundation
Brenda Worden
Susan Young
Shawn Zach
Lynn Zhang
Thank you!
2161 Delaware Ave, Suite A
Santa Cruz, CA 95060
www.islandconservation.org
Photo: Sooty Tern on Palmyra Atoll.
Cover Photo: Pinzón Giant Tortoise on Pinzón Island, Galápagos.
All photos copyright Island Conservation except Acteon &
Gambier Archipelagos photo by Marie-Helene Burle and Santa
Cruz Island, Galápagos photo by Rebecca Ross