British Overseas Territories
Howard Stableford looks at conservation issues in some of the British Overseas Territories.
Howard Stableford is in the chair for this Christmas Day Saving Species. On this day our thoughts are about spending time at home with our family, so for this week's episode Howard is looking at the UK's extended family with a programme on conservation in some of the British Overseas Territories.
We report on the news that a rare and highly endangered frog from Monserrat and Dominica in the Caribbean has successfully bred in London Zoo. Ed Drewitt discusses with Dr Ian Stephen this last chance conservation effort to save the Mountain chicken frog threatened with the Chytrid fungus; a disease fatal to 2/3 of all amphibians.
From tropical seas to the windswept island of S Georgia where the largest rat eradication project in the world is about to happen. Team Rat set off in January to save the albatrosses and petrels that nest on the sub-Antarctic eden from being eaten by rodents.
Howard discusses the establishment of marine conservation areas around the overseas territories with Alistair Gammell of the PEW Foundation. Overseas Territories are not just the land itself, it includes the seas that surround them for 200 nautical miles and include some of the richest seas in the world. Howard then questions the DEFRA Minister for Biodiversity, Richard Benyon, what the UK plans to do to help protect the precious places that make up British Overseas Territories.
Presenter Howard Stableford
Producer Mary Colwell
Editor Julian Hector.
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British Overseas Territories
The United Kingdom has responsibility for , which are spread throughout the globe and support a diverse range of ecosystems and habitats, and sustain a large number of rare and threatened species.
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In October, Environment Minister Richard Benyon announced that Britain鈥檚 Overseas Territories will be preserved through a Government fund of around 拢2 million a year.听 The is dedicated to environmental and conservation projects in the UK鈥檚 OTs.
South Georgia
One of the 14 British Overseas Territories听is in the southern Atlantic Ocean.听 South Georgia is home to a such as the and the , however there is one听species which is due to be completely eradicated from the听island -听the brown rat.
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Brown rats were first introduced to the island through sealing boats in the late 18th Century听and听with no natural predators the population quickly multiplied.听 Feeding on the chicks and eggs of ground-nesting birds, the rats have depleted听the population听of birds such as the South Georgia pipit and the South Georgia pintail.
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The project set up听to eradicate brown rats from the island, dubbed was directed by Professor Tony Martin, an expert in animal conservation from the University of Dundee.听 Tony is听on right of photo with reporter Howard Stableford.
The Mountain Chicken
Despite its name, the (Leptodactylus fallax)听is in fact one of the world's largest frogs.听 So named because its meat is said to taste like chicken, sadly it is one of the world's most threatened听frog species. Formerly found on a variety of Caribbean islands, now the Mountain Chicken is only found听on two, Montserrat and Dominica.
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The dramatic decline of the species is due to a number of factors including human consumption, habitat loss and .听 In order to rebuild numbers, a range of zoos, including ,听are taking part in captive breeding programmes.
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Image courtesy of the Zoological Society of London.
Broadcasts
- Christmas Day 2012 11:30成人论坛 Radio 4
- Thu 27 Dec 2012 21:00成人论坛 Radio 4
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