A Caribbean island that went from a barren moonscape to a vibrant animal sanctuary in a few years has been designated one of the Caribbean’s largest protected areas.
Redonda is an uninhabited Antigua and Barbuda island.
The recently established Redonda Ecosystem Reserve covers the entire island, its seagrass meadows, and a 180 km2 coral reef on roughly 30,000 hectares of land and sea. The Antigua and Barbuda government, particularly the Department of Environment (DoE), and local and international conservation organizations including the Environmental Awareness Group (EAG), Fauna & Flora, and Re:wild collaborated on this feat.
The undiscovered Redonda Ecosystem Reserve is home to 30 globally vulnerable and near-threatened species and huge seabird colonies.
This designation follows a 2016 restoration program that transformed Redonda from a ‘dusty moonscape’ into a biodiversity center. The British Mountaineering Council and other renowned conservation groups helped EAG, DoE, Fauna & Flora remove invasive species from the island to allow local species to recover.
Helena Jeffery Brown, Department of Environment Technical Coordinator and Redonda Restoration Programme founder, said: “We are happy to have restored Antigua and Barbuda’s third island, Redonda. With the Redonda Ecosystem Reserve, we’ve taken a big step toward meeting our government’s Kunming-Montreal Global Biodiversity Framework commitment to conserve at least 30% of terrestrial, inland water, coastal, and marine areas at COP 15 of the UN Convention on Biological Diversity in December 2022.”
After removing invasive rats and wild goats in 2017, Redonda has recovered quickly. The vegetation biomass has increased by approximately 2,000%, 15 land bird species have returned, and endemic reptiles have quadrupled. The severely endangered Redonda ground dragon lizard has expanded 13-fold since 2017.
EAG Redonda Ecosystem Reserve Coordinator Johnella Bradshaw was enthusiastic: “Restoring this precious area has been extraordinary. So many individuals worked hard to establish the Redonda Ecosystem Reserve, and this classification will allow us to continue rewilding the island to its magnificent, biodiverse state.”
Redonda has recovered after invasive species were removed, with native trees growing, seabirds returning, and many native animal and plant species reviving.
Despite progress, restoration continues. EAG, Fauna & Flora, Re:wild, and their partners are working to protect the island’s biodiversity.
This includes biosecurity measures to prevent reinvasions, native species recovery monitoring, marine monitoring and surveillance, sustainable fishing, and planning the reintroduction of native species like iguanas and burrowing owls that cannot naturally return to the island.
