Redonda is a tiny lump of rock in the Caribbean, located almost equidistant from Antigua, St. Kitts and Monserrat. I have flown over that area many times but have never even noticed it. It belongs to Antigua and Barbuda, but I would guess that few of those Islands’ inhabitants know it exists either. However, the few tenacious Antiguans and Barbudans who led the metamorphosis of Redonda are celebrating an impressive feat.
The mile-long rock has been officially designated a protected area by the country’s government, ensuring its status as a pivotal nesting site for migrating birds, and a home for several species found nowhere else on earth. The Redonda Ecosystem Reserve, which also encompasses surrounding seagrass meadows and a coral reef, spans a colossal 30,000 hectares (74,000 acres). Its sheer size means the country has already met its “30×30” target, a global goal to protect 30% of the planet for nature by 2030.
Today, Redonda is bursting with biodiversity, including dozens of threatened species, globally important seabird colonies, and endemic lizards; the number of ground dragons rebounded as the environment recovered.
However, it did not always look like this as you can see from the first picture above.
Invasive black rats that preyed on reptiles, and ate birds’ eggs, along with goats introduced by early colonists had devastated Redonda’s vegetation, and left the island looking like a barren moonscape. An ambitious project launched in 2016 to relocate the goats and eradicate the rats saw the greenery spring back to life, bringing with it an exponential rise in native species.
The work was piloted by a local NGO, the Environmental Awareness Group (EAG), in sync with the government and overseas partners including Fauna and Flora International (FFI). The EAG’s executive director Arica Hill describes the new protected status as a “huge win for Antiguans and Barbudans. “This is the largest marine protected area in the Eastern Caribbean; it showcases the amazing work that conservationists and environmentalists can do right at home” she says. “What is even more significant is that the government has trusted us to legally manage it too.”
The group is already carrying out feasibility studies in the hope of reintroducing species found on Redonda many years ago, such as the burrowing owl, a small sandy-coloured bird that nests underground. The EAG is also setting up a robust governance system to ensure the island remains free of invasive critters. (I assume that includes humans!). The governance system includes surveillance cameras to look out for errant rats and to monitor local fishing activities, which must adhere to strict guidelines.
Since the efforts began, 15 species of land birds have returned to the island, while numbers of endemic lizards, like the critically endangered Redonda ground dragon, have soared. Local residents who once dubbed Redonda “the rock” are now its most vehement guardians.
For small developing islands that exist on the frontier of climate change, Redonda’s success represents a rare bright spark, amid a glut of gloomy environmental headlines. One Antiguan official said, “We are putting our money where our mouth is. I hope this is an inspiration to other countries that if little Antigua and Barbuda can do it, so can you.”
The project on Redonda has also changed other forces on Antigua/Barbuda. Johnella Bradshaw, the reserve’s coordinator, says the accomplishments are more personal for her. “Growing up, and going through school and college, a career in the environmental field was unheard of. The emphasis was on being a doctor, dentist or lawyer,” she says. “When you think about conservation, you think about things happening in America or Europe, not a little island in the Caribbean. Now we are at the forefront of international conservation, we can change that narrative, and show younger generations that people who look like me, and live where I do, can do this.”
Johnella is eager to prove that the protected status won’t just exist “on paper” but “in reality too”. Like her compatriots, she’s all too aware of the unprecedented climactic conditions facing the country. Six years ago, Barbuda was devastated by Hurricane Irma, and warming seas continue to pose an existential threat to islands across the region. “You hear about climate change, rising temperatures and stronger storms, but we are feeling it. This summer has been awful, it’s so hot,” Johnella adds. “But if we all play our part, together we can make a difference.”
In the current climate change world of gloom and doom it is refreshing to report concrete, positive steps being taken, rather than wishful, pie-in-the-sky, and often meaningless pontifications of major public officials and countries.
