Issue 38 (Apr – Jun 2012)

Ascension Island Conservation Quarterly
Issue 38—April to June 2012
Hi readers, I am pleased to say with the much appreciated funds from OTEP, JNCC and Darwin to take on
these new marine and terrestrial projects, Ascensions fragile bio-diversity is now being taken to another level
for future generations to see and enjoy. Since our last issue we have been able to show all of this to FCO
officials, H E Governor Capes and VIP's passing through Ascension.
Stedson Stroud, MBE. Conservation Officer, Ascension Island Government
EDITORIAL
Hello everyone,
We have just had another busy and interesting quarter. Dr Colin Clubbe from Royal Botanic
Gardens Kew, visited us in April. Spores were collected from Ascensions endemic fern
Anogramma ascensionis and taken back to Kew, where they are now successfully germinating.
Many thanks to the military for your volunteer work clearing invasive species from the Green
Mountain National Park pathways. Thanks also to visitors for volunteering with weeding at the
endemic restoration site, and assistance with turtle and seabird monitoring. Your support is
much appreciated.
The Ascension Day Fair was a successful event. The Conservation Team held a stall to raise
awareness on Ascensions flora and fauna, this included fun and educational games for the
children.
Congratulations to Dr Nicola Weber and Dr Sam Weber who are the successful Darwin Fellows for
the new Darwin Project, Implementing a Darwin Initiative Biodiversity Action Plan for Ascension
Island.
We hope you all enjoy reading this issue!
Jolene and Natasha
CONTENT
RSPB SEABIRD RESTORATION PROJECT
TRIBUTE TO GEORGE BENJAMIN, MBE
OTEP ASC 801—AN ECOSYSTEM APPROACH TO PLANT CONSERVATION ON ASCENSION IS.
OTEP ASC 803—STATUS OF MARINE TURTLES ON ASCENSION ISLAND
NEW DARWIN INITIATIVE PROJECT
DARWIN RESTORATION PROJECT-NEW ARRIVALS ST HELENA
VISIT TO ASCENSION ISLAND
TRAINING AT KEW GARDENS, PLANTS CENSUS, ETC.
A NEW APPROACH TOWARDS BIOCONTROL OF NON-NATIVE INVASIVE SPECIES ON ASCENSION
ISLAND
FALKLANDS VERSES ASCENSION—SO DIFFERENT?
VOLUNTEERING WITH CONSERVATION
POLICE UPDATE SEA EXCURSION EXERCISE
VISIT TO ASCENSION ISLAND
ENRICHMENT—PLANTING A SCHOOL GARDEN OF ENDEMIC AND INDIGENOUS PLANTS
VISIT FROM THE GOVERNOR OF ST HELENA
SE TRACK NAMING CEREMONY
VISITORS TO CONSERVATION
PUBLIC AWARENESS
Contributed by Nathan Fowler and Dane Wade
Seabird Restoration Project
Hi everybody,
This is another up-date from the RSPB Seabird Restoration Team.
Dane returned back to the Island during early May 2012, we would like to thank Conservation staff and
volunteers for helping with the seabird monitoring program during his absence.
Letterbox
Over the last three months we have been monitoring the Frigate bird decoys at Mandela Ridge and Crater
Cliff. The decoys have been successful in attracting attention from the Frigate birds, in particular the
juvenile Frigates which have been seen roosting amongst the decoys. There haven’t been any signs of pairing
or nesting Frigates amongst or near the decoys, but we are still very hopeful!
We have started to do our peak season counts of all the Masked Boobies on Mandela Ridge. These peak
season counts are carried out in
May, June and July.
Feathered
Site No.
Site Name
Adults
Chicks
AON's
1
Wade In
60
12
34
2
Fowlers Field
82
16
43
3
Fishers Stinkpots
20
3
12
4
Williams Bluff
15
1
8
5
Supple Lava Beds
18
2
10
6
Stroud Outback
25
10
11
7
Sim Ranges
12
0
4
8
Far Out Mackley
8
0
3
9
Hesketh Heights
20
6
18
10
Atlantic View
42
8
39
11
Decoy Gulch
15
4
11
12
Benji Hill
0
2
0
317
64
193
574
The table to the left shows peak
season counts of the Masked
Boobies in June 2012.
Under Razors Edge we monitor
an area every fortnight for nest
productivity; this will determine
the number of attempted and
failed nests, and number of
fledglings. There are currently 19
active nests in this area, containing
mainly full sized chicks with a few
feathers (F1). The success rate of
fully fledged chicks has been
phenomenal during the last 3
months!
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Stack 8
At Stack 8 there are currently 11 active nests in the area, 9 of these nests contain 5 week old checks. There
has been several failed nest attempts mainly caused by rough seas and abandonment.
Photo - Brown Noddy chick at Stack 8
Mars bay
At Mars Bay there are now Sooty Terns nesting near Beehive Rock. The status of the nests in this area varies
from eggs to chicks of all stages. We are continuously checking the Fairs for geo-locators on a weekly basis,
but to date there has been no sightings.
During late April we started a Sooty Tern nest success plot – this plot (named Fowler Plot 1) is left
undisturbed, and is monitored weekly from a distance by binoculars. Two weeks ago there were 150 adults,
100eggs and 17 chicks. There are now 190 adults, 160 eggs and 25 chicks – so far this shows a good success
rate!
Photo - Sooty Terns with
chicks at Mars Bay
Waterside fairs
There are currently no Sooty Terns on the ground at
Waterside Fairs. There were many Sooty Terns preparing
to nest at the back of Waterside on the 17th April 2012,
but a week later on the 24th the Sooty's had left, and since
then only a small number of Terns can be seen flying in the
area. There are still several Brown Noddies nesting at Waterside.
Photo of Waterside Fairs
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Tribute to the late George Benjamin, MBE
Contributed by Ascension Island Conservation Officer, Stedson Stroud, MBE
A tribute to the late George Benjamin MBE - one of St Helena’s natural born botanists who has inspired me
and was my mentor, and perhaps inspired many of our young island conservationists. George has left a
legacy for future generations and was part of the team that helped me to identify the rediscovery of the
extinct endemics Bastard gumwood (commidendrum rotundifolium) and the St Helena Boxwood (mellissia
begonifolia).
Picture above shows Stedson with George at the ‘George Benjamin Exhibition’,
Heritage Museum, Jamestown, St Helena Island.
Above left : Bastard gumwood (commidendrum rotundifolium)
Above right : St Helena Boxwood (mellissia begonifolia)
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OTEP ASC 801—Plants Project 2011
Contributed by Catherine Supple and Liza White, Project Officers
An Ecosystem Approach to Plant Conservation on Ascension Island
April- June update on work so far………………
As part of the project we have been training at Kew Botanical Gardens and the Millennium Seed Bank. A
specialised training programme was organized by Colin Clubbe at Kew to incorporate all aspects of horticultural
and conservation based techniques that would be helpful to us on the island. We received micro-propagation
training as this gave us an insight on how some of the spore bearing ferns can be propagated successfully and
greater numbers produced.
The tropical nursery training was helpful as we got an insight into how a well-established and stocked nursery
operates and we were shown techniques on propagation, irrigation and the identification of pests and diseases
which we can use in our own nursery. The herbarium collection and UKOT’s online herbarium database was very
interesting as we were shown the complete process of how the collection was made and also highlighted the
importance of these collections in conservation documentation. The training we received
at the Millennium Seed Bank was extremely interesting. It gave us an insight into the whole process from the
collection of the seed, cleaning, cut and germination testing, and storing at -20oC to ensure long term viability.
From this training we discussed further ways that the project can aid with long term conservation of endemic and
native plant conservation on Ascension.
On the island the project has been developing steadily. Since our training at Kew Botanic Gardens and the
Millennium Seed Bank we have been incorporating the skills learnt into our project. We have started collecting
and analysing the seeds that are to be used in the project: Euphorbia origanoides, Portulacaolearceae, Aristida
adscensionis and Cyperus appendiculatus. This involves careful seed cleaning, microscopic analysis and the removal of
dead and damaged seeds. Once a batch of seeds is collected we then perform a cut-test to see if the seed is full i.e.
contains an entire endosperm that is necessary for germination. This involves selecting a representative
proportion of the seed batch and each seed is cut carefully to see if it is alive or dead. A live seed should have a
firm white endosperm. If the cut-test results in a large proportion of live seed the batch is entered into our seed
bank and will therefore remain viable and ready for sowing in the future.
Utilising another technique obtained from training we have started a herbarium collection of all plant species on
the island. The herbarium collection will aid as a referencing tool for plant identification, documentation of the
islands species and also a collection of the endemic and natives will be sent to the herbarium at Kew gardens
which will be entered onto the UKOT’s online herbarium.
With inspiration from Kew nursery work has continued with the aim to have a full endemic and native ex-situ
collection of plants in the shade tunnels. We have continued the propagation, both by seed and by vegetative
means, of both the endemics and natives with germination proving to be very successful. We are hoping to start
work on a new shade tunnel in Two Boats village. This will be a hotter and dryer nursery than that on the Green
Mountain and species which grow on the lower, dry larva flows such as Euphorbia, Aristida and Puslane may
flourish here.
We have been helping with a conservation project based on creating an endemic and native garden in Two Boats
School. An area in the schools grounds has been cleared and fenced off to reduce grazing pressure. A selection of
plants will be planted, cared for and the process fully documented by the school children to give them knowledge
of the importance of these species and also the care needed to maintain the garden.
We have continued to undertake invasive species work on the on-going restoration sites and also observations of
the wild populations of Anogrammaascensionis ,Marattiapurpurascens, Sporoboluscaespitosus, Pterisadscensionis and
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Euphorbia origanoides to ensure numbers are maintained.
Anogrammaascensionis and Euphorbia origanoides in the wild populations
The dry-land restoration sites have been completed and are ready to be planted and seeded. Prior to planting and
in response to the project outline we are now undertaking a series of monitoring regimes to ensure we know the
entire ecology of the site before and after the planting.
Environmental monitoring has commenced at Comfortless Cove and South Gannet Hill sites. This is in
preparation of work starting on sites in the way of spreading seed in one of the fenced plots. It is of great
importance to gather pre-restoration data at this time as this opportunity is lost as soon as changes are made on
site. This record of conditions will help us assess the effects planting will have on the ecology of the area and
continuous future monitoring will establish the increase in biodiversity that restoration will bring.
Environmental data being collected before planting includes weather data i.e. air temperature and humidity,
rainfall measurements, wind speed and light intensity. Also, soil moisture and temperature levels are being
monitored as well as soil samples being sent away for chemical analysis. Along with environmental data, data on
the present vegetation of both the restoration sites and their surrounding areas is recorded to evaluate the extent
of the increase in diversity and numbers of species after restoration.
Taking soil moisture readings and light level readings, with camera trap in background
Another aim of recording environmental and vegetation data at restoration sites is to understand the ecology of
the native and endemic plants. Ideal environmental conditions can be recognized based on how well species grow
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under the varying environmental conditions across the four restoration sites. Better understanding of the ecology
of a plant and its habitat will help us recreate this as closely as possible to ensure success of future restoration
sites.
Other important knowledge for the ecology of a plant’s habitat is from the invertebrates that also inhabit the area.
Pitfall traps and bait traps have been set to collect invertebrates and again, it will be important to see if and how
this may change in diversity and numbers of invertebrate species after the habitat has been changed.
Pit
fall and bait trap buried to ground level for invertebrate collection
Finally, as we believe that grazing pressures may be an important issue on the success of the native and endemic
plants, one plot at each site has been left unfenced to monitor grazing. At these plots cameras have been set to
capture images of grazers in action. This will give a better understanding of the main culprits and the frequencies
of visits to the area. Alongside this, we can visually monitor the number of plants grazed and their recovery, if
any, to assess the impact of grazing.
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OTEP Project—Status of Marine Turtles of Ascension Island
Contributed by Dr Sam Weber and Dr Nicola Weber
The green turtle nesting season is drawing to a close now after a very successful seven months both for the turtles
and for the research work that has been carried out. We will continue to monitor the beaches for the next few
weeks until all of the turtles have left, and are currently in the process of analysing and writing-up the results.
As you may know from our previous articles, this season we carried out an intensive island-wide survey of all 32
nesting beaches on the island. The number of turtle tracks and successful nests on each beach has been counted on
a biweekly basis (with Long Beach and Pan Am counted every week due to the large proportion of nesting females
that use these beaches). By fitting statistical models to these counts we can then estimate the numbers of nests on
days when we did not count, and thus get an overall number of nests for the whole season. We are currently
using this approach to analyse a 35 year dataset on green turtle nesting to see how numbers have changed over
time. Since 1977, numbers of nests on Long Beach have increased exponentially from around 1,000 to almost
10,000 – an encouraging trend indeed!
Numbers of nests on Long Beach during the 2012 nesting season. The dots show nest counts on days when
beaches were monitored and the line shows the overall trend. By calculating the area under the line we can
estimate the total number of nests for whole the season.
Although counts of tracks and nests give us a good indication of how the green turtle population is faring overall,
they do not give us an absolute measure of population size because individual females nest more than once in a
season. To estimate how many turtles nest at Ascension we therefore need to divide our track counts by the
number of clutches laid by each female, often known as the ‘clutch frequency’. Previous work using flipper tags
suggested that each turtle nests 3 times on average. However, one of the key aims of this project was to update
this value using more recent technology. Supported by a JNCC
Research Contribution Grant we deployed radio-transmitters on 40 turtles which allowed them to be easily
relocated each time that they nested. Amazingly, we found that on average, each female lays 6 clutches of 120-
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150 eggs per season – double the previous estimate. Thus, whilst there are fewer turtles here than previously
thought, this highlights just how productive and important each individual is to the population.
A radio-telemetry tag attached to the carapace of a female green turtle. When the turtle comes ashore to lay her
eggs the transmitter emits a unique radio signal that we could detect with our receivers, allowing us to easily
relocate individual females each time that they returned to nest.
In addition to our radio tagged turtles, we also deployed three satellite transmitters kindly donated by Wildlife
Computers which allowed us to monitor their movements remotely. We found that in between laying each of
their successive clutches the turtles stayed very close to shore with little movement. Green turtles do not eat
while they are at Ascension as their regular food sources, seaweeds and sea grasses, are not found here. Thus, by
resting close to shore in between their nesting events it is likely that they are conserving energy for hauling
themselves up onto the beach at night to lay their eggs, and also for their migration back to Brazil at the end of
their nesting season. Two of the three satellite-tagged turtles are now back in Brazil, although they have chosen
different areas to take up residence – Destiny is currently close to a town called Ponta do Pabo, whilst Georgie is
further north, close to Natal. They will remain in the waters of Brazil for the next three/four years where they
will feed until they are ready to make the migration back to Ascension to mate and lay their eggs again.
Satellite maps showing Destiny’s (named by the children of Two Boats School) and Georgie’s routes across the
Atlantic from Ascension to Brazil (from www.seaturtle.org).
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Hawksbill turtles on Ascension Island
Now that the green turtle nesting season is coming to an end, we are turning our attention to the critically endangered hawksbill
turtles that are found in the near shore habitats of Ascension. Hawksbills have never been recorded nesting on Ascension, and from
their sizes it seems likely that the individuals found here are sexually immature juveniles. Since 2003, a sightings programme has
been in place, enabling members of the public to report sightings of hawksbill turtles. Although biased by observations from those
sites heavily used by humans, the map below illustrates the presence of hawksbills around most of the coastline of Ascension Island.
Location of hawksbill turtle sightings at Ascension Island, 2003-2012. Dots scaled according to number of
sightings as per the key.
From 2003-2009 staff from AI Conservation Office and recreational divers captured and tagged around 30
hawksbill turtles to study how long they spend around the Island. So far four of these turtles have been
recaptured, with an average time between tagging and recapture of over four years! During this time the turtles
had grown an average of about 3cm per year suggesting that Ascension may serve as developmental habitat for
juvenile hawksbills until they move on to their adult foraging and/or nesting sites, likely to be in Brazil or West
Africa. As hawksbills feed primarily on sponges, they are commonly associated with shallow water reefs. Indeed,
divers have observed the turtles foraging on an orange encrusting sponge that is found in rocky habitats around
the Island, suggesting that there is plenty of food for them here. We plan to continue the tagging and in-water
monitoring programme this year to allow us to better determine how long individuals are resident here. We will
also take more DNA samples to determine which nesting population(s) the juveniles around Ascension originate
from.
We would like to take this opportunity to thank OTEP and JNCC for the funding that has made the project
possible, colleagues at Ascension Island Government and the University of Exeter for all of their help, and local
volunteers for giving up their time to participate in the project. And just as one project finishes, another
begins….
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New Darwin Initiative Project
Contributed by Dr Nicola and Dr Sam Weber
Implementing a Darwin Initiative Biodiversity Action Plan for Ascension Island
We are both very pleased to have been chosen as the Darwin Post-Doctoral Research Fellows to manage and coordinate the activities of the Darwin Initiative project “Implementing a Darwin Initiative Biodiversity Action Plan for
Ascension Island”. We will continue to be based on Ascension for the next two years working on the project led by
AIG Conservation and the University of Exeter. The project also involves working closely with partner
organisations – the Centre for Ecology and Hydrology, Queen Mary University London, Royal Botanic Gardens
Kew, Royal Society for the Protection of Birds and the Universities of Lund and Liverpool. Scientists from these
organisations are already involved with past/present projects on the Island, and will visit again during this new
project to offer their expertise and lead training workshops.
Dr Broderick and Professor Godley from the University of Exeter laid out the aims and objectives of the project
in a previous edition of Conservation Quarterly (Vol. 37). To briefly reiterate, the ultimate aim of the project is
to produce the first Biodiversity Action Plan (BAP) for Ascension Island. The BAP will comprise of a series of
Species Action Plans for priority species that identify current threats and develop targeted strategies for their
conservation. An important first step in this work will be to collate and analyse all existing biological data on BAP
species. However, we will also be conducting novel research in conjunction with the partner organisations in
areas where data is lacking. The training workshops will be open to conservationists from the South Atlantic
Overseas Territories and all interested individuals on Ascension, hopefully fostering closer links between the
South Atlantic conservation community.
Recently there has been increased awareness of the importance of the UK Overseas Territories for biodiversity
and we thank the UK government for supporting projects such as these. We are privileged to be staying on the
Island and look forward to working with everyone over the coming years on this exciting and potentially highimpact project.
Darwin Restoration Project New Arrivals!
Contributed by Jodie Mills
Last month three new faces, including one that some may recognise, joined the Saint Helena National Trust to
consolidate the Darwin Habitat Restoration Project Team. The project seeks to restore two vital habitats at Blue
Point and High Peak, whilst safeguarding endangered endemic species.
Ross Towers (left) & Dr Phil Lambdon planting She Cabbage
trees at Osbournes
Rory Foster ready to abseil in search
of endemic plants
Dr Phil Lambdon is a familiar face to some on Saint Helena, having lived and worked here between 2008-2011.
Phil, originally from England, re-joins the conservation efforts on the island as Restoration Ecologist for the
Darwin Project. Phil brings with him a wealth of knowledge and experience specific to Saint Helena – just don’t
ask him about the book he’s writing on the island’s flora! He also has extensive botany and ecology experience
gleaned from working in many parts of the world in addition to Saint Helena, including Ascension Island, Greece,
and with the Royal Botanic Gardens Kew in the UK. Since arriving at the end of April, Phil and the rest of the
team have spent a week completing an abseiling course with the Saint Helena Fire Department, providing them
with the necessary skills to go in search of remnant populations of endemic plants on the island.
“We are looking forward to hopefully finding new sites of endemic plants which we can collect seed from and
grow in partnership with ANRD. These plants will then be used to restore habitats at our target sites.“
Phil was last on Saint Helena in January 2011 and is looking forward to living and working here once more.
“It’s great to be back on the island during a new chapter in Saint Helena’s history”.
Ross Towers joins the team from England as Conservation Training Officer. Originally from London, Ross has
over 10 years conservation experience gained from working and volunteering in the UK and further a field, such
as Turkey, Costa Rica, the USA, and New Zealand. Ross spent 6 years managing nature reserves for the Ulster
Wildlife Trust in Northern Ireland covering many habitat types such as small uninhabited woodland islands to
upland pasture. Ross is looking forward to making a positive difference to the restoration sites, with the help of
NVQ Apprentices, of Blue Point and High Peak as part of the Darwin Initiative Project over the next year and a
half.
“Saint Helena is a beautiful island with many amazing and unique plants and insects. I planted my first tree this
week, an endemic She Cabbage tree, at Osbournes, where ANRD and the National Trust are working in
partnership to save the last remaining wild She Cabbage population on the island.”
Outside of work, Ross is a keen scuba diver and has a particular fascination with sea turtles, having
studied and worked with them in the past.
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“I have joined the St Helena Diving Club and can’t wait to get into the water, and although they are fairly rare
visitors here, I am keeping my fingers crossed for a sighting of a turtle, one of the ocean’s most majestic animals.”
Rory Foster joins the Darwin Team from Fife in Scotland, just north of Edinburgh, as a valuable volunteer. Rory
completed a BSc degree in Sustainable Environmental Management last year and is seeking to gain experience in
practical conservation skills and habitat restoration. He brings with him experience in footpath creation, tree
planting and invasive species control gained in Scotland with the Scottish Wildlife Trust and the Fife Coast &
Countryside Trust. You may have already seen him in his traditional Scottish kilt!
“I’m thrilled to be on the island and love the friendly and warm welcome we have all received. I’m looking
forward to assisting in achieving the goals of the Darwin Project and gaining valuable experience in the field.”
The team will be spending most of their time out “in the field” collecting seeds, growing trees, controlling
invasive non-native species, and of course, planting out endemic trees and plants. If you would like to help out
with the work of the National Trust or have any queries for the team, they can be contacted at the Saint Helena
National Trust offices in Jamestown – 2224, or the main office - 2190.
Visit to Ascension Island
Contributed by David Catling
I arrived at Ascension in late February, getting up early on the RMS St. Helena to see the island’s peaks poking up
into the dawn sky. For me, this was part of a project extending over the past decade, in which I’ve been revisiting
the landfalls of Charles Darwin’s Voyage of The Beagle (1831-1836) with the aim of writing a book with a “then and
now” theme. Actually, I’ve already written about some aspects of this journey in a book published to celebrate the
two-hundredth anniversary of Darwin’s birth in 2009. Darwin visited Ascension in 1836. It was a brief stopover
on his long voyage around the world in which he quickly surveyed Ascension’s geology, flora and fauna. A week
earlier, he had been staying at St. Matthew’s vicarage on St. Helena. By 1836, the voyage had lasted more than
four years, and Darwin was keen to get home. He suffered frequent seasickness and in his notes he describes his
seminal voyage as “one continual puke”. Fortunately, my own journey was rather more pleasant.
Besides following Darwin’s trail, I also wanted to find out more about the “greening” of Green
Mountain, which was initiated in the nineteenth century by Joseph Hooker at the invitation of the Admiralty.
Before coming to Ascension, I had been in contact with a couple of green architects in New York City who were
planning to edit a book about transforming environments, and they were keen to get me to write a chapter about
the greening of Green Mountain. Once I got to Ascension, I managed to talk Stedson into co-authoring the
chapter, to keep me honest. Of course, Green Mountain is an environmental quandary. On the one hand, all the
introduced plants are a threat to the endemic ones. On the other hand, everyone loves it up there, with the
picturesque walks, abundant flowers, and cool temperatures! When you’re staying in Georgetown, Green
Mountain seems like a visit to the countryside, especially walking on the muddy track to the Dew Pond.
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Joseph Hooker was born in Halesworth, Suffolk, which is about ten miles from where I was born. Oddly, it was
never mentioned at school that the premier botanist of the Victorian era was a local boy. But since re-visiting
most of Darwin’s voyage, I’ve gained a deeper appreciation of Britain’s past. I find that small islands, in
particular, are always curious microcosms of world history. Ascension is no exception, when we consider its
association with early trade, Napoleon, the Second World War, the Falklands conflict, and world
communications. In his controversial novel, Satanic Verses, Salman Rushdie has a character that quips, “The trouble
with the English is that their history happened overseas, so they don't know what it means". For me, travel to
places such as Ascension helps put matters in perspective.
While on Ascension, Stedson accompanied me to Devil’s Riding School where I picked up some Devil’s
Eyeballs. These are concretions, which are hard conglomerations of material within a softer matrix that form in
waterlogged sediments when minerals get cemented together or precipitate. The Devil’s Eyeballs had fascinated
Darwin. We tend to think of Darwin as a biologist, but when he visited Ascension, he considered himself a
geologist more than anything else.
Once back at my university in Seattle, a colleague and I made a “thin section” of a Devil’s Eyeball, which
is a polished sliver for microscopy. Under high magnification, we could see that the concretion is made up of very
fine volcanic ash particles that are cemented together. Chemical tests show that dark specks within the
concretions are little lumps of organic matter that we suspect are tiny remnants of plants. Darwin conjectured
that there was once a lake and a wetter climate at the Devil’s Riding School, which our data support. Anyway, we
hope to do some more analysis on the ‘eyeballs’ and report the full story in the scientific literature.
In the meantime, my travels continue when I get any time away from my other activities as a university
scientist. Over the years, in following Darwin footsteps, I’ve traipsed around Cape Verde, Brazil, Argentina,
Chile, the Galapagos Islands, Tahiti, New Zealand, Australia, Cocos-Keeling Atoll in the Indian Ocean,
Mauritius, and South Africa. I’ve got a bit more to do in South America before I’m finished. Ascension was an
essential part of this journey, and I thank the Conservation Department for their help.
David Catling (dcatling@uw.edu), University of Washington, Seattle, USA.
Devil’s Eyeball cut in half
David Catling, pools at Shelly Beach
View from Green Mountain
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Training at Kew, plant census Seabird monitoring, Turtles,
raising conservation awareness within Two Boats School
Contributed by Jolene Sim, Assistant Conservation Officer
On arrival at Kew Gardens we were met by Dr Colin Clubbe who
introduced us to the staff and gave us a tour of the buildings and
gardens.
In the tropical nurseries we had the opportunity to see the propagation
work that had been done with Ascensions endemic ferns Marattia
purpurascens and Pteris ascensionis. Two days were spent with Nigel
Rothwell learning about spore collection, sowing, germination and
aftercare. We were also showed how to deal with contaminated
sporangia, pests, diseases and chemical control. During our time in the
nurseries we learnt about vegetative propagation using rhizome
cuttings, bulbils, marratiaceae auricles and selaginella.
Nick Johnson and James Beattie trained us on different horticulture skills which included tool care, weeding, planting,
cuttings and watering.
In the Kew laboratory Jon Keddon showed us micro-propagation and plant cryo-preservation. Time was spent hands
on making media for initiation of plant tissue culture by vegetative and seed material.
At the Millennium Seed Bank in Wakehurst we were taught the following procedures:
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Protocol for comparative seed longevity testing
Assessing a potential seed collection
Seed collecting techniques
Post-harvest handling of seed collections
Measuring seed moisture status using an hygrometer and low cost monitors
Selecting containers for long term seed storage
Small scale seed drying methods
Equilibrating seeds to specific moisture levels
Identifying desiccation sensitive seeds
Seed bank design: seed drying rooms and cold rooms for storage
Cleaning seed collections for long-term conservation
Seed bank database
….continued from previous page
Contributed by Jolene Sim, Assistant Conservation Officer
During our last week at Kew Sara Barrios gave us a tour of the herbarium and mounting room. Sara also taught us how
to use the UKOT online herbarium, which has been continuously very useful to us. I thoroughly enjoyed my time
spent at Kew, and have been practicing the newly learnt propagation and horticulture techniques here on Ascension
Island. Whilst we don’t have a micro propagation or cryopreservation lab on Island, it was interesting to see what
happens to our endemic spores that we send to Kew, and how they can be recovered, when required, from
preservation and grown on to generate a whole new plant – an important role in plant conservation.
Below are pictures of my first experience with growing the endemic fern Pteris ascensionis on Ascension Island. I
collected the spores in August 2011 and Stedson showed me how to germinate them. In April 2012 I chose to separate
some of the gametophytes’ into pots (a technique I learnt at Kew), and by the end of May 2012 there were leafs of
young sporophytes! The gametophytes’ are now disintegrating which means the sporophytes are becoming rooted in to
the soil.
The last 3 months, I have been carrying out endemic plant census and observation
work with Stedson Stroud and Natasha Williams -this type of field work covers all
areas of Ascension Island, and is extremely rewarding to find many young and adult
endemic plants surviving in the wild. Dr Colin Clubbe, Royal Botanic Gardens Kew,
came to Ascension in April, and during his visit we had a few interesting days carrying
out plant observation and collecting Anogramma spores with him. We have also been
counting Green Turtle nests on Pan Am Beach and carrying out rescue work with
stranded turtles. In addition to this I have been assisting Nathan Fowler with
monitoring Sooty Tern nest success, ringing, re-traps and sample plots at Mars Bay.
The Conservation Team have also been overseeing several students of Two Boats School to make an endemic and
indigenous plant restoration site on the school grounds – this project is carried out during their enrichment class that
they undertake once a week. This has involved talking to the students about the different plant species, clearing
invasives, constructing a fence, planting and aftercare. The students have been very keen and are keeping a diary of
their plant site. They have done extremely well carrying out hands-on work with the native plants. It has been a
rewarding experience to promote the value of our natural bio-diversity within the school!
ISSUE 38
A New Approach towards bio control of non-native
invasive species on Ascension Island
Contributed by Norbert Maczey & Rob Tanner, biological control scientists at CABI, UK
Recent reviews of invasive non-native species on the South Atlantic UKOTs including Ascension Island revealed that
there is a considerable on-going threat by these species to the endemic biodiversity on these islands. To-date, there are
few plans to include classical biological control (CBC) in control schemes despite this management practise having a
history of successful use on islands in the past. Many rare, endangered and/or iconic species are negatively impacted
upon by introduced plants or invertebrate species and the reduction of their impact through CBC could bring tangible
benefits to biodiversity in these fragile habitats.
In comparison to other control measures, which in general need to be repeatedly applied, often year on year, CBC is
safe, permanent, self-sustaining and often the only available practical and economically feasible option to control nonnative species. It impacts very little on the environment in contrast to the disturbance caused by mechanical clearing, or
the application of herbicides. In 2010, Defra asked CABI to assess the potential of CBC on all South Atlantic UKOTs
through a feasibility study titled ‘Understanding and addressing the impact of invasive non-native species in the UK
Overseas Territories in the South Atlantic’. This project builds on the results of the recently completed ‘South Atlantic
Invasive Species project’ (SAIS) and will link directly into the strategies and recommendations derived from that
project. The project is mainly desk-based, and does not include any direct control interventions.
Our project started with a desk-based review of the non-native plants and invertebrates assessed during the recently
completed SAIS, complemented by information on the impacts of these species and their biological control in other
countries. Using and adapting a recently-developed biocontrol prioritisation tool (Paynter et al. 2009), non-native
species were ranked to give a priority list of species, which we believe are suitable candidates for potential future
biological control programmes.
With the kind help and support of the Ascension Conservation team Stedson Stroud (Conservation Officer), Jolene Sim
(Assistant Conservation Officer) and Natasha Williams (Conservation Assistant), we visited Ascension for a three day
visit in March. This provided us with an excellent opportunity to meet with a wide range of stakeholders ranging from
people directly involved in conservation, local businesses and administration. Our stay on Ascension allowed also field
site visits to areas dominated by invasive weeds or under imminent threat by these species. We also had the opportunity
to discuss importance and perception of invasive species with children at the local school in Two Boats Village.
Merging preliminary results with stakeholders’ opinions on Ascension quickly allowed us to jointly filter out a small
number of weeds, which are posing the biggest threat to biodiversity and infrastructure but also showing a good
potential for CBC. As expected the top priority species turned out to be Mexican Thorn (Prosopis juliflora), which is
considered a significant threat to areas with high conservation values particularly to nesting beaches of turtles, colonies
of sea birds, as well as to habitats of endemic plants such as the Ascension Island spurge (Euphorbia origanoides).
Although there is already a history of CBC for this species on Ascension, continued high control costs and still
increasing range expansion of this thorny
problem highlights the potential of further
releases of biocontrol agents used
successfully in other geographical regions.
Such ‘off the shelf' solutions are cost
effective and would require limited
screening of plant species native, or valued
on the Ascension. One candidate, Evippe sp.
from Argentina, seems to be particular well
suited for a release on Ascension. This tiny
moth has caused spectacular damage to
Prosopis in parts of Australia where
conditions are similar to the climate on
Figure 1. Biocontrol in action: The psyllid Heteropsylla
Ascension.
reducta causing defoliation on Mexican Thorn (Prosopis
juliflora) on Ascension.
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ISSUE 38
….continued from previous page
Tree mortality remains limited so instead of a rapid dieback the agent causes a stop of further expansion combined with
a slow decrease of the population over time. Whilst this may be very helpful as part of integrated control measures at
localities of high conservation value (avoiding re-colonisation after clearance) it should also be agreeable with any
perceived beneficial impacts of Mexican Thorn such providing greenery and reducing levels of erosion.
Another species of concern is Wild Tobacco (Nicotiana glauca), which poses a serious threat to the biological
diversity of the Ascension Islands (figures 2&3). The species has spread rapidly over the last 20 years, and is now
threatening biodiversity within the Hummock Point nature reserve and in addition nesting sites of marine turtles.
During our consultations on Ascension we discussed CBC as a potential way forward to successfully control Wild
Tobacco. Although this will not lead to a complete eradication on Ascension it has the potential to reduce its
overall population densities, size of individual plants and area of invaded habitat and in doing so substantially
support other conventional (mechanical and chemical) efforts.
Figure 3. Wild Tobacco (Nicotina
glauca) invading green turtle
nesting sites on Ascension.
Figure 2. Wild Tobacco (Nicotina glauca) along road side verges in the lowlands of Ascension Island.
Although scoring very high in the initial preliminary desk based assessment Tungy (Opuntia stricta) turned quickly
out not to be a feasible candidate for future biological control after a first site visit. The reason for this is that
Tungy has been subject to this control method in the past and is now an example of how effective and sustainable
this control method can be on Ascension. Similarly, as has recently already been pointed out (Fowler 2011) Black
Lantana (Lantana camara) is another example of working CBC on Ascension. However, here success is only very
pronounced at lower altitudes and on higher slopes Black Lantana can still be a dominant species. Since Lantana is
globally one of the most thoroughly investigated species there is still much scope to enhance the current control
through additional readily available and tested control agents.
Other species currently increasing on Ascension and possible posing threats to nesting beaches of turtles are
Mexican Thistle (Argemone mexicana) and Heliotrope (Heliotropium curassavicum). In particular the first seems to
have built up substantial seed banks along these habitats. For both species no readily available CBC agents have
been tested and proven to be effective, but research efforts are on-going for Mexican Thistle. Species of similar
status are Horse Tamarind (Leucaena leucocephala) and Yellow Boy (Tecoma stans). For these species suitable agents
may become available in the near future. Biological control using the thrip Liothrips urichi has been very successful
for Koster’s Curse (Clidemia hirta) on Hawaii. Shell Ginger (Alpinia zerumbet), Orange Buddleja (Buddleja
madagascariensis) and Blackberry (Rubus pinnatus) were also identified as possible future targets for CBC as other
species within these genera are currently subject of biological control programmes.
Other species currently increasing on Ascension and possible posing threats to nesting beaches of turtles are
Mexican Thistle (Argemone mexicana) and Heliotrope (Heliotropium curassavicum). In particular the first seems to
have built up substantial seed banks along these habitats. For both species no readily available CBC agents have
been tested and proven to be effective, but research efforts are on-going for Mexican Thistle. Species of similar
ISSUE 38
….continued from previous page
status are Horse Tamarind (Leucaena leucocephala) and Yellow Boy (Tecoma stans). For these species suitable agents
may become available in the near future. Biological control using the thrip Liothrips urichi has been very successful
for Koster’s Curse (Clidemia hirta) on Hawaii. Shell Ginger (Alpinia zerumbet), Orange Buddleja (Buddleja
madagascariensis) and Blackberry (Rubus pinnatus) were also identified as possible future targets for CBC as other
species within these genera are currently subject of biological control programmes.
Our stay, although short, allowed us to align our desk based results with opinions of stakeholders and on the
ground impressions of the impact of invasive on the Island. Encouragingly, a very good overlap between the
project’s initial results and stakeholder opinions became quickly apparent. We are now left with conducting more
detailed and finalised assessments for the major problem species identified as suitable for biological control during
our visit. More details about the project can be found on the project website
(www.cabi.org/control_south_atlantic_invasive_species). We would also like to invite anybody interested in the
subject of invasive species to engage with the project and participate in any on-going discussions. As part of the
project, stakeholder attitudes to biological control are assessed through a questionnaire, a link to which is also
available on the project website. Finally, we would like to say thank you to all people on Ascension and in
particular to all staff at the Conservation Office who took the time to engage with us on the issue of invasive
species and also gave us a thorough impression of this fascinating island.
References Fowler, S.V. (2011) Weed bio control on Ascension Island. - Ascension Conservation Quarterly, 36: 16-21.
Paynter, Q., Hill, R., Bellgard, S. & Dawson, M. (2009) Improving Targeting of Weed Biological Control Projects in Australia.Land & Water Australia, 123 pp.
Falklands verses Ascension—So Different?
Contributed by Roy Smith
Size; I guess that is one of the main differences, not that that is important, so
they say. Although I currently live in the Falklands I recently spent 6 wonderful
and interesting days helping Ascension Conservation with their daily activities. I
can thoroughly recommend this both to the casual visitor and anyone lucky
enough to live on the island.
So, back to the question posed of me by Stedson Stroud. Well seemingly there
are major differences; the Falkland Islands consist of around 778 islands with a
combined area of 12,173 km2/4700 sq miles and are classified as being in the
Antarctic ecozone whereas Ascension covers about 88 km2/34 sq miles and is
situated in equatorial waters but oddly, there are many conservation related
similarities. Take for example the fact that both locations each have at least one
bird that is endemic. The Falklands has the beautiful little Cobbs Wren. Like
Ascension, the Falklands share problems with predation by rats, mice and
occasionally cats. This has forced these vulnerable birds to vacate the mainland
and to move to islands that are free of these predators so that they can
successfully breed. In the Falklands too, there is an active Biodiversity Plan and
subsequent actions to eradicate rodents from islands that are infested. Where those
actions have been carried out, they are in the main successful and the birds are
beginning to return.
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….continued from previous page
Similarly the Ascension Frigate was forced onto Boatswain Bird Island to escape predation. Ascension
Conservation, with backing and support from the RSPB has recently installed Frigate decoy nesting groups in
several areas on the mainland to encourage the birds to begin nesting. One is on Letterbox and the other that I
visited is at Crater Cliff. Happily, signs are good. I noted 7 of these large and interesting birds roosting within 30
metres of the decoys. They just need to start nesting!
Whilst the size of the two birds mentioned above is the inverse to the general rule stated in my opening line, birds
and mammals in the Falklands do tend to be larger. Take the seals; the bull Southern Elephant seal can weigh in at
over 4000 kg and is around 4 times the size of the female. Looking at these on the beach, these creatures can
easily be mistaken for boulders on the beach until you take a closer look. Sparring in October when the males are
vying to be King of the Hill and to secure their position as master of the harem status is impressive. Equipped
with a large lay of fat around the throat for this very purpose,
they can be seen fighting and biting in some bloody battles
until one withdraws. Regrettably the new born pups can
sometimes be the victims of these altercations. Other native
species found on the Falklands are Seal Lion, Fur Seal and
occasionally the aggressive Leopard Seal. Ascension boasts
the delightful Green Turtle which can weigh 300 kg. From
the time that they take their first gulps of air on the island as
they burst from their nests and begin the risky journey across
the beach braving Ascension frigate, Sally Lightfoot crab and
blackfish (Black Durgon) until they return fully grown and
ready to begin their own breeding cycle some 40 years later
they will have gained some 12000% more weight. Tracking of these peaceful reptiles has shown that they head for
the coast of Brazil as they leave Ascension. Clearly there is a McDonald's involved somewhere en route! Other
visitors to Ascension are Hawksbill turtles, although these are not known to breed on this island.
Back to the Falklands; 5 species of penguin - yes, I had to mention them, can be found. Most prolific here is the
Gentoo. Breeding from October the chicks are ready to fledge by the end of March.
Less common but found in reasonable numbers are the world’s 2nd largest of the penguins is the King. Delicately
marked as if someone has taken the trouble to airbrush the yellow/gold decoration to each throat of the adult
birds they stand quite stately and can sometimes brazenly pose for pictures.
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….continued from previous page
Breeding is over a 14 month cycle so most colonies have eggs or young throughout the year. Not exactly ugly duckling
to a beautiful swan, the young look nothing like the adult bird and are covered only with brown down until they are
about to fledge. As they start to develop their adult plumage they can effectively carry off a Star Wars Toubaca
impression. Kings have 4 layers of protection from the cold - 3 layers of down and one of waterproof outer feathers.
Whilst we may keep the recommended distance from the birds, the chicks don't always respect this space and can often
leave the rookery, coming to enquire what we are and to see if it is worthwhile chasing us so that we can regurgitate a
meal down their gullet! Sometimes when I run, I feel that that might be a distinct possibility! Penguin tongues are
covered by rearward facing serrations which hold their prey and allow it to go solely in one direction - down the gullet.
They swallow small stones and grit which stays in the gizzard and grinds up their food before it travels to the stomach.
Kings can weigh around 35 kg as an adult.
The cute Rock hopper and Magellanic (also known as the jackass because of the noise that they make) penguins are
visitors for 6 months of the year. The birds are here to breed, as is the Macaroni; while rarely found in the Falklands, it
is the world’s most prolific penguin.
Ascension too has a varied and interesting selection of birds. Anyone who has been worried by Alfred Hitchcock's film The Birds - should give Mars Bay a wide berth. Seemingly in their hundreds of thousands the Sooty Tern flock around
the visitor inquisitively and only show any aggression (understandably) if you get too close to their nest. Even then this
is usually only posturing.
Similarly, the Brown Noddy's will display interest and occasional belligerence in the same circumstances. The Masked
Booby simply has one of the strangest faces in the bird kingdom yet this seems to serve to make them so much more
endearing to me. Whether this because I feel that we share a certain commonality or not, I am still undecided! The
young are fluffy balls of down that unsuccessfully try to threaten you if you get too close to their nest. Even the adults
don't achieve a particularly aggressive posture in the same circumstances. Despite the atrocities that man has carried out
on some of the creatures mentioned in the above paragraphs - particularly to penguins and seals, incredibly in both
Ascension and the Falklands you can observe these creatures from a position that you feel Sir David Attenborough
should be whispering in your ear.
Enough of mammals, reptiles and birds - what of the plants of these islands?
Commonly both are suffering from invasive species and both a trying to increase or re-establish the endemic and native
plants found. Spear, Slender and Creeping thistle are a major problem in the Falklands, as is the spread of Ragwort and
Calafate. MOD has really taken impressive steps this year with substantial and effective work being undertaken by their
contractor Interserve Defence Limited (IDL). The Falklands Government and Falklands Conservation working together
have commissioned assistance from Kew Gardens in fighting the problem. Richard Lewis has spent the past 6 months
scoping, recording and enlisting voluntary support to reduce the problem with the aspiration to eradicate thistle on
some islands and settlements. He will alternate between UK and the Falklands over a 36 month period to enable a
sustained and coordinated approach to the problem. On Ascension the primary culprits are Mexican Thorn and
Nicotiana. Retuning to Ascension after a 9 month gap, I feel that the spread of the Mexican Thorn has increased still
further. Discussions with the experts points to this being illusionary and the bushes are more developed and
…..continued from previous page
subsequently denser rather than in greater numbers. It seems to the bystander that the battle may be lost for this
unforgiving, aggressive and opportunistic plant. The Nicotiana seems also to be increasing in its colonisation across the
island; there is only so much that Ascension Conservation can do with the resources available to them. There are a
number of initiates being undertaken by this creditable organisation with the cultivation and reintroduction of native
and endemic species with various experiments being undertaken and monitored across the island. These include
comparisons of how native species live and survive and if they can be encouraged to thrive when competing with the
invasives. To sum up then, although roughly 4000 miles apart both groups of islands share common problems, similar
aspirations and focus while enjoying a rich, diverse and generally forgiving, photogenic and spectacular wildlife array.
Only the size differs. I would like to add a note of personal thanks to the staff of Ascension Conservation for allowing
me to give my holiday a sense of purpose. Of special note is the dedicated and knowledgeable Nathan Fowler who I
accompanied throughout most of my time spent raking turtle beaches, checking nest densities and marking these and
the inevitable bird counting. I apologise for using my camera quite so much but I am sure that you understand! Thank
you too, to Natasha Williams for organising things to make it all happen, to Nicky and to Sam for interrupting their
turtle monitoring each Monday and Thursday to share their obvious delight and dedication in the record keeping of
nesting turtles. At risk of making this sound like an Oscar's acceptance speech I should, at this point, thank my wife
Sandra for putting up with my prolonged absences during our holiday. Was she just glad to see the back of me? Finally,
thank you to the charismatic and driven Stedson Stroud for allowing me access to Ascension Conservation activities.
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Volunteering with the Conservation Department
Contributed by Natasha Williams
Thank you to Drew Avery for helping with the watering of our endemic plant site at Mars Bay during the absence
of our Plant Project staff, and also for your continuous assistance with the Turtle Project.
Vetannie with conservation staff
We would like to thank Vetannie Morton who has been volunteering with us since December 2011, assisting us
with clearing invasives in the Green Mountain Restoration Site, and with the RSPB Seabird Restoration
Monitoring programme.
Thank you to Roy Smith who volunteered with us these past weeks helping also
with the seabird restoration and turtle monitoring. We wish you the best on your
future endeavours!
Roy Smith in restoration site
We would like to say
thank you to Gareth Bath
and his family for
volunteering and clearing
near the Endemic Plant
Restoration Site on the
Green Mountain National
Park
Thank you to Brian Leo, Stuart Grey, Sean Lowe and Andrew Scott
from Interserve Defence for assisting with the turtle rescue on
Deadman’s beach.
Assisting with stranded turtle
…...continued on from previous page
ISSUE 38
We would like to thank Sefton Yon who has been volunteering
with us these past few months, assisting with seabird
monitoring and endemic plant restoration work .
He has been a great asset to the department and we wish him
well on his future endeavours.
L-Side:- 29 Commando Regiment Royal Artillery presenting
Conservation Officer Stedson Stroud with a crest.
R-Side:-Colin and daughter Jennifer Winwood with Juvenile Brown
Booby
Thank you to Colin Winwood and his family for reporting a
stranded Brown Booby and bringing it in. We are please to advise
that this bird was cared for and released by Stedson Stroud last
week.
Thank you to Mario Williams , Chris Henry and their families for
helping with the turtle stranding at Deadman’s Beach.
Thank You to volunteers Michaela Walker who is
visiting from the UK, and Helen Otley who is travelling
on Yacht Carrie from the Falklands to the Caribbean.
Both Michaela and Helen have been helping us to clear
the invasives plant species at the Green Mountain
Restoration Site.
Natasha Williams, Michaela Walker, Helen Otley
We would like to thank the Military Group Four Scotts for
volunteering their time to help clear the Path to the Dew
Pond on Wednesday 6th June 2012.
Police Update—Sea Excursion Exercise
Contributed by Inspector Jonathan Thomas
On Wednesday 18th April an exercise aided by Conservation
was conducted by the emergency services at South East Bay.
The purpose of the exercise was to see if it was possible to
be able to extract people from land to sea in the case of any
injured walkers or failing this the possibility of landing
resources ashore from sea.
Stedson Stroud of Conservation is very familiar and has good
knowledge of this area as he and his Conservation team work
in these isolated areas. Stedson identified a potential and
successful spot as five walkers were transported safely on
board the rescue boat.
Deputy Fire & Sea rescue Officer Simon Wade said, “We learnt
a lot from the exercise, even if we could not get an injured
person off immediately we could get medical personnel on
shore and other essential supplies”.
The Sea rescue services on route to South East bay
marked other potential landing sites
For a land rescue considerably more people would be
required and the operation would take longer for any
injured person to be hospitalised
The sea extraction would be quicker however it is dependent on a risk assessment with all known facts considered.
This is just the first stage and the emergency service will develop and build on this successful exercise
To protect and preserve life and property. To promote a safe and secure environment
Ascension Police Detachment, Police Office, Georgetown, Ascension Island, ASCN 1ZZ
Tel No: 002476225, Fax: 002476318 email: police.inspector@ascension.gov.ac
ISSUE 38
Visit to Ascension Island
Contributed by Clare Cockwell
My name is Clare Cockwell. I live at Fox Bay on West Falkland and work for Falklands Conservation, mainly
from home but sometimes from the FC office in Stanley.
I started work last October on a three- year OTEP- funded project to develop a protected areas strategy for the
Falkland Islands. The Falkland Islands has 19 National Nature Reserves that have developed over many years on an
ad-hoc basis. Some of them, such as Volunteer Point, are very well known wildlife sites, actively managed and
well – researched. Others are very little known, with a legal designation but not much else, the reasons for their
designation lost with the passage of time. The aims of the project include a thorough overhaul of the procedures
in place for identifying and designating areas for protection, and an evaluation of the areas already designated as
NNRs.
A further outcome of the project will be a toolkit of resources to support the writing of management plans and
monitoring procedures for protected areas across the South Atlantic Overseas Territories. Since the territories
differ widely in the types of protected areas in place and the conservation issues they face, it seems obvious that
the development of this toolkit should be a collaborative process. There is provision within my project to run a
joint workshop to develop these resources, and with this in mind I decided to stop off at Ascension Island on my
way back from a trip to the UK to meet the Conservation team and focus my thoughts on how we might be able
to work together in the future.
I was met on Ascension by my husband Ben, who travelled up from the Falklands, and we stayed for a week in the
Garden Cottage. We had both passed through the Island many times but rarely been further than the cage at the
Airhead, so we really enjoyed having the chance to explore the island properly. During these explorations, I was
struck by the fact that although we have very different political and social situations to deal with, many of the
conservation issues facing the territories are similar. In the Falkland Islands we are devoting a lot of resources into
researching and mitigating the effects of introduced plants and animals on some of our special species and habitats.
We are actively looking at creating marine protected areas, although we are still at the stage of surveying in order
to establish criteria for choosing the most suitable places. We are also trying to evaluate possible future threats to
wildlife from developments that haven’t yet occurred, and balance the requirements of economic development
and amenity use of the environment with the need to conserve biodiversity.
It seems then that there is a good starting point of common interests, and I am very much looking forward to
visiting Ascension again in the not too distant future. Many thanks to the Conservation team for meeting with me,
and I hope to see you again soon.
(Barnaby Bear is used by me as an educational tool for teaching children about protected areas both in the
Falkland Islands and further afield. Barnaby enjoyed his trip to Ascension Island too!)
We were very impressed with the newly renovated Red Lion and are considering ways to use it as a training
venue in the future.
Red Lion on Green Mountain
Barnaby checked out the endemic plants growing in the
nursery
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Enrichment—Planting a School Garden of Endemic and
Indigenous Plants
Contributed by Two Boats School Students
Week 1
On 18th April 2012, Racquel, Duncan, Scott, Tyler and our team leader Mr Blunt all met up for the first time at the
Science room to have a discussion about what we were going to pursue in the planting project. The original idea was to
plant trees at Green Mountain for the Jubilee, but our group went for a walk around the school grounds, and figured
out another idea and this was to grow the plants in our school grounds instead of planting them on the mountain,
because it would be easier to keep control of and it would bring attraction to the school and would also make history in
later years. When we came back from walking around the school grounds we came back to the science room and
looked at leaflets which contained some information about the endemic and
indigenous plants.
Week 2
On 25th April 2012 we started to clear all of the rubbish that was surrounding
the ground that was chosen for the planting. It took us the whole afternoon to
clear the whole area and afterwards it looked really clean. But this wasn’t all of
it that had to be cleared! We also had a visit from conservation and Stedson,
Jolene, Catherine and Dr Colin Clubbe all talked to us about Endemic and
Indigenous Plants and what they were going to do to help towards this project.
Week 3
On 2 nd May 2012 we went up to the site and were surprised to see that almost all of the invasive trees that were there
had been cut down with chain saws and our job was to clear all the branches and trees up and take them to the top so
they could be shredded and help with the plants that are going to be grown. Stedson also used herbicide on the cut tree
stumps.
Week 4
On 9th May 2012, we went back up to the site and we had to clear
more branches and trees up that had been cut down by Stedson,
Natasha, Nathan and Dane over the weekend. We had to cart them up
to the same place where we put them the week before.
Week 5
Unfortunately this week Duncan and Racquel didn’t take part in clearing the trees and stuff because they were set with
other tasks. But in the meantime Scott and Tyler were hard at work and they finished clearing most of the trees leaving
little to clear up the week after. Duncan and Racquel were set to show people around the school for Open Afternoon
including the Governor of Ascension and St Helena. They even showed off our work proudly to the visitors and they
were quite impressed.
ISSUE 38
Week 6
Today, 23 rd May, we didn’t go up to the site because we had to make a start on our journal to keep up to date with
what we are doing. Scott and Tyler went to take some pictures of how the site looks now and then we will keep a
record of the progress of the site. Duncan and Racquel had to complete the journal. Tyler and Scott also were creating
a cover for this journal.
Week 7
On 30th May 2012, Scott and Tyler were sent out hiking with the other group whilst Duncan and Racquel stayed back
at school to edit and update the journal. The reason why we didn’t go up to the site today was because the fence is not
finished and there would be nothing else to do as we have worked so fast and had cleared everything beforehand so we
didn’t have to do so much afterwards.
Week 8
We were on our holidays so no enrichment took place this day.
Week 9
Wednesday 13th June 2012 the tree planting group were joined by the Hiking group to finally plant our plants. We
were met by Liza, Catherine and Jolene at the site. When we got there they told us we had to make a plan on where
would we like the different species of plants to go. After we made the plan we put the plants in place ready to dig the
ground so we can place the plants inside the ground. We then had a demonstration that Catherine did, to show us how
to do it. After that, we did it ourselves and all the plants finally got planted. We then took pictures of the garden and
the team.
Thank you to Two Boats School Headteacher Mr David Blunt and students for your contributions towards Ascension
Conservation.
Governor Mark Capes visit Ascension Island Conservation
ISSUE 38
Contributed by Liza White, Catherine Supple, Jolene Sim and Natasha Williams
On the 27 th April 2012 the AIG Conservation team held a short tour at Comfortless Cove for His Excellency Mark Capes, Governor
of St Helena, Ascension Island and Tristan da Cunha, and Ascension Island Administrator Colin Wells. The tour began with an offroad drive to the one of the OTEP funded plant restoration sites, where AIG Assistant Conservation Ecology Officers Liza White and
Catherine Supple gave a talk about their project – An Ecosystem Approach to Plant Conservation on Ascension Island.
In 2006 the annual plant census on Ascension was conducted by conservation officer Stedson Stroud assisted by Dr Alan Gray of the
Centre for Ecology and Hydrology in Edinburgh. They noted that there had been localised extinctions of the Ascension spurge in areas
it had been previously recorded such as Comfortless Cove, around the English Bay Road and at Mountain Red Hill. This sparked the
initial idea for the need to regenerate spurge habitats around the island.
A bid was then submitted to OTEP in 2010 to set up a project to study the ecology of, and restore the habitats of the original plant
communities of Ascension Island. The bid was successful and the project was funded to start in 2011.
Comfortless Cove was chosen as a restoration site for the endemic Ascension spurge and its natural plant community since some of
these species still occur in wild populations around the area. This plant community, along with the spurge, would have included the
salad plant purslane (Portulaca oleracea), and a native grass (Aristida adscensionis) (see below).
This area has been chosen for restoration as part of the OTEP project on plant conservation. Four sites have been marked out within
the area, two fenced and two unfenced. The aim of the project is, ultimately, to increase the wild populations of endemic flora on
Ascension Island.
Above – the AIG Conservation Team constructing the fenced site – Natasha Williams, Nathan Fowler, Dane Wade, Stedson Stroud, Jolene Sim,
Catherine Supple and Liza White
ISSUE 38
……..Continued from previous page
Contributed by Liza White, Catherine Supple, Jolene Sim and Natasha Williams
Above – Liza White, Administrator Colin Wells, Catherine Supple and Governor Capes at the Comfortless Cove
Restoration Site
L.Side – Catherine Supple, Jolene Sim, Governor Capes and Liza
White at the endemic plant rescue site
Endemic species are those which are naturally unique to one
location in the world. Therefore, the endemic plant species
here are only found naturally growing on Ascension Island and
nowhere else in the world. This makes populations very
vulnerable to worldwide extinction.
At the moment Ascension has seven endemic plant species:
The Ascension spurge – Euphorbia origanoidesOne grass species – Sporobolus caespitosus
Five ferns- Pteris ascensionis, Asplenium ascensionis, Xiphopteris ascensionensis, Marratia purpurescens, Anogramma
ascensionis
These are all currently on the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) Red List as species under
threat of extinction.
This OTEP project has been designed to restore original plant communities, as they would have been, before any
human introductions. However, as this will not be sustainable, the project also aims to assess the ability of native
and endemic plants to co-exist alongside non-native species of both plant and animal. To do this, two sites will be
fenced to keep out non-native animals, such as rabbit and sheep and to an extent mice and rats, to prevent
grazing. To assess the plants resistance to grazing pressures one site will be left unfenced. One of the fenced and
unfenced sites will be planted out with original plant communities and monitored for growth and general
condition. The other fenced site will be scattered with seeds of native and endemic plants and assessed for any
plant growth. The final unfenced site will be left untouched and monitored as a control site to compare with the
sites being worked on.
The tour ended at the Comfortless Cove Bonetta Cemetery where Jolene Sim (AIG Assistant Conservation
Officer) and Natasha Williams (AIG Office Assistant) gave a talk on the history of the cove, cemetery, and ghost
seabird colonies.
Thank you to His Excellency Mark Capes, Governor of St Helena, Ascension Island and Tristan da Cunha, and
Ascension Island Administrator Colin Wells for visiting us.
ISSUE 38
Visit to Ascension Island by His Excellency Mark Capes, Governor
of St Helena, Ascension Island and Tristan da Cunha 14-17 May
Governor Mark Capes conducted his second visit to Ascension Island between 14-17 May.
During his visit the Governor chaired an informal meeting of the Island Council which discussed a proposed
workers’ rights ordinance and the state of democratic processes on Ascension. The Governor also visited the
European Space Agency Base at North-East Bay, the Babcock site at English Bay, and the UK Ministry of
Defence Base and Airhead where he shadowed the team that handles an incoming Airbridge flight,
accompanied by Wing Commander Stuart Andrews.
The Governor also took the opportunity to meet Ascension Island residents at a reception on 14 May hosted
by The Administrator at The Residency. He also joined AIG Operations Staff at an Away Day at the AIG
Beach Hut during which the Governor briefed them on developments in St Helena, including the building of
the Airport, and heard a number of comments about living and conditions of service on Ascension.
Governor Capes visited Two Boats School on 16 May to see “Open Day” activities being held that day. The
Governor was accompanied by Head Teacher, David Blunt, and Chairman of the Board of Governors, Caz
Yon.
ISSUE 38
……..Continued from previous page
On 17 May, the Governor also opened the Marty-Wade Track that links the NASA Road with the Letterbox
area of eastern Ascension. The track was built to allow access by Conservation Department staff and rescue
workers to these remote and ecologically rich parts of the Island. The Governor praised Martin “Marty”
Henry and Kevin Wade who build the track using incredible skills and imagination. As a special mark of their
work, the track was named after them, The Marty –Wade Track.
(Martin “Marty” Henry (L) and Kevin Wade (R) and their families)
The Governor was driven down the track by the Conservation Officer, Stedson Stroud, to see Letterbox and
Boatswain Bird Island, including nesting areas. The Conservation Department are working with the Royal
Society for the Protection of Birds on protecting and expanding nesting areas.
The Governor returned to St Helena on 17 May on RMS St Helena having enjoyed meeting so many
Residents and expanding his awareness and understanding of life and the issues on Ascension Island.
(Governor Mark Capes with Stedson Stroud examining
nesting sites near Letterbox)
Colin Wells, Administrator
18 May 2012
Commenting on his visit, the Governor said, ‘I am
grateful to our hardworking Administrator and his senior
team, as well as the to the island’s Councillors, for
ensuring that I extracted as much as possible from my
visit in terms of achieving a better understanding of how
Ascension works and of the challenges ahead. I was also
able to meet a good number of people from many
different walks of life who make the island work so well.
My conclusion is that on the whole the community on
Ascension enjoys a good quality of life with access to
good quality services, such as in healthcare and
education. It is an attractive island with a long and
intriguing history and fascinating flora and fauna. I must
mention here the excellent conservation work being
done by Stedson Stroud and his small but energetic and
enthusiastic team. I will look forward to my next visit to
the island and to renewing contacts with the many
people I had the pleasure of meeting during my visit”
Visitors to Conservation
Mr Martin Longden, Deputy Director
of Overseas Territories, visits the
AIG Conservation Team
Contributed by Jolene Sim and Natasha Williams
Conservation staff Dr’s Nicola and Sam
Weber discussing their OTEP funded turtle
project with Mr Longden
On the 8th June 2012, Martin Longden, Deputy of the Overseas
Territories in the FCO, met with the AIG Conservation Team. Mr
Longden was given a tour of the conservation offices and discussed
the ongoing conservation projects with all members of the team.
The following day Stedson Stroud (Conservation Officer) and Nathan
Fowler (Seabird Restoration Fieldworker) took Mr Longden to see
the native flora and nesting seabirds at Mars Bay and Razors Edge.
From Razors Edge he also had the opportunity to overlook Boatswain
Bird Island and see the Ascension Island endemic Frigate birds.
Mr Longden with the Sooty Terns at Mars Bay
On Friday evening 15 th June 2012, AIG Conservation held a tour for Mr Jeremy Browne, Minister of State at the
Foreign and Commonwealth Office, and other guests including journalists. They were transported off the flight and
driven to Long Beach where they were introduced to the conservation team, and Dr Nicola Weber gave them a talk
about the Green Turtles. Following this, Mr Browne and guests were escorted across the beach to see the Green
Turtle hatchlings going into the sea.
Conservation Staff with Minister Jeremy Browne and guests
ISSUE 38
Public Awareness
Contributed by Natasha Williams
Ascension Day Fair 2012 was such another well organised event to start of the Jubilee Celebrations!
We, the Conservation Team had a stall to raise awareness of Ascensions unique flora and fauna and our current
conservation projects. We also provided competitions for the youth of the island.
Competition Winners
Guessing the Endemic Species
Adam Fowler
The endemics were Ascension Frigate, Anogramma Fern, Pteris adscensionis, Pseudoscorpion and the Ascension
Wrasse.
Colouring Competition
3-5 Years – Jordan Reynolds, Ella-Mae
5-7 Years – Radka Henry, Corey Phillips
7-10 Years - Lauren Hanley
Vina Dupres and
Latisha Williams
Good Job! Well done to all who participated. See you next year.
ISSUE 38
The Ascension Island Government Conservation
Department started in 2001 when the British Foreign and
Commonwealth office (FCO) funded a half a million
pounds Seabird Restoration Project which was managed by
the Royal Society for the Protection of Birds (RSPB). The
department has developed from one Conservation Officer
to a staff of nine and volunteers. Mr Stedson Stroud, MBE.
Miss Jolene Sim, Miss Natasha Williams, Mr Nathan
Fowler, Mr Dane Wade, Miss Liza White, Miss Catherine
Supple, Dr Sam Weber and Dr Nicola Weber.
The AIG Conservation Department aims to conserve
Ascension’s natural heritage by implementing the
commitments of the AIG Environment Charter and Mission
Statement.
Ascension Conservation Quarterly is published
electronically by the AIG Conservation Department.
Ascension Island Government
Ascension Island
South Atlantic Ocean
ASCN 1ZZ
Phone: 00-247-6359
E-mail:
conservationenquries@ascension.gov.ac
www.ascensionconservation.org.ac
Editor: Jolene Sim, Assistant Conservation Officer
Co—Editor: Natasha Williams, Conservation Office
Assistant
Graphic Design and compilation by Natasha Williams,
Conservation Office Assistant
Photography: Photos
Conservation staff.
by
the
contributors
Staff Changes
We are proud to announce that we have recruited two
people for the New Darwin Project and they are former
OTEP Turtle Project Researchers, Drs. Sam and Nicola
Weber.
VISITORS/VOLUNTEERS:
Thank you to Roy Smith, Sefton Yon, The Four Scotts, Gareth Bath and family. Helen Otley and Michaela
Walker, Mr Martin Longden, Minister Jeremy Browne, His Excellency Governor of St Helena Mark
Capes, Colin and Jennifer Winwood. Interserve Defence employees Brian Leo, Stuart Grey, Sean Lowe
and Andrew Scott, Clare Cockwell, Paul Brickle and Dr Colin Clubbe for volunteering and visiting
Conservation.
and