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UK Overseas Territories appeal
Each of the extraordinary islands that make up the UK Overseas Territories is unique. They are home to species that have evolved in splendid isolation – wonderful, fascinating species that you will find nowhere else on our planet. Many of them are sliding towards extinction.
The numbers are truly frightening - northern rockhopper penguins are disappearing from Tristan da Cunha and Gough Island at the rate of 100 a day; 25,000 petrel chicks on Henderson Island are eaten alive every year – there simply won't be a future for many of these species unless we act fast.
However, because islands are surrounded by water and self-contained, it is possible to address the problems – if we have the funds and the support.
Local conservationist have already ensured the survival of the Bermuda petrel by successfully translocating 75 chicks onto Nonsuch Island, helped the charming Cobb's wren by clearing over 20 of the Falkland islands of introduced predators, while we've directly helped establish the Centre Hills National Park on Montserrat - giving one of the largest frogs in the world, a lizard and an endemic orchid a future.
But many islands are still desperately waiting for help, watching their precious, irreplaceable wildlife hurtle ever faster towards extinction. Will you support them with a donation today?
Our target: £527,640
What do we hope to achieve?
Each island is unique, so each needs specific solutions. Any donation that you can make will help us to meet our most urgent conservation priorities, helping to restore an island ecosystem:
- Saving Henderson Island's petrels, lorikeets and fruit-doves – with your support the island's introduced rat population can be eradicated
- Protecting rockhopper penguins – research is urgently needed to discover the root causes of the species' alarmingly rapid decline
- Ensuring the survival of the St. Helena wirebird – you can help us create new habitat for the island's last endemic bird species
- Stopping the destruction of Caribbean habitat – Anguilla's saline ponds are a haven for thousands of migrating birds. With your help, we can stop their loss to development
However, there are limits to what we can achieve alone.
It is absolutely vital that the UK Government accepts its responsibilities too, and steps up for nature in the UK Overseas Territories.
'We cannot stand by and let this precious wildlife become extinct!'
Please also take a moment and sign our petition calling on the UK Government to do more to protect these beautiful and precious islands.
Why we need your help
Even though you may never visit any of them, the UK Overseas Territories are unique, ours and under threat.
Made up of 14 unique island groups, they are a treasure trove of spectacular species many of which are found nowhere else on Earth.
However, since the arrival of humans to these island, many of the wonderful wildlife they support have become extinct, or critically endangered.
The main culprits are animal and plant species brought in by settlers, along with the destruction of habitats.
We must take care of our islands and the exceptional species that live on them. And the good news is that there are solutions, but we urgently need your help.