Ecobreves – COSTA RICA: Invaders Eradicated from Coco Island

By IPS Correspondents and - - Reprint | | Print |

SAN JOSE, Mar 20 2004 (IPS) - Scientists from the World Conservation Union aim to remove invading species from Costa Rica's Coco Island, in the Pacific Ocean, so that they do not cause further harm to biodiversity. Alan Tye, Brian Cook, Norm McDonald and Michel Pascal, experienced in eliminating exotic species from local ecosystems in New Zealand, Australia and Ecuador's Galápagos Islands, will attempt to remove cats, pigs, white-tailed deer and two types of rats.

These experts say that pigs are causing erosion on the 24-square-km island, which leads to sedimentation in the coral beds along the coast.

The rats destroy various species of flora and fauna and are a threat to the exceptional biodiversity of the island, which has been protected since 1978 and was declared a Natural Heritage of Humanity site by UNESCO (United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization).