Union Island Gecko Initiative

An emergency project to save the critically endangered Gonatodes daudini

REPORT

Update to St Vincent & the Grenadines PreservaAon Fund, February 2016

The Union Island Gecko Gonatodes daudini is one of the most endangered animals in St Vincent & the Grenadines, being threatened by habitat loss, invasive alien species and a rising demand from repAle collectors in the West. This small but aMracAve lizard is endemic to Union Island, specifically to the forested slopes above Chatham Bay: a range of not more than 50 hectares. First described in 2005, liMle is known about the Union Island Gecko, other than it inhabits rocky areas in mature dry forest. In 2011, the species was listed on the IUCN Red List of Threatened Species as CriAcally Endangered, signifying it is at very high risk of exAncAon.

The Union Island Gecko IniAaAve (UIGI) was launched in 2016 by the SVG Forestry Department, Fauna & Flora InternaAonal (FFI) and Virginia Zoo to prevent the exAncAon of the gecko and use it as a flagship for forest conservaAon on Union Island. Our achievements in the first month include:

1. The Forestry Department (Mr Glenroy Gaymes, Dr Joanne Gaymes, Mr Bradford Latham and Mr Cornelius LyMle), Fauna & Flora InternaAonal (Dr Jenny Daltry) and Union Island Environmental AMackers (Mr Rosemond Adams) conducted a total of 5 days of surveys of the gecko populaAon and Chatham Bay Forest, with addiAonal assistance from local residents Mr MaMhew Harvey (co-discoverer of the gecko in 2005) and his son Joshua. Key observaAons included:

• A dozen Union Island Geckos were found, one quarter of which had broken tails (an indicator of predator aMack and/or careless human captures).

• Gecko collectors had evidently been very acAve in this area, leaving many rocks and logs overturned (thereby depleAng the available habitat for geckos and other small animals).

• Access trails lead directly into the gecko’s range from Chatham Bay beach, where many yachts and other vessels are moored.

• The Chatham Bay forests are excepAonally rich in wildlife, including at least 15 species of repAles. This could well be the most biodiverse deciduous coastal forest in the Lesser AnAlles.

• Ominously, the presence of new concrete monuments and flagging tape could indicate that construcAon projects are being planned in at least part of the gecko’s range.

• Although part of this area is shown on maps as “Reserve”, it is unclear whether these were ever fully gazeMed as Forest Reserves. Some areas appear to have been recently sold.

2. A lively 2-day stakeholder workshop on Union Island to develop the Union Island Gecko AcAon Plan, facilitated by Dr Jenny Daltry (FFI) and Mr Glenroy Gaymes (SVGFD). Key observaAons included

• The meeAng was well represented by nearly 40 persons from government agencies, NGOs and local businesses, all of whom were fully engaged and parAcipated very acAvely.

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Union Island Gecko IniAaAve – February 2016

• The meeAng included parAcipatory planning exercise as well as short educaAonal presentaAons on the findings from ‘1’ and methods used for conserving endangered species in other areas.

• Most Union Island residents had never heard of, let alone seen the Union Island Gecko, but were surprised and proud to learn they are unique to this island. They expressed great enthusiasm to conserve the species.

• The parAcipants idenAfied a suite of objecAves and acAons to conserve the gecko. Agreed prioriAes include: raising awareness and pride in the gecko; protecAng criAcal parts of Chatham Bay Forests and recruiAng local persons as Forest Rangers; promoAng sustainable tourism; and lisAng the species on CITES Appendix I.

• The workshop was featured on naAonal TV and Radio Grenadines social media sites.

Immediately following the workshop, Director of Forestry Mr Fitzgerald Providence and Dr Jenny Daltry debriefed Hon. Minister Saboto Caesar, Minister of Agriculture, Forestry, Fisheries and Rural TransformaAon and the Permanent Secretary Raymond Ryan of these findings. Both expressed strong support for lisAng the Union Island Gecko on CITES and improving management on the ground. It was noted that another shipment of geckos was reported by a trader in the UK as recently as 27th January.

Next steps include:

• Circulate the dram acAon plan for review (by all persons who parAcipated in the workshop, plus other key experts who were unable to aMend).

• Conduct an evening or weekend presentaAon on Union Island to present the dram plan to a larger number of residents and solicit their feedback.

• Meet with Lands & Surveys to clarify ownership and development plans in the Chatham Bay Forest area, and halt the sales of lands marked as Reserve.

• Prepare the jusAficaAon for lisAng the Union Island Gecko on CITES Appendix I.

• Urgently secure funding to implement all priority acAons in the plan.

Other accomplishments

In addiAon to the work on Union Island Geckos, the project team also opportunisAcally collected DNA from five iguanas on Union Island and Palm Island, to support a much-needed study of the taxonomy of the genus Iguana. The iguanas in this area are morphologically very disAncAve and are being illegally exported from Union Island under the trade name ‘Pink Rhino Iguana’. The samples have been sent to Dr David Schlikorski’s Genindexe lab in France for analysis (at their cost), and any news will be relayed to SVGPF.

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Union Island Gecko IniAaAve – February 2016

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Union Island Gecko IniAaAve – February 2016

Selec1on of photographs from February 2016

The following photos, and more, can be downloaded as high quality jpegs from: hMps://www.dropbox.com/sh/4chj6coiok6wstu/AADbuJavVBSyAvu5QkO-uh5ta?dl=0

Chatham Bay Forest (© J. Daltry, FFI) Glenroy Gaymes searching for animals (© J. Daltry, FFI)

Union Island Gecko (© J. Daltry, FFI) Chatham Bay Forest (© J. Daltry, FFI)

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Union Island Gecko IniAaAve – February 2016

Tracking tunnel, used by the project team to assess non-naAve rats and other potenAally harmful small mammals in the forest (© J. Daltry, FFI)

Camera trap photo of an opossum in Chatham Bay Forest. This species is probably not naAve to SVG and preys on small lizards (© J. Daltry, FFI)

Chatham Bay has a key populaAon of Kirby’s Pygmy Gecko: also Endangered and traded illegally (© J. Daltry, FFI)

Many other animals were observed in the forest at night, including this young iguana (© J. Daltry, FFI)

Cornelius LyMle, Joanna Gaymes and Glenroy Gaymes analysing GIS data (© J. Daltry, FFI)

Local residents meet a Union Island Gecko (© J. Daltry, FFI)

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Union Island Gecko IniAaAve – February 2016

A Problem Tree Analysis and SoluAons Tree Analysis was conducted by workshop parAcipants (© J. Daltry, FFI)

Breakout groups at the workshop, developing more detailed acAons (© J. Daltry, FFI)

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