Threatened species on world heritage-listed Lord Howe Island are making a striking comeback. It comes five years after a multi-million-dollar NSW government rodent eradication project. Now, rare ecosystems on the island, 600-kilometres east of Port Macquarie, are thriving.
Category
📺
TVTranscript
00:00The mountain summits at the southern end of Lord Howe Island are home to a rare cloud
00:08forest supporting about 85% of the island's endemic plant species.
00:14Some plants over millions of years have evolved just to live on that summit.
00:18But the island's biodiversity has been under threat.
00:22In 2019, more than 350,000 rodents were eradicated.
00:28The ground-dwelling Lord Howe Island wood hen, once on the brink of extinction, is now
00:33a common sight.
00:34They have gone from about 200 wood hens five years ago to over 2,000 wood hens now.
00:42Fifth generation islander Jack Schick has scouted the tallest summit, Mount Gower, more
00:48than 2,000 times, amazed by the transformation of the forest.
00:54Plants are coming up so the rats will be eating all those seeds.
00:57The amount of birds that are coming back too, silver eyes, like the smaller birds in
01:02particular, silver eyes, golden whistlers, black-winged petrels, blowing me out of the
01:06water.
01:07I can't believe it.
01:08Here at the towering summit of Mount Gower, the cloud forest ecosystem is regarded as
01:14one of the most rare and fragile in the world.
01:18Scientists say Lord Howe Island is a barometer for climate change and the ability of species
01:24to adapt.
01:25Places like the cloud forests are getting much drier and they basically go into drought
01:30and can't exist anymore.
01:32Researchers are tracking temperature changes in the cloud forest.
01:36While at sea level, the recovery of the world's most southerly coral reef is also being monitored
01:42after a coral bleaching event in late summer.
01:45Keeping pests out remains a priority.
01:48Sniffer dogs check all arrivals.
01:51Efforts at all levels to preserve a paradise reclaimed.