Birdlife Pacific Invasive Species Project (BPISP)

TIS are receiving a grant from the European Union via Birdlife International to implement an invasive species project during 2012-2014. Invasive species are plants and animals that typically don’t belong naturally to a place (are introduced or alien to the environment) and when introduced to a place they can cause economic or environmental harm or harm to human health. A well known example in the Pacific Islands is the myna bird which is a pest to humans and has also been found in some places to affect native bird populations. The Birdlife project in Cook Islands is to raise awareness of the problem of invasive species and the importance of biosecurity, to develop a biosecurity plan for Suwarrow and to measure the social and economic impacts in the Cook Islands of eradicating rats from Suwarrow. It will begin in March 2012.