Integrated plant conservation on Pitcairn Island, South Central Pacific

Pitcairn Island is a small, isolated island at the eastern extremity of the main group of Polynesian islands, roughly half way between New Zealand and South America and just south of the Tropic of Capricorn. The research interest of Trinity College, Dublin (TCD) in the island began in 1991 during the Sir Peter Scott Commemorative Expedition to the Pitcairn Islands, which focussed its attention mainly on ‘nearby’ Henderson Island (a World Heritage Site) and two atolls Oeno and Ducie. During this expedition it became apparent that the main conservation issues with the flora of these islands was on Pitcairn itself. As a U.K. Overseas Territory governed from the British High Commission in New Zealand, the responsibility for biodiversity conservation on the island rests with the UK Government. Accordingly, TCD and the Irish National Parks and Wildlife Service (NPWS) secured funding from the U.K. Foreign & Commonwealth Office in 1997 to examine in detail the floristics, vegetation communities and conservation status of the native flora.