Seabirds are among the most threatened animals on Earth, with 37 percent of seabird species included on the IUCN red list. Their primary menace comes from invasive animals that prey on seabirds and their young, compete for food and habitat, and destroy seabird breeding sites.
Given the severity of this threat, removing invasive animals from important seabird breeding islands can provide substantial return on investment (ROI) for the Packard Foundation’s Marine Bird Program, which aims to restore globally-threatened seabird species.
This paper describes a 10-year, $30 million strategy for Packard that can restore 10 to 15 globally-threatened seabird species, increase populations of 10 to 15 other threatened and near-threatened species, and restore locally-threatened seabird populations in the Caribbean.