The Montserrat National Trust (MNT), the Department of Environment (DoE) and the UK Overseas Territories Conservation Forum (UKOTCF) have collaborated on a three-year Adopt a Home for Wildlife project to encourage and empower every Montserratian to do something which benefits the islands’ unique wildlife.
‘Adopt-a-Home-for-Wildlife’, was developed by MNT & UKOTCF in 2016, as part of their wider ‘Saving Our Special Nature of Montserrat’ programme, in response to local needs, and piloted in 2017. It encouraged the removal of invasive plants and their replacement by native species (by natural seeding or planting saplings from MNT’s Botanic Gardens), and other measures to help native plants and animals to thrive.
So far 13 sites have been adopted (in some cases by their owners or by groups helping public land) and they include a variety of habitats, from globally threatened tropical dry forest, to coastal wetlands now so rare in Montserrat, to shallow coastal waters. The pilot project proved effective in achieving native biodiversity-restoration. It resulted additionally in one project adopter providing safe habitat for another project, led by Durrell Wildlife Conservation Trust, reintroducing the critically endangered frog, the Mountain Chicken.
Public consultation is key to the project, so the Trust is launching a Biodiversity and Ecology Survey to better understand how we can all live well, whilst protecting Montserrat’s wildlife. The survey starts today, September 14, and ends on September 28, 2022.
“Citizen science is increasingly being recognised as a valuable approach to improve the knowledge and understanding required for robust environmental management. So, the Montserrat National Trust’s Biodiversity and Ecology Survey will allow our team to obtain comprehensive information on Montserratians’ knowledge of the island’s biodiversity,” said Sarita Francis, Director of the Montserrat National Trust.
To access the Survey online:
1. Click on the following link: bit.ly/MNTSurvey
2. Visit www.montsererratnationaltrust.ms and select the survey in the menu tab.
Hard copies of the survey are also available at the following locations:
1. The Montserrat National Trust;
2. The Montserrat National Museum; and
3. The Montserrat Public Library
Hard copies of the survey can be submitted in the following ways:
1. Email your submission as an attachment (PDF or Word doc) to info@montserratnationaltrust.ms with ‘Montserrat Biodiversity & Ecology Survey Submission’ in the title; or
2. Post (Submit hardcopy) your submission to ‘Montserrat Biodiversity & Ecology Survey Submission’, Montserrat National Trust, Olveston, Montserrat.
Following the public consultation, the Montserrat National Trust will carefully review the feedback received and a summary of the main findings will be published on the Trust’s website (www.montserratnationaltrust.ms) and shared with local and international partners.
To find out more about the Adopt a Home for Wildlife project please visit the Montserrat National Trust’s website and our social media profiles (@montserratnationaltrust), or contact the Trust by phone on 1 664 491 3086 or via email at info@montserratnationaltrust.ms.
