St Helena is one of the UK’s ‘Overseas Territories’, lying in the South Atlantic Ocean, mid-way between Africa and South America. It is one of the most remote, inhabited islands in the world and, for now, can only be reached by boat. St Helena is renowned as Napoleon Bonaparte’s final place of exile; less well known, to many, is its unique biological heritage. The island’s flora and fauna evolved in extreme isolation, resulting in more than 400 invertebrate species found nowhere else on Earth. This total surpasses the number of endemics found in the UK and its other Overseas Territories put together. For this reason, St Helena has been called the ‘Galapagos of the South Atlantic’.
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| Blushing snail (Succinea sanctaehelenae) Cuckhold's Peak, St Helena © Roger Key |
Unfortunately, following its discovery in the 1500s, St Helena suffered immense environmental destruction, caused by introduced livestock and forest clearance. Today, much of the island’s unique wildlife is threatened with extinction. Iconic invertebrates such as the Giant earwig (Labidura herculeana) and Giant ground beetle (Aplothorax burchelli) are believed lost within living memory. The remnants of the original flora and fauna are struggling to survive in habitat fragments. They face pressures from introduced plants and animals that compete with, or prey upon, them.
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| Sally Lightfoot crab (Grapsus adscensionis) Manati Bay, St Helena © Roger Key |
In April 2011, a Buglife team visited St Helena, with financial support from the UK government’s ‘Darwin Initiative’. Richard Smith, accompanied by the husband-and-wife team of Roger and Rosy Key, met with local partners - the St Helena National Trust and government conservationists. Together they planned a course of action to conserve St Helena’s invertebrates. This will involve assembling all the knowledge of the island’s fauna; training local staff in invertebrate conservation management; and raising public awareness of the special place invertebrates have in the island’s biodiversity. Buglife and its St Helena partners are now raising funds for the project. This work will help St Helena meet future challenges, such as the proposed airport and the expansion of tourism and development. It is hoped that invertebrates can play their part in supporting sustainable eco-tourism, on an island that is surely one of the jewels in the crown of UK biodiversity.
