posted by Kate Walker
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Otu Motu Lalo outlined in red |
In the early 1990s the three
islands of Maninita, Taula and Lualoli (collectively known as Otu Motu Lalo)
were proposed as a protected area by the Tongan government due to their
importance as sea bird breeding colonies. Lack of resources and shifting priorities
meant that this proposal was never taken any further. In the following years,
Vava’u’s emerging eco-tourism market led to these islands being identified as
potential tourist attractions and their importance was recognised by the New
Zealand Overseas Development Administration funded Tongan Nature Tourism
Program in 2002. As part of this program, a baseline survey of Maninita and
Taula was commissioned and a rat eradication program was also carried out on
both islands.
The baseline surveys, as reported
by Dr D Watling from Environmental Consultants Fiji, list the species of flora
and fauna that can be found on both islands and maps the ranges of vegetation
habitat type. The dominant species of plant found on both islands is the tree
locally known as Puko (Pisonia grandis), however their woodland type varies
between islands. Maninita enjoys a high Puko tree forest with a solid unbroken
canopy suggesting mature woodlands. Taula, on the other hand, is also mostly
covered by Puko trees but the woodland is made up of shorter trees with a
highly broken canopy. This difference is explained by the human use of Taula,
where harvesting of seabird chicks is a known annual occurrence. There are plenty
of signs of cut Puko trees which Watling accredits almost certainly to felling
of trees to harvest the birds.
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Typical coastal vegetation on Taula |
The birds that were observed on
Otu Motu Lalo are a combination of migrating species from the north and
resident species of Tonga year round. During the two baseline studies, 21
species of birds were identified between the two islands. Of these species,
three are resident breeding land birds (Wattled Honeyeater (Foulehaio carunculata;
Fuleheu), the Banded Rail (Gallirallus philippensis; Veka) and the
Collared Kingfisher (Todiramphus chloris; Sikota)), the rest are seabirds. Of the 21
species identified, five of them nest in these identified islands. The greatest
abundance of nesting birds are the Black Noddy (Anous minutes; Ngongo)with an estimated 13,000 breeding pairs,
next most abundant are the Brown Noddy (Anous stolidus; Ngongo) with an
estimated 1500 nests across both islands and then the White Tern (Gygis alba;
Tala) with an estimated 1,000 breeding pairs.
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Black Noddy (photo: 10000birds.com) |
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Brown Noddy (photo: 10000birds.com) |
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White Tern (photo: Dave Wiley) |
Red-footed Boobys (Sula sula;
Ngutulei) also nest on both Maninita and Taula, but are found in higher numbers
on Taula. It is thought that, unlike the noddys and terns, the boobys nest all
year round and therefore the number of nests (approximately 50) found during
the baseline surveys were not representative of the population size. This was
further supported by the large number (compared to number of recorded nests) of
Red-footed Boobys coming to roost, rather than nest, on both islands each
evening or in high winds.
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Red-footed Booby & Frigate Bird, Taula |
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Red-footed Booby over Taula |
In addition to this, Taula hosts a breeding
colony of Black Winged Petrel (Pterodroma nigripennis; Lafu). These birds
nest in burrows up to one meter deep that they dig in sandy soil, visiting them
late in the evening and at night. While Dr Watlings’ baseline survey was a
comprehensive study of all flora and fauna species of the islands, he was
unable to quantify the occupancy of the petrel nesting burrows. This is owing
to a local village party that had visited the island a week before the survey
and ‘devastated the colony’ through harvesting. It was felt by the survey team
that additional disturbance of the nests would be detrimental to the health of
any surviving birds. Therefore burrow numbers were used as an estimate of
colony size and a figure of 200 petrels was derived.
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Black Winged Petrel (photo: Nvoaden) |
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Petrel burrow on Taula (photo: D Watling) |
The studies conducted by Dr
Watling and his team show Maninita and Taula to be very important seabird
nesting colonies with intact native flora. BirdLife International’s Important
Bird Area proposal document states that these islands are some of the best
remaining examples of Tonga’s small island ecosystems. However, the attributes
that make them such important ecosystems are under threat from continued human exploitation
and the lack of any management framework.
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Remains of a booby at a camp site on Taula |
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As well as being important
nesting islands, the Otu Motu Lalo islands are also important nesting grounds
for Vava’u’s marine turtle species and as such will be visited by the Vava’u
Turtle Monitoring Program on an annual basis. We will be able to use this time
to also monitor the seabird nesting population and human activity on these
islands and look for any worrying trends that may emerge.
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Busy birds and stormy skies - large flocks of seabirds over the outer islands of Vava'u |
The first turtle
surveys were completed during January 2013 and many eggs and chicks were
observed on Taula with large flocks of seabirds being visible at all times.
Seabird nesting was found on most of the outer islands visits, but without
doubt, Maninita and Taula were the busiest. We have since made contact with Dr
Watling and will be able to use his baseline data to compare any additional bird
data that we collect.
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Noddy egg in a nest on Taula | | |
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Very young noddy chick on Taula |
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Black Noddy chick getting close to fledgling on Taula |
Malo, Kate
Great blog Kate. Very interesting. Elana
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