Situated in the Indian Ocean, Rodrigues Island, which measures 109 km², is roughly 600km from the next nearest land mass.

This geographic isolation has given rise to numerous species unique to the island, including threatened plants, mammals, passerine birds and molluscs. Sadly, it has suffered historic losses of endemic species, including two species of wild tortoise and a large flightless bird related to the dodo, which were hunted to extinction in the 1800s.

Generations later, Rodrigues Island is among the most environmentally depleted islands in the world. Rats, goats and invasive plants have depleted both its native flora and fauna.

Many of its remaining endemic species, including the Rodrigues fruit bat (Pteropus rodricensis), are recorded as Endangered on the IUCN Red List, while others, like Eugenia rodriguesensis, a shrub bearing fragrant flowers, are Critically Endangered. Rodrigues fruit bats, also known as the Rodrigues flying fox or ‘golden bats’, suffer persecution alongside habitat loss, as they are sometimes seen as agricultural pests.

The Mauritian Wildlife Foundation (MWF), which has been operating for more than four decades, has been conducting a monitoring, restoration and outreach programme on the island.

We have a long standing partnership with the MWF, offering financially assistance and sharing our extensive conservation education and bird breeding and monitoring expertise, to support their mission to prevent extinction in the Mascarenes.

As a result of many years of collaborative work, we’ve collectively been able to create a haven for endangered passerines (songbirds), the echo parakeet, the pink pigeon, and numerous endemic reptile species on the islet of Ile aux Aigrettes, off the coast of Mauritius.

Our partnership has also covered target areas in Mauritius, particularly the Black River Gorges National Park, where the echo parakeet (Psittacula eques), already depleted by hunting and habitat loss, experienced an outbreak of the highly infectious Psittacine Beak and Feather Disease in 2005.

Despite this, the wild population continued to be managed and monitored, with results from our collaborative work leading to a remarkable recovery.

Among the measurable successes of the last 15 years, both the Mauritius fruit bat (Pteropus niger) and echo parakeet were downgraded from Critically Endangered to Endangered.

With input from our expert education and social sciences teams, the Mauritian Wildlife Foundation has engaged with thousands of tourists and young people through their community engagement programme.

Hope is very much alive that Mauritian endemics and people can coexist sustainably for decades to come.

Accordingly, the Mauritian Wildlife Foundation and Chester Zoo partnership is now focusing on Grande Montagne Nature Reserve in Rodrigues.

The current project has several goals. These include monitoring passerine populations on the island through surveys, expanding and analysing Rodrigues fruit bat population data, controlling invasive alien species such as rats and invasive plants, and learning more about bat and bird species both to protect them and to support responsible eco-tourism.

Chester Zoo is supporting the Mauritian Wildlife Foundation to employ restoration workers to plant native tree species and weed previously planted plots.

The aim is to plant 5,000 new trees every year for the three-year duration of the project, restoring half a hectare annually.

Ecotourism offers the Mauritian Wildlife Foundation a sustainable income, so we are bolstering their efforts to build on both their education experience and the ecotours already carried out in the Grande Montagne Nature Reserve.

This involves promoting the tours through various channels, repairing walkways signage and access points and developing more tours in a sustainable and environmentally sensitive way.

We are also providing technical support to Mauritian Wildlife Foundation bat surveys, creating a purpose made database and a data submission protocol for population monitoring.

Chester Zoo will also be involved in the analysis and interpretation of the data. Together, we can benefit both bats and biodiversity on Rodrigues.