About

You can prevent extinctions! Our world today is experiencing a major wave of species extinctions; some estimates suggest species are going extinct 1,000 times faster than historical rates. Although islands only make up 5.3% of the Earth’s terrestrial surface area, they represent the greatest concentration of both biodiversity and species extinction. A leading cause of this biodiversity loss on islands is due to introduced, damaging (invasive) species, but hope is not lost. One of the most impactful conservation interventions for saving Endangered animals and plants is removing invasive species from islands. Since Island Conservation was founded in 1994 we have worked with local communities, their governments, and conservation organizations to remove invasive species and conduct research to understand ecosystem changes and benefits to inform future conservation action. Over the past 25 years, Island Conservation and our partners have successfully restored 63 islands worldwide, benefiting 1173 populations of 468 species and subspecies. We envision a future in which our world’s most at-risk island animals, plants, ecosystems, and communities are thriving, safeguarded from damaging invasive species, and thus more resilient to other emergent conservation threats. Together, we can make a measurable difference on Earth—we can prevent extinctions.