Life+ Cap DOM evaluated by the European Commission on Réunion Island!

At the end of March, SEOR and the Réunion National Park welcomed two representatives of the European Commission on their first visit to an overseas department. This was an important moment, for you must not forget that since the DOMs became eligible to join the LIFE+ Biodiversité programme in 2007, only two projects, COREXERUN and the Cap DOM, have been financed by Europe !

A working meeting within the Réunion National Park. Photo: A.-F. Touveron

Simon Goss and Païvi Rauma, respectively in charge of the technical and financial aspects of the Life+ Nature and Biodiversity programme, came to take stock of the progress of Life+ Cap DOM on Réunion Island. After a day of work indoors, it was time to go into the field where the technical teams from SEOR and the Réunion National Park were able to display their work to protect the Réunion Cuckoo-shrike, an endemic species in critical danger of extinction, and the Réunion Harrier, the island’s sole endemic raptor, also considered to be endangered (UICN, BirdLife International, 2008).

A day in the field, Dos d’Ane, La Réunion - Photo : A.-F. Touveron

Despite the rain, the outing was inspiring and rich in observations, thanks to the two female Réunion Cuckoo-shrikes and the Réunion Harriers that came to greet the Brussels/Réunion team. Simon Goss and Païvi Rauma left the island that same evening, after they had congratulated those working on the project for their efforts, the quality of their work and the encouraging results they had obtained since the work began.