Réunion Cuckoo-shrike project

Thierry Micol, the LPO expert on pest control, carried out his fieldwork for the A1 [1] project for the preservation of the Réunion Cuckoo-shrike from 29th April to 13th May.

Damien Fouillot on a rat population control site (Plaine des Chicots), Thierry Micol

After making a presentation to the participants concerned (ONF, DEAL, CG...) with SEOR and the National Park, three days were spent in the Réunion Cuckoo-shrike’s nesting areas (Grande Montagne, Plaine d’Affouches, Plaine des Chicots) which allowed the methods being used to be refined, the chosen sites to be pinpointed and the chances of reducing the rat population by aerial operations to be evaluated.

At the same time, the SEOR team was making a feasibility study of such actions: their effectiveness, their impact on the environment and on the other species of wildlife present.
A final meeting to review the project, involving SEOR, the National Park, DEAL, ONF, SREPEN, FDGDON and CdL allowed the key questions to be resolved and their priority debated and defined in preparation for the report which will be issued this autumn.

The welcome accorded by SEOR and its partners, especially after the fieldwork undertaken, was much appreciated and the involvement of SEOR’s consultant on the Réunion Cuckoo-shrike, Damien Fouillot, involving his considerable expertise, will be without any doubt a major asset in the preservation of that species in the years to come.