Henderson Island is one of those places that you are highly
unlikely ever to visit, unless you are an advanced student of ecology or
evolution. The fact that it has been visited by so few people over the
centuries is the main reason why it is so unusual and supports such an
extraordinary variety of wildlife, much of which is found nowhere else.
Henderson Island is a raised coral atoll that forms part of
the Pitcairn Group in the eastern Pacific Ocean, although it is 120 miles away
from Pitcairn itself. The nearest landmass, South America, is 5,000 kms (3,100
miles away).
The island was once occupied by people of Polynesian origin,
who arrived in the 12th century but whose descendants abandoned it
in the 15th century. Since then there has been no permanent human
presence. This means that it is one of only a handful of coral atolls in the
world that has been free of human presence for a very long time.
For this reason, the process of evolution has developed
unhindered, resulting in Henderson Island having ten plant and four bird
species that are found here and nowhere else. The birds in question are the
Henderson Lorikeet, the Henderson Fruit Dove, the Henderson Reed Warbler and
the Henderson Crake.
The island therefore has immense value as an ecological time
capsule and it is vitally important that human interference is kept to a
minimum. It would be a tragedy if, for example, a visiting yacht were to leave
a pair of rats behind, as these could easily lead to whole species being wiped
out within quite a short time, as has happened elsewhere.
Henderson Island received its designation as a UNESCO World
Heritage Site in 1988, for the criteria: “Natural phenomena or beauty” and
“Significant natural habitat for biodiversity”.
This is one of those places that people might think was
“nice to visit” but the message has to be – keep off!
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