Pago Pago, AMERICAN SAMOA — The Department of Marine and Wildlife Resources (DMWR) has received a grant under the National Fish and Wildlife Foundation’s America the Beautiful Challenge (ATBC) in the amount of $864,300 for rat and other invasive species eradication.

The “Swains Island Tropical Ecosystem Restoration Planning for Invasive Mammal Eradication and Rainforest Realignment” grant was confirmed in a statement issued by the DMWR.

Director Taotasi Archie Soliai commended the DMWR biologist Adam Miles and his team for taking the lead in this application.

 “Of the 527 proposals nationwide that were submitted, only 55 were approved and one of those is for American Samoa.

 “This is a great funding opportunity that will help our efforts to eradicate these non-native predators that continue to impede conservation efforts on Swains island,” said Soliai.

According to the statement the National Fish and Wildlife Foundation (NFWF) announced nearly $91 million in grants through the new America the Beautiful Challenge (ATBC).

 “The 55 new grants announced on November 10, 2022 will support landscape-scale conservation projects in 42 states and three U.S. territories, leveraging $50.7 million in matching contributions to generate a total conservation impact of about $141.7 million.

 “ATBC grants support projects that conserve, restore and connect habitats for wildlife while improving community resilience and access to nature. The ATBC is a partnership between NFWF and the U.S. Department of the Interior through the Fish and Wildlife Service, the U.S. Department of Agriculture through the Natural Resources Conservation Service and the Forest Service, the U.S. Department of Defense, and Native Americans in Philanthropy.

 “The competitive grant awards were made possible with funding from the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law, other federal conservation programs and private sources. Additional support this year was provided by the Bezos Earth Fund.

 “The 2022 ATBC request for proposals received an unprecedented response, with applicants submitting 527 proposals requesting a total of $1.1.”

The grant slate announced over the weekend addresses about 10 percent of this overall level of demand, illustrating the highly competitive nature of the ATBC.

 “The Swains Island Tropical Ecosystem Restoration Planning for Invasive Mammal Eradication and Rainforest Realignment project is a collaboration between DMWR and Island Conservation, a Santa Cruz, CA based non-profit that specializes in preventing island animal extinctions by removal of non-native predators such as rats and cats.

 “DMWR and IC worked closely with Rep. Alex Jennings, the Jennings family, the National Marine Sanctuary of American Samoa, and the United States Fish and Wildlife Service to plan the eradication of invasive rats from Swain’s Island to benefit seabirds and the marine ecosystem.

 “The awarded grant for project planning is aimed at engaging community stakeholders and collaborating with conservation experts to identify opportunities and build capacity for tropical restoration and invasive species management on Swains Island.”

The statement says the project will create an operational and reforestation plan for long-term protection that supports at-risk terrestrial and marine species and reestablishes native flora on the 460-acre island to benefit the entire island ecosystem.

 “The ultimate goal of the project is to increase seabird populations by removing invasive rats and cats from Swain’s Island and improving seabird habitat by restoring areas of coconut plantation into native habitat.

 “The re-establishment of sea-bird populations on Swain’s should have a cascading effect by providing nutrient inputs that benefit both the land and marine ecosystem.

 “The long-term plan is to establish a research center on Swain’s Island to study the recovery of the land and marine ecosystems and to provide an educational opportunity for high school and college students interested in studying marine and wildlife in American Samoa.”