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Site description (2012 baseline):
Site location and context
Gau is the fifth largest island in Fiji. Mt Delaco, the island’s highest peak, rises to 738 m above sealevel while Delacoboni is 705m asl. The land is rugged dominated by the summits in the north and a main ridge running south (Watling 1986). .
There are only a handful of records of Fiji Petrels on land in the world, all of single birds attracted to village lights on Gau. Tens or hundreds of pairs of Collared Petrel constitute the only known regular breeding site of this species in Fiji. Two subspecies, Island Thrush T. p. hades and Golden Whistler
P. p. vitiensis, are endemic to Gau. There are13 restricted range species in the forests (out of 36 in Fiji).
A4ii Congregatory Both seabird species
* Fiji Petrel – meets the threshold of >1 pair
* Collared Petrel – meets the threshold of >10 pairs
Non-bird biodiversity: Gau is free of mongoose and supports good numbers of amphibians and reptiles including the Fijian Ground Frog (EN) and Banded Iguana (EN). Preliminary studies suggest that it has high numbers of endemic plants.
The IBA covers the entire forested interior, just over 50% of the entire island. Gau has a population of just 3,000 people, all of whom live on the coastline, and subsist on fishing and farming. This agricultural coastal fringe, with gardens extending up to 300 m, is excluded from the IBA. The IBA is lowland rainforest with stunted forest on ridge-tops and includes some of the world’s lowest-altitude montane cloud forest on the high exposed slopes. The only maintained track in the hinterland provides access to a Telecom repeater tower situated just below Mt Delaco.
Pressure/threats to key biodiversity
Small petrels across the world are susceptible to predation at the nest by feral/introduced cats, pigs and rats, all of which are present throughout the forest on Gau.
The hill forests are not under extensive threat of clearance or degradation but subsistence gardens are slowly encroaching uphill and there are reports of villagers finding newly dug burrows within their gardens. These burrows are likely to be made by Wedge-tailed Shearwaters, not Fiji Petrels. Shifting cultivation leaves grassland fallows which are at risk from uncontrolled fire which can damage adjacent forest.
Agricultural activities are slowly increasing as the population increases, and as some restrictions are placed on harvesting of marine resources.
Conservation responses/actions for key biodiversity
Fiji Petrel conservation is likely to be dependent on controlling various invasive alien predators. There appear to be no cliffs or inaccessible mountainous ledges on Gau where petrels could nest out of the reach of these predators. Research is urgently needed to locate the petrel nesting grounds, to monitor breeding success and the impact of these predators. Fortunately, Gau lacks mongoose but conservation action needs to include preventative measures to ensure that they do not colonise from nearby Viti Levu and Vanua Levu.
Considerable effort has been applied to the location of breeding grounds for Fiji and Collared Petrels. Monitoring using spot-lights at night has failed to record Fiji Petrel but provides data on annual variation in Collared Petrel numbers and timing of activity at the island. Searches using burrow scopes were unsuccessful at locating nesting burrows but the use of trained search dogs in 2011 and 2012 has successfully located over 50 burrows to date.
Predator control has been implemented around known nesting burrows of Collared Petrel to improve breeding success.
Single Fiji petrels continue to be grounded in villages. In 2012 the first vocalisations of Fiji Petrel were recorded from one such individual. This recording may help in future spot-lighting searches and with searches elsewhere in Fiji.
In 2012 remote playback equipment was installed at a site on Gau to broadcast the calls of threatened petrels. Artificial nesting burrows have been installed at the same site in the hope a known population can be established at which predator control can be implemented.
There may be potential for a low level of specialised ecotourism to cater for interested ornithologists as and when the Fiji Petrel nesting grounds have been located.
NatureFiji-MareqetiViti staff have been managing Fiji and Collared Petrel conservation efforts on Gau, training individuals from local communities to support the programme and implement specific conservation activities. Local communities have received training in reporting grounded petrels and ensuring they are handled and released without harm to the birds.
Unprotected. Site of National Significance. Included in list of sites proposed for protection as part of the Fiji Governments Protected Area Committee. This was approved by the NEC.
Recommended citation
BirdLife International (2024) Important Bird Area factsheet: Gau Highlands (Fiji). Downloaded from
https://datazone.birdlife.org/site/factsheet/gau-highlands-iba-fiji on 23/12/2024.
