Current view: Text account
Site description (2007 baseline):
Site location and context
Vanikolo is a volcanic island in the Santa Cruz archipelago of the Tomuto province. The whole island covers 190 km2. Rainfall averages 5000mm per annum.
The site of two single island endemics, the Vanikoro Monarch and Vanikoro White-eye, neither of which are considered globally threatened currently.
Vanikolo is a rugged island with very limited coastal plains leading onto steep hills up to a maximum of 923m asl all covered with tropical forest. Areas of forest supporting te conifer Agathis macrophylla (Pacific Kauri) were logged until the 1960s, but there has subseqently been little commercial activity on the islands. The human population is small (c900 in 1999) consisting largely of subsistence farmers, but there is also some trade in seafood, such as beche de mer and trochus shells.
Conservation responses/actions for key biodiversity
No conservation action currently underway on the island.
Recommended citation
BirdLife International (2024) Important Bird Area factsheet: Vanikoro (Solomon Islands). Downloaded from
https://datazone.birdlife.org/site/factsheet/vanikoro-iba-solomon-islands on 23/12/2024.
