Turks and Caicos rock iguana (Cyclura carinata) Conservation and management plan 2020–2024 Edited by Sarah Havery, Lee Pagni, Giuliano Colosimo, Glenn P. Gerber INTERNATIONAL UNION FOR CONSERVATION OF NATURE IUCN IUCN, International Union for Conservation of Nature, helps the world find pragmatic solutions to our most pressing environment and development challenges. IUCN works on biodiversity, climate change, energy, human livelihoods and greening the world economy by supporting scientific research, managing field projects all over the world, and bringing governments, NGOs, the UN and companies together to develop policy, laws and best practice. IUCN is the world’s oldest and largest global environmental organisation, with more than 1,400 government and NGO Members and almost 18,000 volunteer experts in some 160 countries. IUCN’s work is supported by around 950 staff in more than 50 countries and hundreds of partners in public, NGO and private sectors around the world. www.iucn.org IUCN Species Programme The IUCN Species Programme supports the activities of the IUCN Species Survival Commission and individual Specialist Groups, as well as implementing global species conservation initiatives. It is an integral part of the IUCN Secretariat and is managed from IUCN’s international headquarters in Gland, Switzerland. The Species Programme includes a number of technical units covering Wildlife Trade, the Red List, Freshwater Biodiversity Assessments (all located in Cambridge, UK), and the Global Biodiversity Assessment Initiative (located in Washington DC, USA). IUCN Species Survival Commission The Species Survival Commission (SSC) is the largest of IUCN’s six volunteer commissions with a global membership of 9,000 experts. SSC advises IUCN and its members on the wide range of technical and scientific aspects of species conservation and is dedicated to securing a future for biodiversity. SSC has significant input into the international agree-ments dealing with biodiversity conservation. www.iucn.org/species/about/species-survival-commission IUCN SSC Iguana Specialist Group The Iguana Specialist Group (ISG) is a volunteer member network of experts from various backgrounds and geographic areas around the world that are dedicated to the conservation of iguana species and their habitat. This group is one of more than 160 Specialist Groups organised through the IUCN Species Survival Commission (SSC). Specialist groups work with the SSC to enhance conservation of species by providing scientific advice to conservation organisations, government agencies, and other IUCN members, and support the implementation of multilateral environmental agreements. ISG members work with the IUCN to provide critical information on the status of iguana species for the IUCN Red List of Threatened SpeciesTM. The IUCN Red List is used by experts, government agencies, educators, conservation-based non-government organisations, and others to obtain information on the status of biodiversity, species, and ecosystems. This information is often used to enhance research, create national and international laws, and draw attention to global conservation needs. www.iucn-isg.org www.iucn-isg.org/publications/actions-plans/ Turks and Caicos rock iguana (Cyclura carinata) Conservation and management plan 2020–2024 Turks and Caicos rock iguana (Cyclura carinata) Conservation and management plan 2020–2024 Edited by Sarah Havery, Lee Pagni, Giuliano Colosimo, Glenn P. Gerber iii The designation of geographical entities in this book, and Published by: IUCN, Gland, Switzerland the presentation of the material, do not imply the expres- Produced by: IUCN SSC Iguana Specialist Group sion of any opinion whatsoever on the part of IUCN or other participating organizations concerning the legal status of Copyright: © 2021 IUCN, International Union for any country, territory, or area, or of its authorities, or con- Conservation of Nature and Natural Resources cerning the delimitation of its frontiers or boundaries. Reproduction of this publication for educational or other The views expressed in this publication do not necessarily non-commercial purposes is authorized without prior reflect those of IUCN or other participating organizations. written permission from the copyright holder provided the source is fully acknowledged. The opinions and views expressed by the authors may not necessarily reflect the formal policies of IUCN, its Reproduction of this publication for resale or other com- Commissions, its Secretariat or its Members. mercial purposes is prohibited without prior written permis- sion of the copyright holder. IUCN is pleased to acknowledge the support of its Framework Partners who provide core funding: Ministry Citation: Havery, S., Pagni, L., Colosimo, G. and Gerber, for Foreign Affairs of Denmark; Ministry for Foreign G.P. (eds.) (2021). Turks and Caicos rock iguana (Cyclura Affairs of Finland; Government of France and the French carinata): Conservation and management plan 2020–2024. Development Agency (AFD); the Ministry of Environment, Gland, Switzerland: IUCN. Republic of Korea; the Norwegian Agency for Development ISBN: 978-2-8317-2123-1 (PDF) Cooperation (Norad); the Swedish International DOI: https://doi.org/10.2305/IUCN.CH.2021.10.en Development Cooperation Agency (Sida); the Swiss Agency for Development and Cooperation (SDC) and the United States Department of State. Cover photo: Male Cyclura carinata eating vegetation This publication has been made possible in part by funding on Little Water Cay © Sarah Havery from the UK Government’s Darwin Initiative, as an output of Back cover photos: Male Cyclura carinata (top) the DPLUS055: ‘Saving the Iguana Islands of the Turks and © Giuliano Colosimo Caicos’ project. Close up of Male Cyclura carinata (middle) © Sarah Havery Coastline of Donna Cay (bottom) © Sarah Havery Layout by: Aixa Díaz Production editor: Tandora D. Grant iv Table of contents Foreword vi Executive summary ix Acknowledgements x Acronyms and abbreviations xi Introduction 1 Current assessment overview 3 SWOT (strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, threats) analysis 5 Strengths 5 Weaknesses 6 Opportunities 7 Threats 8 Vision and goals 11 Goal 1 Geographic priorities for iguana conservation are determined and used 12 Goal 2 Current and potential iguana islands are free of invasive alien species 13 Goal 3 Iguanas and iguana islands are legally protected 22 Goal 4 Scientific research and monitoring are used to improve future invasive species eradication and iguana translocation efforts 23 Goal 5 Knowledge of and support for iguanas is widespread 26 Bibliography 28 Appendices 29 Appendix 1 30 Appendix 2 Full current assessment from the IUCN Red List of Threatened SpeciesTM 31 Appendix 3 Examples of educational activities to be prioritised 37 Appendix 4 Climate change note 38 Appendix 5 Workshop participants 16–18 July 2019 42 v Foreword Since the previous Conservation and management plan for the Turks and Caicos rock iguana, Cyclura carinata, (planning workshop held in 2003), significant conservation efforts and achievements have been made to protect this unique and threatened species. The main purpose of this plan is to outline the actions needed to protect the legacy of the ef- forts achieved to date, and to set the direction for future conservation action. One of three cays in the Princess Alexandra Nature Reserve, Little Water Cay has become one of our leading tourist attractions, bringing welcome revenue to local tour operation companies and essential financial support to the National Trust. The primary attraction on Little Water Cay is the population of over 2,000 Turks and Caicos rock iguanas. Little Water Cay’s boardwalk trails, site interpretation, and walking tours provided by trained wardens enable visitors to get an up-close look at this very special animal in its natural habitat. While Little Water Cay’s iguanas are perhaps the best-known population of the species in the Turks and Caicos Islands (TCI), it is certainly not the only population. In pre-Columbian times, perhaps all of our islands and cays, big and small, had populations of Turks and Caicos rock iguanas, but today significant populations are limited to some of the smaller, uninhabited cays. However, fast-paced development for tourism and the spread of invasive predators may be posing threats to iguanas even on the small cays and in protected areas. While our iguanas can recover swiftly when given the opportunity to exist in protected, predator-free habitats, populations close to human developments, and those in areas with introduced predators, are still extremely vulnerable. Much research and conservation work has been performed by San Diego Zoo Wildlife Alliance in partnership with the Department of Environment and Coastal Resources (DECR) over the past few decades. This work has revealed a great deal of information about this species and this knowledge has been incorporated into local school lessons as well as into the tours given by the National Trust’s wardens and private tour guides. In more recent years, this partnership has grown to form the Iguana Islands Partnership. The Iguana Islands Partnership is a collaboration between the Turks and Caicos National Trust, DECR, Department of Agriculture, Environmental Health Department, private island managers, San Diego Zoo, and the Royal Society for the Protection of Birds. With funding from the Darwin Initiative, the Partnership has provided cross-organisational training and skill shar- ing, produced biosecurity plans for two