Redonda Ecosystem Reserve (Antigua and Barbuda)
From 2022-2023, the Wyss Foundation provided $530,000 in funding to Re:wild to help protect the lands and waters of Redonda Island and usher in the return of native species to the previously degraded ecosystem.
On August 18, 2023, the Caribbean Island nation of Antigua and Barbuda officially designated the Redonda Ecosystem Reserve, providing permanent protection for the 197‐acre Redonda Island and approximately 298 square kilometers (73,000 acres) of the island’s surrounding ocean. In the early 20th century, Redonda Island was the site of intensive guano mining for use in munitions. In addition to destroying bat caves, miners released goats and rats—both of which continued to devastate the island’s ecosystem long after mining ceased. Beginning in 2016, Re:wild and the Government of Antigua and Barbuda started extensive rewilding activities, and in less than two years, rats and feral goats were removed from the island. Redonda quickly returned to its former floral and faunal splendor. Seabirds like brown boobies and red-billed tropicbirds returned. Total vegetation biomass dramatically increased by more than 2,000 percent, many species of land birds returned, and the number of endemic lizards rapidly increased. In particular, the population of Redonda ground dragons—a critically endangered lizard—increased thirteen-fold from 2017 to 2023.
The designation of Redonda as an Ecosystem Reserve ensured that Redonda Island and its surrounding nearshore ocean remain forever untouched. The designation limits visitation to the island and its immediate surrounding ocean solely for research. The protected ocean is closed to all industrial uses. Artisanal, non‐commercial fishing is allowed within the marine protected area, provided it occurs outside a 500‐meter buffer surrounding the island.
This project was made possible through the work of Re:wild, the government of Antigua and Barbuda, the Environmental Awareness Group, and Fauna & Flora.