Various organizations like Conservation International and World Wildlife Fund have initiated programs to conserve important islands or regions throughout the archipelago. To complement these large scale projects and approaches, we have initiated grass-roots programs in the Makira Province. Our approach is four-fold.

I. TRAINING

First, we involve local, young community stakeholders in our research. This provides hands-on training, such as mist netting and diversity survey techniques, to local land stewards (see picture below).

George looks on, as Al trains his local collaborators on banding and taking morphological measurements (photo by Day's Edge Productions).

II. OUTREACH

Second, we give presentations to local schools and to local elders (see picture below). These presentations provide key information that forms the basis of successful long-term conservation initiatives. For instance, our work indicates that several island chains harbor unique endemic and newly-formed bird species, and we use this information to help local landowners realize that their flora and fauna are unique. We also provide them with a more global perspective, explicitly communicating the value of their resources to a global economy and the impacts of global warming to islands.

III. EDUCATION

Third, with support from the National Science Foundation,  we have developed a field course that brings students from the United States to the Solomon Islands. This course will expose students to basic ecological and evolutionary theory, as well as explicit training in field research techniques and development of outreach programs. This course provides substantial revenue to local communities. Further, we have plans to expand this course to include students from the Solomon Islands National University, thereby training future leaders of the Solomon Islands.