On the 18^th and 19^th September the EU Life (Nature) Fund post project conference, entitled: Tackling the Problem of invasive alien mammals on seabird colonies - Strategic approaches and practical experience, was jointly hosted by The National Trust for Scotland, Royal Zoological Society of Edinburgh and Central Science Laboratory at the Education Centre, Edinburgh Zoo. The conference attracted 93 delegates from as far afield as New Zealand and the Falkland Islands, as well as Ireland, Germany, France, Spain, Italy and Greece.

The conference was opened by David Windmill, chief executive of Edinburgh Zoo and Professor Colin Galbraith of SNH. There then followed 18 presentations, in four sessions, over two days. The early papers gave practical experience of eradication projects from the Baltic to Ascension Island with a full report on the Canna Project. The conference concluded with a session on prioritising future eradication programmes and techniques for ensuring best value for money. Abstracts from these presentations will be made available on the project website (www.nts-seabirds.org.uk) later this month.

The zoo proved to be an ideal venue, with excellent catering and a chance to visit some of the interesting exhibitions. The conference dinner was rounded off with a presentation from John Love on the unique wildlife of the Outer Hebrides. Delegates then headed for the bar, where discussions continued till closing time. Overall, delegates agreed that the conference had been a great success.

 

Monitoring work on Canna will continue over the winter and a final clean-up will be organised in March-April to remove all of the remaining bait stations.