Predator Free Pacific — Nukufetau & Funafuti Invasive Rat Eradication (Tuvalu)

Between July and September 2024, Tuvalu's Department of Environment led a ground-based eradication of invasive rats from six islets — Motumua, Sakalua, Teafuaone and Teafatule in Nukufetau Atoll, and Tepuka and Falefatu in Funafuti — under the regional Predator Free Pacific programme. The work built on 2023 groundwork funded through the GEF-6 Regional Invasives Project.

The project was coordinated by the Secretariat of the Pacific Regional Environment Programme's invasive-species support service (SPREP–PRISMSS) with technical delivery by the NGO Island Conservation and support from BirdLife International, and funded by New Zealand's Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade alongside the Global Environment Facility. Local staff received specialised training in ground-based rodent-eradication techniques before fieldwork began — a model that builds in-country capacity rather than relying solely on outside contractors.

Reported outcomes include recovering nesting habitat for native seabirds and endangered green sea turtles, a rebound in coconut crab numbers, and — on Tepuka specifically — the complete elimination of the islet's mosquito population and a near-disappearance of invasive yellow crazy ants, which had previously been rampant. A follow-up monitoring mission was scheduled for August 2025 to confirm eradication success, though the sources reviewed do not publish pre/post population counts.

The islets' coconut agroforests are a direct livelihood resource for Nukufetau residents (coconuts, crabs and other food), tying the ecological restoration to measurable community food-security and economic-resilience benefits, per SPREP's reporting.