Latest News

Team Rat complete their 2013 baiting target

Team Rat has now reached its 2013 target, baiting a further 580 square kilometres of South Georgia, despite operating in some of the worst weather in a decade. This year's work means that the team has baited 70% of the infested area of the island.

If the £2 million needed to complete the final year of fieldwork can be raised, Team Rat can return in 2015 to bait the remaining 300 square kilometres.

Once all of the rats and mice are removed from South Georgia, scientists estimate a 100 million increase in the island's bird population.

To follow the Team's progress follow SGHT on Facebook or Twitter. Support Team Rat's work by sponsoring a hectare of the island to be cleared of rodents.

Island Foundation donates US$750,000 to Habitat Restoration Project

The announcement of further funding from this key supporter was made at a fundraising luncheon hosted by Royal Patron HRH The Princess Royal at St. James's Palace

Habitat Restoration receives £250,000 of Defra funding

On 8th February 2012, the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (Defra) awarded SGHT £250,000 of funding towards the South Georgia Habitat Restoration project. Read more on this exciting development here

Friends of South Georgia Island (FOSGI) is awarded 501(c)3 status

The Friends of South Georgia Island organisation (FOSGI) was awarded 501(c) 3 status in December 2011. US donors can make a tax-deductible donation through the website at www.fosgi.org.

Download spectacular South Georgia panoramas from the Centre for Remote Environments

SGHT Habitat Restoration Project: Phase 1 complete

Phase 1 of the Habitat Restoration Project was successfully completed in March 2011 – in just 28 days making this project the largest island rodent eradication operation ever undertaken in the world. This part of South Georgia is now believed to be rat free for the first time in two centuries.

Click here to sponsor a hectare and support the SGHT Habitat Restoration Project.

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Latest News

Team Rat is close to completing the second year of Habitat Restoration fieldwork in 2013. This season the international team of eradication experts has tackled all rodent-infested areas to the west of the Greene, Thatcher and Mercer areas cleared in 2011. All indications are that those areas have now been rat-free for two years, and the birds are already benefitting. Pintail ducklings are fledging successfully at Grytviken for the first time in living memory! Over 50,000 hectares of infested land has already been baited in 2013 despite some of the worst weather in a decade, a tremendous achievement.
- New funding of US $750,000 received from major donor Island Foundation (USA)
On June 26th at a St. James's Palace luncheon hosted by HRH The Princess Royal, the announcement was made that the Island Foundation would donate a further US$750,000 to the Habitat Restoration project through SGHT's sister organisation FOSGI. The funds will be used to pay for bait in Phase 2 of the work.
- On 8th February 2012, the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (Defra) awarded SGHT £250,000 of funding towards the South Georgia Habitat Restoration project.
Minister for the Natural Environment and Fisheries Richard Benyon said:'I’ve been captivated by South Georgia, ever since reading of the plight of Sir Ernest Shackleton as a child.With the centenary of this famous expedition just around the corner, we have a once in a lifetime chance to help return this precious habitat to an eeven better state than that in which Shackleton would have first discovered it. I’m delighted that the UK Government has been able to offer its support to this valuable work and hope that others may be encouraged do the same.’
- The Friends of South Georgia Island organisation (FOSGI) was awarded 501(c) 3 status in December 2011. US donors can make a tax-deductible donation through the website at www.fosgi.org.
- Prof. Bjørn Basberg receives the L. Byrne Waterman Award from New Bedford Whaling Museum. Read about the award and view the press release.
- Following an event at the Academy of Medical Sciences on 4th May celebrating the successful completion of Phase 1, the BBC website features the SGHT Habitat Restoration project http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/science-environment-13282806
- Phase 1 of the Habitat Restoration project was successfully completed on 28th March 2011 in only 28 days!
Read all the latest news on the Habitat Restoration project from South Georgia on our Facebook page
Read the latest SGHT and Habitat Restoration newsletters here
- SGHT hosted a conference on the industrial heritage of South Georgia on 8th and 9th September 2011. The conference outcomes will be published on this website shortly.