{"id":366733,"date":"2022-04-20T06:05:14","date_gmt":"2022-04-19T20:05:14","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.saipantribune.com\/?p=366733"},"modified":"2022-04-20T06:05:14","modified_gmt":"2022-04-19T20:05:14","slug":"habitat-protection-secured-for-23-micronesian-species","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.saipantribune.com\/index.php\/habitat-protection-secured-for-23-micronesian-species\/","title":{"rendered":"Habitat protection secured for 23 Micronesian species"},"content":{"rendered":"
The Mariana eight-spot butterfly. (U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service)
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HAG\u00c5T\u00d1A,\u00a0Guam<\/strong>\u2014Following a successful legal challenge by the Center for Biological Diversity and Blue Ocean Law, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service must now identify and protect critical habitat for 23 endangered and threatened species located throughout greater Micronesia. The Service now has to act on critical habitat for these nine rare animals and 14 plants by June 26, 2025.<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019m relieved these 23 beautiful Pacific Island species found nowhere else on Earth will finally get badly needed habitat protections,\u201d said Maxx Phillips, Hawai\u2018i director and a staff attorney at the Center. \u201cThis is a big win, as endangered and threatened species with federally protected critical habitat are twice as likely to recover as those without such protections. Safeguarding the places these unique plants and animals require for survival is crucial in our fight against the extinction crisis.\u201d<\/p>\n

Found in Guam, the Northern Mariana Islands, Palau, and the Federated States of Micronesia, the 23 species are threatened by habitat loss due to agricultural and urban sprawl, military expansion and training, invasive species and climate change.<\/p>\n

The unique species, including tiny sac-winged bats, bright orange and yellow tree snails, and beautiful eight-spot butterflies, are also vulnerable because of small population sizes, invasive species and limited range. Several of the species in Guam and other islands in the Northern Marianas are severely threatened by military expansion related to the relocation of 5,000 U.S. Marines from Okinawa.<\/p>\n

The Fish and Wildlife Service listed the 23 species in 2015. But the agency failed to designate critical habitat for them, as required under the Endangered Species Act. Yesterday\u2019s agreement resolves\u00a0a lawsuit\u00a0filed by the Center in 2021, when habitat protections were more than five years overdue.<\/p>\n

\u201cWith everything going on right now with the military buildup, we are in danger of losing important parts of our culture. We are the people of the land and so when our native plants and animals thrive, we thrive,\u201d said Frances Meno, a local yo\u2019\u00e5mte, or traditional healer. \u201cThere is no future without them.\u201d<\/p>\n

While listing a species as endangered or threatened is the first step in ensuring its survival and recovery, designating critical habitat is a necessary second step. That helps prevent federal actions that destroy or harm areas plants and animals need to survive\u2014and helps conserve what remains of a species\u2019 limited native range.<\/p>\n

\u201cWithout critical habitat designations, native species like the Mariana eight-spot butterfly, which exists only in the Marianas Islands, would be lost, and along with them irretrievable aspects of our Indigenous ecosystem and culture,\u201d said attorney Julian Aguon of Blue Ocean Law. \u201cAs Indigenous peoples, we stand up for our other-than-human relatives.\u201d<\/p>\n

Background<\/strong>
\nPacific sheath-tailed bat:\u00a0This tiny insectivorous, sac-winged bat has already been wiped out in Guam and the island of Vanuatu. Across its remaining range, the bat is threatened by habitat destruction from nonnative species, development, military training, urbanization, typhoons and climate change.<\/p>\n

Slevin\u2019s skink:\u00a0Also known as the Mariana skink, this social creature has already been eliminated from Guam. The rest of the skink\u2019s range is also threatened by habitat destruction from nonnative species, development, military training, urbanization, typhoons and climate change. Military training puts the skink at risk of direct harm from live-fire training exercises.<\/p>\n

Mariana eight-spot butterfly:\u00a0Native to Guam and Saipan, the butterfly is no longer found on Saipan. It is reliant on two host plant species, one of which is used as a native medicinal plant to treat various ailments. In addition to being threatened by parasitic wasps, the butterfly\u2019s habitat is similarly threatened by nonnative species, development, military training, urbanization, typhoons and climate change.<\/p>\n

Guam tree snail:\u00a0Found only in Guam, this once-common, air-breathing snail is now endangered. In addition to the common habitat threats listed above, the Guam tree snail is threatened by fire and overcollection for commercial and recreational purposes.<\/p>\n

Bulbophyllum guamense:\u00a0Part of the Guam Plant Extinction Prevention Program, this orchid has a greenish-yellow flower that smells faintly of carrion. In the past the plant occurred in common large mat-like formations on trees. However, in addition to habitat-based threats, the orchid is being hurt by predation from non-native slugs. (Center for Biological Diversity)<\/strong><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

HAG\u00c5T\u00d1A,\u00a0Guam\u2014Following a successful legal challenge by the Center for Biological Diversity and Blue Ocean Law,…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":28,"featured_media":366731,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[900],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-366733","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-featured"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.saipantribune.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/366733","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.saipantribune.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.saipantribune.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.saipantribune.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/28"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.saipantribune.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=366733"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.saipantribune.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/366733\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.saipantribune.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/366731"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.saipantribune.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=366733"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.saipantribune.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=366733"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.saipantribune.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=366733"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}