Conservation of threatened tree species in Tahiti

Conservation of threatened tree species in the high plains of Mount Tahiti in French Polynesia.

Partner: Polynesian Ornithological Society
Years: 2020-2023

This project aims at the conservation and restoration of healthy and viable populations of four threatened tree species (3 Critically Endangered and 1 Endangered) in the high plains of Mount Tahiti in French Polynesia.

Eastern Polynesian sandalwood (Santalum insulare)

302 of the 460 endemic plant species found in French Polynesia are threatened by extinction. However, this decline in endemic plant species populations is not due to overexploitation but to the proliferation of non-native animal and plant species.

The goal of this project is to make a significant contribution to the protection and restoration of four threatened tree species: Pisonia grasciliscens (CR), Terminalia glabrata var. glabrata (CR), Ochrosia tahitensis (CR) and Christiana vescoana (EN).

These 4 tree species will be preserved thanks to:

1. the management and protection of their natural populations in the high plains of Mount Tahiti,

2. the multiplication of these natural populations from local seeds and

3. the establishment of new populations of various origins (from other Tahitian natural populations).