What’s Next for Lord Howe Island? People Powered Rewilding
- Gregory Andrews
- 3 days ago
- 2 min read
Lord Howe is famous for what it’s saved and honest about what it’s lost. Like many Pacific Islands, birds have taken a particular toll. Eight have been lost to extinction since people first settled in 1834. Among them are the Boobook owl, which patrolled the night and kept insects and small vertebrates in check, and the Lord Howe Parakeet, which dispersed seeds and pruned vegetation through its fruit- and seed-feeding. It helped drive forest regeneration. These niches are now quiet. And that’s why over the longer-term, restoration on the island needn’t stop at removing threats. A future conservation question for the islanders could be: what can we bring back, carefully, to further rebuild the web?
What fills this space about ‘Rewilding’ is a live conversation. And it’s one where Islanders’ voices need to be paramount. Close cousins of the boobook and parakeet are both still holding on at neighbouring Norfolk Island. They and other locally-extinct species could one day be brought back, under strict biosecurity and Islander and scientific guidance. These are not definites. They are careful possibilities, grounded in the principle that we owe the island more than subtraction - we owe it thoughtful reconnection.
Reintroductions are not symbolic gestures. They are tools to restore function across the trophic scale - seed dispersal, predation pressure, night-time pest control, the very exchange between forest and bird that builds resilience. Done well, with genuine community consent and leadership, and long term monitoring, rewilding could be another step on the journey of Lord Howe’s ecological healing.
That is the human role I believe in: keystone, carefully. We remove the wrong species. We help the right ones home. And then we step back to measure, learn, and adapt. We empower Nature on its journey of recovery.
What keeps momentum
• Listen closely to the local Islanders and respect their knowledge.
• Back locals, volunteers and scientists doing the hard work.
• Support long-term monitoring, not just headline moments.
• Hold the line on biosecurity - every arrival is either a gift or a risk.
• Keep telling the story of what courage makes possible here.
In fact, Nature is already rewilding itself at Lord Howe. With the rodents gone, a Grey Fantail recently blew in from the mainland and survived, where past arrivals were likely taken before they could settle. If more fantails ride in on storm winds, they could re-establish themselves as a regular forest voice, hawking insects through the mid-storey and restoring a small but important niche in the trophic web.
On Lord Howe the day now ends with woodhens on the lawn and banyans breathing cool air into the gullies. One day, perhaps, the parakeets will add to that. Night voices could also return, with the sound of the Boobook owls. Until then, we should keep listening to and respecting the locals’ knowledge, and do the patient work that makes that future possible.
I will always see Lord Howe Island through your eyes now after following your work there. I've also used this as a learning tool in my permaculture group as an example of how to give positive stewardship on the lands we work. Take time, observe, and listen to the locals. Thank you.