\u201cThere are not many islands in the world with very tall mountains that stick up so high into the atmosphere they create their own cloud, so it is pretty special,\u201d the island\u2019s resident biologist and naturalist, Ian Hutton, said.<\/p>\n
Now that renaissance mentioned by Bower has gone into overdrive, with the woodhens reaching 2,000 individuals. Providence petrels, a cliffside nesting seabird, has seen the success rate of its chicks rise from 2% to 50%.<\/p>\n
Ian Hutton, an ecological researcher on the island since the 1980s, told ABC News that 30 threatened species of plants found nowhere else on Earth are rapidly redistributing to the slopes of the two mountains.<\/p>\n
The Critically Endangered little mountain palm, once reduced to just 4 kilometers of range, is now thriving again.<\/p>\n
Invertebrates are also thriving again with no rats to gobble them up. Photographing insects and snails during the nights, Sutton has found a weevil thought to have gone extinct in 1916, and 10 new species of land snail, including another 4 that hadn\u2019t been seen for decades.<\/p>\n
Back in the 1950s, the island government made the decision to cap visitors at any given time to 400 people, a decision that has been retained now that the island\u2019s reputation for unspoiled wilderness has been restored.<\/p>\n
Only 25 houses have been approved for construction over the last 10 years, and every person, ship, flight, or animal is prevented from coming ashore until they have been scrutinized by a sniffer dog.<\/p>\n
Visitors to the island, ABC reports, routinely familiarize themselves with local species through de-weeding tours to clear invasive plants from the island\u2019s habitations.<\/p>\n
The piece from ABC includes stunning photography from all over the island, documenting the incredible resurgence of life, as well as the pride of the locals who live there.<\/p>\n