An ecological island is not necessarily an island surrounded by water, but is an area of land, isolated by natural or artificial means from the surrounding land, where a natural micro-habitat exists amidst a larger differing ecosystem.
Also, in artificial ecological islands (also known as mainland islands):
- all non-native species (at least predator species) have been eradicated,
- native species are reintroduced and nurtured, and
- the natural or artificial border is maintained to prevent reintroduction of non-native species.
The ultimate goal is to recreate an ecological microcosm of the country as a whole as it was before human arrival. There is usually provision for controlled public access, and scientific study and research.
The definition does not include land within a fence erected to:
- protect farm animals from wild predators
- protect a specific species from specific predators
- exclude farm animals only
- exclude native animals (although some native animals, weka for example, may need to be excluded during a species' recovery phase).
Read more about Ecological Island: Background, Offshore Islands, Fenced Enclosures
Famous quotes containing the words ecological and/or island:
“It seems to me that there must be an ecological limit to the number of paper pushers the earth can sustain, and that human civilization will collapse when the number of, say, tax lawyers exceeds the world’s total population of farmers, weavers, fisherpersons, and pediatric nurses.”
—Barbara Ehrenreich (b. 1941)
“This island is made mainly of coal and surrounded by fish. Only an organizing genius could produce a shortage of coal and fish at the same time.”
—Aneurin Bevan (1897–1960)