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:
“The question that will decide our destiny is not whether we shall expand into space. It is: shall we be one species or a million? A million species will not exhaust the ecological niches that are awaiting the arrival of intelligence.”
—Freeman Dyson (b. 1923)
“They all came, some wore sentiments
Emblazoned on T-shirts, proclaiming the lateness
Of the hour, and indeed the sun slanted its rays
Through branches of Norfolk Island pine as though
Politely clearing its throat....”
—John Ashbery (b. 1927)