Tristan da Cunha Conservation News

Project Pinnamin Edinburgh Workshop

Report and photos from Chris Carnegy
with additional reporting from Katrine Herian and Antje Steinfurth

25th October 2017 saw the start of a two day workshop at Edinburgh Zoo, aimed at updating the Action Plan for the northern rockhopper, part of Project Pinnamin, a partnership between TdC Conservation Department, British Antarctic Survey (BAS), RSPB, Royal Zoological Society of Scotland (RZSS) and South Africa’s Department of Environmental Affairs. 'Pinnamin' is the Tristan da Cunha name for a Northern Rockhopper Penguin.

Gathered in front of the Edinburgh HQ of the Royal Zoological Society of Scotland on 25th October are:
Katrine Herian (Tristan Conservation Department) , Simon Morley (BAS), Georgia Robson, Centre for Environment, Fisheries and Aquaculture Science (CEFAS), Chris Carnegy, Helen Senn (RZSS), David Mallon (facilitator), Clare Stringer (RSPB), Antje Steinfurth (RSPB), Sarah Robinson (RZSS),  Trevor Glass (Head of Tristan da Cunha Conservation Department, Norman Ratcliffe (BAS).

Right: The pinnamins - Antje Steinfurth's photo shows an adult Northern Rockhopper Penguin with chick in a Nightingale Island rookery amidst the tussock grass in 2013.   The overarching objective for the workshop was to develop research and conservation actions for the Northern Rockhopper Penguin to ensure populations in the Atlantic and Indian Ocean populations can thrive into the future.    In order to guide development of the Species Action Plans, short presentations were given about available scientific data on the northern rockhopper's ecology and new population monitoring techniques which were discussed in the context of the overall population trends and existing Red List assessments.
	Antje Seinfurth with Trevor Glass.   Antje Steinfurth has been working on the northern rockhoppers since 2012 and leading the field work on Project Pinnamin, studying the birds on Nightingale Island for several breeding seasons. Antje Steinfurth is preparing another article for the February Tristan da Cunha Newsletter with more of her stunning photographs of rockhoppers on Nightingale Island.
Meeting on 26th October shows: Clare Stringer, Georgia Robson, Katrine Herian and Trevor Glass.   This group was identifying objectives and actions for the draft NRH Action Plan in relation to Education/Awareness, Breeding Site Protection, and Sustainable Management.
A second group was identifying gaps in knowledge, discussed priorities, actions for scientific research and how these should be addressed in the short/medium term as well as into the future.