The Seabird Forest Toolkit: A Resource for Climate Adaptation Across Tropical Ocean Regions

Impacts of sea-level rise to atolls and low islands are expected to increase in severity with global warming. However, atolls and islands with indigenous vegetation supported by seabird colonies will fare better. There is an opportunity to safeguard regionally important biodiversity and whole-system benefits from land-sea linkages associated with atolls and low oceanic islands by acting now to restore or enhance seabird-derived nutrient subsidies in these ecosystems.

This project will create a climate adaptation toolkit targeting managers of islands and nearshore systems where seabird-derived nutrient benefits are underrealized due to forest modification, a common scenario. The Seabird Forest Toolkit offers a transformative resource for the conservation community to accelerate the scale and increase the scope at which climate resilience is restored or enhanced in island and reef systems throughout the world’s tropical ocean regions.

Project Updates

The Seabird Forest Toolkit Workshop was held on the atoll of Tetiaroa, French Polynesia in early 2026. Participants included individuals from Federated States of Micronesia and the Republic of the Marshall Islands, as well as the United States and the host nation French Polynesia.  The workshop consisted of both lab and field elements including: 

• Visiting both native broadleaf forest and agricultural copra plantations  

• Demonstrations of social attraction techniques for seabirds  

• Collaboratively building the models and tools that will form the basis of the toolkit  

The establishment of a community of practice to test and ground-proof the toolkit and other support materials has broadened the accessibility and utility of the project deliverables.