Aurelie Hector
- Project name: Conservation status of the Round Island boa and setting future monitoring protocols
- Project site: Round Island, Mauritius
- EDGE species: Round Island boa Casarea dussumieri
- Active: 2017 - 2019
Biography
Aurelie has worked for the Mauritian Wildlife Foundation since 2014 on a variety of conservation projects, before becoming a Warden on Round Island. She monitors populations of native birds and reptiles and helps to train new conservationists.
Aurelie believes her Segré-EDGE Fellowship is a fantastic opportunity to undertake conservation action to ensure the survival of keel-scaled boa populations, and raise awareness of the plight of the boa and other endangered Mauritian species. She is already gaining new skills using novel techniques which she can then teach to her colleagues and other conservationists.
EDGE Project
This Segré-EDGE Fellowship project aims to determine whether existing monitoring methods for the Round Island boa are suitable for detecting changes in abundance, survival and condition as a result of restoration activities on Round Island. Further, the project seeks to determine whether photographic recognition software can replace PIT-tags to identify individuals for capture-mark-recapture, which would be a more affordable and less invasive method of identification. Aurelie’s project will:
- Develop a cost effective monitoring protocol for the islands long-term monitoring of the species;
- Complete an updated IUCN Red List assessment and understand the current status of the Round Island boa;
- Deliver workshops and educational outreach activities to improve the knowledge of this poorly known and misunderstood species within Mauritius;
- Lead on the development and publication of a five year conservation strategy for the species in collaboration with project stakeholders.
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