Above Picture:  Dr Alistair McInnes, birdwatching at the Walter Sisulu National Botanical Garden

Alistair McInnes is currently the Seabird Conservation Programme Manager at BirdLife South Africa and a member of the Mouse-Free Marion Management Committee. Alistair’s career in conservation has spanned 22 years and has involved both research and applied aspects of this field.  He worked under the guidance of David Allan at the Durban Natural Science Museum where he completed an MSc on the biology of the Grey-headed Gull Larus cirrocephalus.  Alistair subsequently worked in the eThekwini Municipality’s Environmental Planning and Climate Protection Department where he was involved in the establishment of the first Environmental Special Rating Area at Giba Gorge and the development of the first systematic conservation plan for the region.

Since 2012, Alistair has conducted research into the foraging ecology of two Endangered Benguela endemics, the African Penguin Spheniscus demersus and Cape Cormorant Phalacrocorax capensis.  He completed his PhD under Professors Lorien Pichegru, Acting Director at the Institute of Coastal and Marine Research at South Africa’s National Mandela University, and Peter Ryan, Director of the FitzPatrick Institute of African Ornithology at the University of Cape Town, investigating the environmental and fisheries-related drivers of the at-sea movements of African Penguins.  Between 2016 and 2019 he completed a post-doctoral fellowship under Professor Pierre Pistorius, Head of the Marine Apex Predator Research Unit in the Department of Zoology, Nelson Mandela University, investigating the foraging behaviour of African Penguins and Cape Cormorants and the development of passive monitoring systems to monitor penguin performance.

Alistair writes “My current work at BirdLife South Africa involves the management of a dedicated and passionate group of conservation scientists committed to finding tangible solutions to mitigate threats to South African seabirds, including those that breed on the Prince Edward Islands.  Seabirds are currently the most threatened group of birds globally.  This is largely due to their vulnerability to anthropogenic threats both at sea, in the form of bycatch and resource competition, and on remote islands where they have been decimated by introduced mammals.  Seabird species under the protection of South African conservation organisations face all these threats.  For pelagic species that breed on Marion Island there is a clear and urgent need to eradicate mice before these invasive species drive many globally important populations of albatrosses and petrels to local extinction.”

Alistair says that he is proud to be involved with the MFM Project and as a member of the MFM Management Committee.  He and scientists from the seabird team at BirdLife South Africa will be supporting various aspects of the project going forward and are committed to helping this project through to fruition so that the rich diversity of seabirds at Marion Island are finally free from introduced mice.

John Cooper, Member, Scientific and Technical Advisory Group, Mouse-Free Marion Project, 26 August 2021