SAMOA — A new commentary warns that Samoa’s critically endangered tooth-billed pigeon, locally known as the manumea, is at risk of extinction due to a lack of adequate funding for conservation efforts. Listed as critically endangered on the IUCN Red List since 2014, the manumea is a unique species with a thick, curved bill, related to the extinct dodo of Mauritius.
The Samoa Conservation Society (SCS) and the nation’s Ministry of Natural Resources and Environment (MNRE) have been leading the conservation efforts. However, the Manumea Recovery Plan for 2020-2029 is only 20% implemented at its halfway point. According to James Atherton, president of the SCS, the most critical need for the manumea’s survival is funding.
Key Challenges in Conservation
The manumea faces a series of significant threats that have led to its sharp decline since the 1990s:
The loss of its lowland rainforest habitat is a primary threat. The spread of invasive mammals harms the bird’s population. The manumea is sometimes caught by hunters targeting the more common Pacific imperial pigeon (lupe).
A major challenge for researchers is the bird’s elusive nature and the difficulty in distinguishing its call from that of the lupe. This has prevented the creation of a reliable population estimate or distribution map. An effort to use artificial intelligence and machine learning to identify the bird’s call has been hampered by a lack of confirmed recordings.
The Road Ahead
The commentary argues that a large-scale, multiyear forest conservation project, funded by organizations like the Global Environment Facility (GEF) and led by the MNRE, is essential to save the species. The manumea plays a crucial ecological role as a key seed disperser in Samoa’s rainforests, alongside other birds and flying foxes.
While conservation efforts have made progress in raising public awareness and creating community conservation areas, they are not enough to save this symbolic bird. The manumea, an icon of Samoa, is depicted on the country’s 20-tala note and 50-sene coin, highlighting its cultural importance. Experts warn that without renewed urgency and sufficient resources, the manumea could face the same fate as the extinct Hawaiian honeycreeper, the poʻouli—a cautionary tale of “too little, too late.”