LOVE FOR A LIZARD

A tiny Caribbean island has made a remarkable ecological recovery, helping to save a rare lizard in the process

- GRAEME GREEN

AT FIRST GLANCE, SOMBRERO Island doesn't look like a place where life thrives. The surface of this tiny, remote, windswept land mass, 54km north-west of the Caribbean island of Anguilla, has an austere, moon-like appearance, with white-grey rock, strewn rubble and gigantic craters that are an uncomfortable reminder of the phosphate mining that devastated and permanently altered its landscape.

The remains of the old lighthouse and other abandoned buildings are windowless, weathered and worn, giving the impression of a ghost island.

There are no trees, and vegetation is scarce, with little soil for anything to grow. Indeed, Sombrero Island – which forms the heart of the Sombrero Island Nature Reserve Marine Park – was on the verge of total ecological collapse.

Look at a picture of the island now and it's a different story. Vegetation is returning and conservationists have recently celebrated a big win: a survey of the island's endemic and Critically Endangered Sombrero ground lizard has revealed that the population has rebounded to more than 1,600 individuals, from fewer than 100 in 2018.

"We are ecstatic," says Farah Mukhida, executive director at Anguilla National Trust. "These gorgeous little lizards have gone through so much. All the effort we've put into conservation has been worth it."

The Sombrero ground lizard's island home was once a natural paradise with abundant tree cover and enough vegetation to support its own endemic giant tortoise (Chelonoidis sombrerensis), plus a medley of other wildlife.