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Birnie Island
	Lagoon of Birnie Island. August 2008
	Map of Birnie Island, Phoenix Islands, Kiribati
	Birnie Island Location in Kiribati Birnie Island Location in Oceania Birnie Island Location in the Pacific
Geography
Location	Pacific Ocean
Coordinates	03°35′S 171°33′W / 3.583°S 171.550°W
Length	1.2 km (0.75 mi)
Width	0.5 km (0.31 mi)
	Kiribati
Administrative division	Kanton
Demographics
Population	0

Birnie Island is a small, uninhabited coral island, 20 hectares (49 acres) in area, part of the Phoenix Island group, that is part of the Republic of Kiribati. It is located about 100 kilometres (62 mi; 54 nmi) southeast of Kanton Island and 90 kilometres (56 mi; 49 nmi) west-northwest of Rawaki Island, formerly known as Phoenix Island. It lies at 03°35′S 171°33′W / 3.583°S 171.550°W / -3.583; -171.550. Birnie Island measures only 1.2 kilometres (0.75 mi) long and 0.5 kilometres (0.3 mi) wide. There is no anchorage, but landing can be made on the lee shore.^[1]

The island is designated as the Birnie Island Wildlife Sanctuary.^[2] Kiribati declared the Phoenix Islands Protected Area in 2006, with the park being expanded in 2008. The 164,200-square-mile (425,300-square-kilometer) marine reserve contains eight coral atolls including Birnie Island.^[3]^[4]

Flora and fauna

Birnie Island is low and dry, with a small, shallow lagoon in its southeast sector which is all but dried up. It is treeless, covered mostly with low shrubs and grasses, and was once home to a colony of rabbits,^[5] which have since been eradicated.^[6] Because of the undisturbed nature of the island, its vegetation, and the large colonies of seabirds which roost there, Birnie Island was declared a wildlife sanctuary in 1975. It now forms (as of 2008^[update]) part of the Phoenix Islands Protected Area, one of the world's largest marine protected area.^[7]

An expedition to carry out eradication of the population of Polynesian rat on Birnie Island was carried out in 2011.^[6]

History

Birnie Island was discovered in 1823 by the London whaling ship Sydney, commanded by a Captain Emmett, and named after James Birnie, brother of London merchant Alexander Birnie.^[8] It was surveyed by the United States Exploring Expedition in January 1841.^[9]^: 6

In the 1860s, the island was claimed under the Guano Islands Act for the United States, though there is no evidence of guano ever being mined there.^[9]^: 7 On July 10, 1889, the British flag was raised, and the island was declared a protectorate of the United Kingdom. In 1899, the island was leased to the Pacific Islands Company, Ltd. In 1916, it was included among the islands leased for 87 years to Captain Allen of the Samoan Shipping and Trading Company. This lease was taken over by the Burns Philp (South Sea) Company. During all this time, no human use seems to have been made of the island.^[1]

Birnie Island became part of the British Gilbert and Ellice Islands colony in 1937, then became part of Kiribati in 1979 when the country gained its independence.^[10] The United States gave up its claim in favor of Kiribati in the 1979 Treaty of Tarawa.

Birnie is rarely visited today, though a New Zealand-funded scientific expedition to rid the island of rats and other invasive animal species was carried out in 2008.^[11]

Birnie Island. Day beacon in background
Birnie Island day beacon with lagoon in background
United States Army Corps of Engineers survey marker on Birnie Island

References

^ ^a ^b Resture, Jane. "Birnie Island, Phoenix Group". Jane Resture. Retrieved 25 January 2015.
^ Edward R. Lovell, Taratau Kirata & Tooti Tekinaiti (September 2002). "Status report for Kiribati's coral reefs" (PDF). Centre IRD de Nouméa. Retrieved 15 May 2015.
^ Brian Clark Howard (16 June 2014). "Pacific Nation Bans Fishing in One of World's Largest Marine Parks". National Geographic News. Archived from the original on June 19, 2014. Retrieved 15 May 2015.
^ "Phoenix Islands Protected Area". Government of Kiribati. Archived from the original on 3 December 2019. Retrieved 25 January 2015.
^ Flux, John E. C.; Fullagar, Peter J. (September 1992). "World distribution of the Rabbit Oryctolagus funiculus on islands". Mammal Review. 22 (3–4). Wiley: 151–205. doi:10.1111/j.1365-2907.1992.tb00129.x.
^ ^a ^b Jamieson, Regen (18 April 2014). "Removing Rats and Rabbits: An Interview with Ray Pierce". New England Aquarium - Phoenix Islands Blog. Retrieved 25 January 2015.
^ "Phoenix Islands Protected Area". Archived from the original on August 5, 2011. Retrieved July 4, 2008. On January 30, 2008, Kiribati adopted formal regulations for PIPA that more than doubled the original size to make it at that time the largest marine protected area on Earth.
^ Maude, H. E. (1961). "Post-Spanish discoveries in the central Pacific". Journal of the Polynesian Society. 70 (1): 104–105. Retrieved 24 January 2022.
^ ^a ^b H. E. Maude (1940). Report on the Phoenix and Line Islands With Special Reference to the Question of British Sovereignty (PDF) (Report). Western Pacific High Commission. Retrieved 24 January 2022.
^ "History of the Phoenix Islands". Government of Kiribati. Archived from the original on 19 February 2015. Retrieved 25 January 2015.
^ "Invasive Species Threatening Bird Life of Fragile Phoenix Islands". Government of Kiribati. 22 May 2008. Archived from the original on 6 February 2018. Retrieved 25 January 2015.

Sources

Maude, Henry Evans: Of islands and men : studies in Pacific history; Melbourne [u.a.] : Oxford Univ. Pr., 1968
Jones, A. G. E.: Ships employed in the South Seas trade Vol. 1: 1775 - 1861; Canberra 1986 & Vol. 2: 1775 - 1859; Burwood, Vic. [1992]
Bryan, E.H.: American Polynesia and the Hawaiian Chain: Honolulu, Hawaii: Tongg Publishing Company, 1942