A RARE lecture on the cahow's climb back from near extinction is to be held at the Bermuda Underwater Exploration Institute (BUEI) next week.

Government Conservation Officer Jeremy Madeiros (pictured above with a cahow chick) will discuss the effort and dedication, which successfully grew the population of Bermuda's national bird from 18 to 85 nesting pairs over a 40-year period.

Mr. Madeiros took charge of the cahow recovery programme on the retirement of David Wingate in 2000.

A public lecture, 'The Cahow - Return of the Ghost Bird to Nonsuch Island', will detail the translocation programme and Mr. Madeiros' hopes for the future of the species.

"Basically the talk is going to be a report, or update, of the translocation project to establish a new nesting colony on Nonsuch Island," he explained. "In 2000, the most serious threat was the real risk of the islands collapsing completely and being no longer suitable for nesting at all. They basically had been confined to four or five rocky islands, less than half an acre each where they were exposed to hurricanes, to erosion and waves. There was no soil and they're normally soil burrowing."