Montserrat: The Territory

Montserrat is one of the Leeward Islands of the Lesser Antilles in the eastern Caribbean.

It is a volcanic island, with an active volcano which erupted between 1995 and 1997, releasing devastating pyroclastic flows of hot ash, gas and rock. These destroyed the capital, Plymouth, and several villages. Well over half of Montserrat’s human population were evacuated from the island during the eruption.

The island has three main ranges of hills – the Silver Hills (in the north), the Centre Hills and the Soufriere Hills (in the south) which reach 900 m in height. It has a rugged landscape with deep valleys.

Biodiversity – plants and animals

Originally much of the island would have been forested, with wet forest on the higher slopes with sufficient rainfall and elfin woodland covering the peaks and ridges.

At lower altitudes, there was a patchwork of dry scrub, with some areas dominated by cacti, with some dry forest and littoral (coastal) forest.

The forests are home to several unique amphibians and reptiles including a frog known as the mountain chicken and a lizard called the Montserrat galliwasp.

There are about 795 plant species native to the island. Three are unique to the island – Xylosma serratum (a member of the willow family, Salicaceae) which is now believed to be extinct; the orchid Epidendrum montserratense and a member of the coffee family (Rubiaceae) Rondeletia buxifolia. There are also 70 plant species endemic to the Lesser Antilles found on the island.

Threats to biodiversity

Much of the island’s original forest was cleared for agriculture and timber and it has been replaced by secondary forest composed of a different range of plant species.

Volcanic eruptions and pyroclastic flows have devastated the vegetation of the Soufriere Hills.

Tropical storms inflict serious damage to the island’s forests, notably Hurricane Hugo in 1989.

Feral animals, particularly pigs and rats, are damaging areas of native vegetation and destroying seedlings. The hedging plant, purple allamanda (Cryptostegia madagascariensis) and other introduced invasive plants are smothering native species.

Unique species: Epidendrum montserratense

This orchid only occurs on Montserrat. It once grew in the Soufriere Hills but its habitat there was destroyed by pyroclastic flows from the volcano. It is now restricted to the forest of the Centre Hills. It is an epiphytic orchid - that is, it lives on tree trunks and branches without any contact with the soil but without taking nutrients from its supporting plants.

Specimens of the orchid have been retrieved from mango trees killed during the volcanic eruptions. These are now being cultivated at the island’s botanic garden which is under development with support from Kew’s horticultural team. Seeds have been taken into safe storage at Kew's Millennium Seed Bank and some are being germinated under controlled conditions in Kew's Micropropagation Unit.

Find out more about:

Kew's activities in Montserrat, past and present:
Montserrat: Kew connections

Montserrat's biodiversity:
Montserrat in Biodiversity: the UK Overseas Territories (pp82-87), published by the Joint Nature Conservation Committee (1999)
UK Overseas Territories Conservation Forum - Montserrat