The thousandth Jamaican rock iguana is set to be released into the wild on Saturday, marking a major milestone in the island’s decades-long conservation programme for the critically endangered reptile.

Environmental enthusiasts gathered at Jamaica Pegasus on Monday for the annual meeting of the conservation community ahead of the historic release, which Minister of Water, Environment and Climate Change Matthew Samuda described as a significant achievement in Jamaica’s efforts to protect the species.

“This historic milestone is not to be taken lightly. The thousandth head-started Jamaican iguana into the wild … is a big deal,” Samuda said.

The Jamaican rock iguana was declared extinct in 1948 before being rediscovered in 1990. Since then, more than 30 years of scientific research, habitat management, captive rearing, predator control and reintroduction efforts have helped restore the population.

Samuda said the Jamaican Iguana Recovery Programme was now internationally recognised as a conservation success story, with each lizard returned to its natural habitat representing years of scientific work and the commitment of individuals and institutions.

He highlighted the work being done in the Hellshire Hills to protect the remaining wild population, including monitoring nesting sites and controlling invasive predators such as Indian mongooses and feral cats. More than 280 live predator traps are currently monitored, with more than 1,500 predators removed from the iguana’s core habitat over time.

Minister of Water, Environment and Climate Change Matthew Samuda (second left) makes a point in discussion with (from left) National Environment and Planning Agency CEO Leonard Francis; Senior Researcher at the University of the Valley of Guatemala, Daniel Ariano; and Conservation Biologist at Fort Worth Zoo, Stesha Pasachnik at the Iguana Specialist Group Meeting at the Jamaica Pegasus on Monday, November 9, 2026. (Photo: Karl McLarty)

At Hope Zoo, the head-start programme cares for approximately 250 to 300 juvenile iguanas, raising them in a protected environment until they are large enough to have a better chance of surviving in the wild.

The minister also outlined the Government’s plans to increase protected areas as part of Jamaica’s environmental management strategy. He said the country had already protected slightly more than 25 per cent of its landmass and was aiming to surpass the 30 per cent target within the next fiscal year and a half, ahead of the 2030 international deadline.

Jamaica’s protected marine areas currently account for approximately 13.5 per cent of its Exclusive Economic Zone, but Samuda said further increases were planned.

He also acknowledged the fiscal challenges following Hurricane Melissa but assured conservationists and environmental agencies, including the National Environment and Planning Agency (NEPA), that there would be significant increases in provisions for conservation and restoration work in the coming fiscal year.

Speaking with Observer Online, Iguana Conservation Specialist Tandora Del Grant, who has been involved in the project since 1995, described the upcoming release as an encouraging milestone.

“It’s a nice milestone. It gives us a good feeling that we are being successful and the animals in the wild are surviving and reproducing on their own,” she said.

However, Del Grant cautioned that the work was far from over, noting that conservation efforts would need to continue to prevent the population from declining again.

She identified the eventual reintroduction of the iguanas to Goat Island as the next major milestone, explaining that the island could serve as another sanctuary and head-start facility for the Hellshire Hills population.

She also expressed hope that Jamaicans would embrace the iguana as a flagship for the country’s conservation efforts, describing it as an international success story.

NEPA ranger and member of the Iguana Recovery Team Oneil Wilson said the programme’s progress was particularly rewarding, having been involved for more than seven years.

“The process is very rigorous in terms of the repopulation of Jamaican rock iguana. It’s a very daunting task, but it’s rewarding,” he said.

Another member of the team, NEPA ranger Jomo Pinkney, highlighted the species’ importance to the environment, explaining that iguanas help with the regeneration of trees by dispersing seeds after eating fruit.

The Hellshire Hills is home to the Caribbean’s largest dry forest, making the iguanas’ role in seed dispersal particularly important to the area’s regeneration.

A total of 114 additional iguanas are scheduled to be released into the wild on Saturday, taking the programme beyond the 1,000-animal milestone, with 973 already released.