and South Sandwich Islands Government, Royal Botanical Gardens Kew, UK Darwin Initiative and private contractors. The introduced plant species of South Georgia arrived primarily alongside human economic activities in the island and were mostly accidental, (before visitors had an understanding of their consequences). Annual meadow grass (Poa annua) is believed to have arrived approximately 1800 with the first sealers, and is now widespread across the island, particularly old sealing and whaling sites. Dandelions are believed to have been introduced alongside whaling operations, via the practice of including a handful of soil from the deceased whaler's home country. Bittercress was first spotted in 2002 and is thought to have arrived alongside building supplies at King Edward Cove. Introductions have since slowed in recent decades with the introduction of thorough biosecurity protocols. Non-native species management will require several years of regular, dedicated follow-up treatments to ensure that all germinating seed currently in the soil is controlled prior to maturity before success will be achieved. Birds South Georgia supports many sea birds, including albatross, a large colony of king penguins, Macaroni penguins and penguins of various other species, along with petrels, prions, shags, skuas, gulls and terns. Birds unique to the archipelago are the South Georgia shag, South Georgia pipit, and the South Georgia pintail. Both South Georgia and the South Sandwich Islands have been identified as Important Bird Areas (IBA) by BirdLife International. Mammals Seals frequent the islands, and whales may be seen in the surrounding waters. There are no native land mammals, though reindeer, brown rats and mice were introduced to South Georgia through human activities. Rats, brought to the island as stowaways on sealing and whaling ships in the late 18th century, have caused much damage to native wildlife, destroying tens of millions of ground-nesting birds' eggs and chicks. While previously the island's glaciers formed a natural barrier to the spread of rats, these glaciers are now slowly melting as the climate warms. In 2011, scientists instituted a four-year programme to entirely eradicate the rats and mice, in what would be by far the largest rodent eradication attempt in the world to date. The project was led by zoologist Anthony Martin of The University of Dundee who stated, "This is a man-induced problem and it's about time that man put right earlier errors." In July 2013, the success of the main phase of the extermination of the rats, which took