CIA Inc. – Christmas Island’s new club!

The island is mainly covered in tropical rainforest, 63% of which is protected as national parkland. Steep cliffs along much of the coast rise abruptly to a central plateau and to the summit of Murray Hill (elevation 361m). The island was originally a volcano, but most of the surface rock is limestone accumulated from coral growth. The much-pitted and pinnacled, karst terrain is dotted with numerous caves. The island is surrounded by a narrow fringing reef.

The most noticeable fauna on the island are the land crabs – including the famous, mass migratory red crabs – and a variety of endangered and endemic seabirds – including various booby bird species and frigatebirds.

Founding Secretary, Tanya Detto, first realised the value a club could have after she was involved in the rescue of a bushwalker who got lost in a cave about 18 months ago:  Many visitors to the island are keen to go exploring; the rainforest looks deceptively easy to navigate through but it can also be very unforgiving;  there are typically a couple of searches needed each year and not all end successfully. Tanya wanted to make it safer for people to explore the island and also be able to show people a lot of the amazing places that she has been fortunate to see in her work with Christmas Island National Park. The local community’s response to the idea of a club was “huge”, with the result that almost 10% of the island’s population of around 1000 are already members of ‘CIA Inc.’

Founding President, Ron Whatley, who works for the phosphate miner on the island, applied for one of the mine’s community grants which has enabled the new club to purchase some emergency packs and GPS units for members to borrow when they go exploring. The Club is keen to share the unique experiences their island has to offer with any visitors that love adventure and unspoilt nature.