Those Samoans have really been in the wars, first with the cyclones and then the tsunami. After the 1993 cyclone, it took ages for the birds and flying foxes to repopulate the islands, and people commented on how spookily quiet it was with no parrots etc. screeching in the treetops. It doesn't take much time for the plant life to recover; you stick a fencepost in the ground, and next year it's a half-grown tree!