Visit Alderney - Ramsar & Gannet Colonies
Ramsar
Alderney's Ramsar site was the first to be designated in the Bailiwick of Guernsey. The United Nations Convention on Wetlands of International Importance, otherwise known as the Ramsar Convention, officially recognised Alderney's west coast and Burhou Island as a wetland of worldwide importance on Thursday 25 August 2005.
The designated Ramsar site extends to 1,500 hectares, some 600 hectares more than mainland Alderney and includes all the waters from the island's west coast out to the northern gannet colony of Ortac, Burhou, the islets and reefs that surround it and includes Les Etacs.
To maintain the Ramsar designation the Alderney Wildlife Trust undertakes a series of ecological studies including:
- Puffin research and management
- Storm petrel breeding
- Establishing new nesting sites for storm petrels
- Shag and Cormorant breeding
- Visitor management and awareness
- Tern census and breeding
- Ringed plover census and breeding
- Determine adult gannet population
Gannet Colonies
The rich birdlife of the west coast of Alderney and Burhou is particularly well-known and attracts keen birdwatchers throughout the year. Alderney is host to approximately 2% of the world's population of northern gannets and the only European storm-petrel colony in the Channel Islands, slightly more than approximately 1% of the British population. The unique tidal streams, with speeds of up to 6 knots at spring tides, encourage a vibrant and diverse marine environment, of which little is yet known.
The site contains a mixture of habitats ranging from coastal grassland, shingle shorelines, rocky intertidal to sub-tidal kelp forests.
For more information about the Ramsar site and Gannet Colonies please contact the Alderney Wildlife Trust email info@alderneywildlife.org or telephone 0044 (0)1481 822935
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