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Falklands Conservation |
On Friday 12th January a routine visit was carried out by the British military to the site of crashed Argentine aircraft on a remote tussac island in the Falklands. Operations on the island included the detonation of unexploded cannon rounds, which led to a fire that has swept across the island for five days, resulting in a loss of habitat and widespread damage to the breeding populations of birds that live there.
South Jason, which is approximately 4 miles long and 1 mile wide is a Falklands Government owned Nature Reserve, a pristine site covered in tall tussac grass and home to globally endangered species such as the Black-Browed Albatross and Rockhopper Penguins. The island was also home to many burrowing Prions and Magellanic Penguins, as well as the Falklands endemic Cobb's Wren and internationally threatened bird of prey, the Striated Caracara.
The efforts to extinguish the fire have been valiant by members of both the British Forces in the Islands and the local fire crews who have become involved. Helicopters dropping water on the area and teams of beaters on the ground have worked long days to control the damage. Fire crews from Stanley have reported the sad sight of burnt Prions crawling away through tussac grass, unlikely to escape flames fanned by high South Atlantic winds.
However, despite these efforts this incident raises questions as to the validity of the exercise that took place, in a Nature Reserve during a sensitive time of year for the islands rare wildlife. Conservation Officer Becky Ingham states:
"These species are under significant threat from a variety of sources and the sanctuary that should have been provided by the status of this island Reserve was clearly violated. It demonstrates the urgent need for British Forces working within sensitive environments to have a greater level of awareness about their surroundings, and highlights the necessity for a review of their environmental procedures."
This threat to offshore islands is not a little known one. As long ago as 1989, environmentalist Ian Strange warned of the risk of fire on South Jason by members of the Forces exploding ordinance. Yet still these warnings seemed to have fallen on deaf ears - in the middle of the most sensitive time of year, in dry weather, troops attempted to clear ordinance that posed little or no threat to the human population.
Numbers of breeding birds affected by the fire will never be fully known. Due to their burrowing habit, the populations of Prions and Magellanic Penguins were not estimated, but these species are likely to have been the worst affected - hiding in their burrows rather than heading for the safety of the sea.
A flight to obtain photographs of the island was undertaken on Wednesday 17th January, from which it is estimated that 90% of the tussac cover has been lost, with the entire southern half of the island badly affected by the fire.
Of the 1,750 breeding Albatross, many will have perished along with their recently hatched chicks. Some remain on their nests. The long-term effects on this year's breeding success could be disastrous. The actual impact will not be possible to assess until a few weeks time when it is safe to travel to the island and carry out accurate counts of the remaining birds. The islands 890 breeding pairs of Rockhopper Penguins fared little better, with very few remaining in the colonies that were surrounded by smoke and flames. Most of the penguin chicks are thought to be lost.
The Royal Society for the Protection of Birds together with conservation groups across the world are aghast at that a globally-important South Atlantic seabird site has been almost completely destroyed by a blaze started accidentally by British troops.
Jim Stevenson of the RSPB said:
"Albatrosses are the subject of a current BirdLife International high-profile campaign because of alarm at their recent rapid decline, driven largely by the fact that thousands of individuals perish each year in the South Atlantic when the birds become snared on the millions of hooks used by long-line fisheries. These magnificent birds reproduce very slowly so it takes many years for populations to climb back up from a catastrophe like this. The RSPB, which is actively involved in the seabird census work on the Falklands, is seeking an absolute assurance from the Ministry of Defence that there will be an enquiry into this incident and that appropriate steps will be taken to ensure that this can never happen again."
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Patron: HRH The Duke of York CVO ADC Member of the International Union for Conservation of Nature | BirdLife International Representative |