The New Island Restoration Programme gets new funding from Darwin Plus

 
New Island supports a very small population of White-chinned Petrels that is at risk to feral cats and introduced rodents

The New Island Restoration Project has recently been awarded further funding through the Darwin Plus scheme as part of the UK Government’s Biodiversity Challenge Funds.

“This vital support enables us to move into the next stage of restoring New Island — attempting to remove invasive mammals and safeguard the island’s unique wildlife and ecosystems for generations to come.  Darwin Plus funding is crucial in making ambitious, large-scale conservation projects possible, turning careful planning into real conservation action on the ground.”

Landsend Bluff, New Island, photograph by Ian Strange

The New Island National Nature Reserve is considered one of the most globally significant wildlife sites in the Falkland Islands (Islas Malvinas)* and is in major need of restoration.  Four invasive mammal species, feral cats, European Rabbits, Black Rats and House Mice, threaten the site’s fauna and are degrading the island’s fragile habitats. Their removal is required for recovery and long-term climate resilience and protection of its breeding ACAP-listed Black-browed Albatrosses Thalassarche melanophris and White-chinned Petrels Procellaria aequinoctialis, as well as its many Thin-billed Prions Pachyptila belcheri.

A Black-browed Albatross pair on New Island, photograph by Ian Strange

Read an earlier ACAP news article on the New Island Restoration Project here.

John Cooper, Emeritus Information Officer, Agreement on the Conservation of Albatrosses and Petrels, 19 September 2025

*A dispute exists between the Governments of Argentina and the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland concerning sovereignty over the Falkland Islands (Islas Malvinas), South Georgia and the South Sandwich Islands (Islas Georgias del Sur y Islas Sandwich del Sur) and the surrounding maritime areas.