Bass Rock with its castle walls and lighthouse – credit CC Ben Clarke 4.0. BY-SA
A globally-important colony for seabirds has been sold to the Royal Society for the Protection of Birds to ensure the 100,000 gannets and 10,000 puffins that live there will benefit from top-notch conservation management.
Owned by the Scottish noble Dalrymple family for 320 years, Bass Rock and the neighboring uninhabited island of Craigleith have long been famous worldwide for the epic colony of gannets which nest there.
Located in the Firth of Forth, the gannets live among the remains of a 14th century castle and a 17th century prison dubbed “Scotland’s Alcatraz.” The ‘Rock’ has been a figure of inspiration in song and literature for generations.
Sir David Attenborough described it as one of the “12 wildlife wonders of the world.”
Today though, the royals have decided to call time on their stewardship of the island after rising numbers of Scottish seabird fatalities brought Sir Hew Dalrymple around to the idea that conservationists will be better able to protect the magnificent colony with unfettered management of the island.
“I made the decision to do this because of the risk these birds are now facing,” Sir Dalrymple told reporters from the island. “I thought an organization like the RSPB would be better equipped to protect the islands and their wildlife than a private individual.”
“Hence, we have been in discussions and I am glad to say, although with some emotional regret, they are now custodians of these two islands.”
The Dalrymple family had long collaborated with the Scottish Seabird Centre to carry out conservation measures on Bass Rock, which The Scotsman credited with supporting the growth of the island’s puffin colony to 5-figure numbers, and with eliminating an invasive tree species.
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However with a massive offshore wind farm being recently approved nearby that is estimated to have an impact on the gannet colony, the decision was made to sell.
RSPB bought the islands for around $680,000 worth of British pounds with the help of the National Heritage Memorial and Lottery funds.
“For the Memorial Fund, this is a once in a lifetime opportunity to secure the islands for the public and ensure that, with RSPB Scotland and the Scottish Seabird Centre at the helm, their role as seabird sanctuaries is protected for the future,” said Simon Thurley, chairman of both funds for the National Trust.
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