Since then the AWT has received incredible support from a dedicated team of wildlife enthusiasts, what we like to think of as the ‘TeamWilder’.  This team isn’t just limited to residents and AWT members, it includes people from all walks of life who have an interest in our island’s wildlife, as well as supporters and organisations from around the world.    

In 2022 we honoured our 20^th anniversary, and celebrated everything that the AWT and TeamWilder have achieved over the last two decades.  We continue to learn from these success stories, particularly those that involve Alderney’s community.  We also look towards the challenges which our island faces, especially those regarding climate change and its effect both on land and at sea. As a community we can, and must, take action to limit the impacts on our environment and educate ourselves as to how to mitigate those that cannot be prevented.

20 Wildlife Achievements in 20 Years

1. The Longis Nature Reserve

The very first nature reserve on Alderney, protected not under law but by the landowners and through the management of the AWT.  Covering 110ha at the eastern end of Alderney (around 1/8^th of the island) it is rich in wildflowers and marine life and bisected by the Longis Nature Trail.  The Reserve is on both public and private land, is cared for by resident and visiting volunteers and serves the community, providing access to some of the island’s most beautiful and diverse countryside through its paths, beaches, rockpools and waters.

2. The Longis Bird Hide

Built on States land and originally funded by donations, the Longis Hide was the first ever wildlife viewing point constructed on Alderney.  For more than 20 years the hide has provided a window into the richest fresh water wetland on the island, and is popular with both residents and visitors.  In 2017 tour operator NatureTrek and the States of Alderney supported the AWT in the reconstruction and expansion of the hide.  This renovation included adding wheelchair and child friendly access, and was undertaken entirely by our volunteers and staff.

3. Mannez Bird Hide

Hidden away in a secluded corner of Mannez, this hide offers a very different view of the largest quarry on the island and can be especially good for watching dragon and damsel flies.  The hide was constructed on States land and the building gifted to the AWT and Island by David Horton and his family in 2007.  In 2019 the John Waters bequest enabled us to upgrade the access making it wheelchair and pushchair accessible and meant that a local stonemason was able to create a beautiful set of stone steps down into the quarry.

4. Creation of the first Ramsar site in the Bailiwick of Guernsey

In 2004, the AWT approached the SoA with a proposal to seek designation of an internationally important wetland (Ramsar) site, covering the incredibly wildlife rich west coast, Burhou and the reefs surrounding it. The Ramsar site supports internationally important populations of seabirds including more than 1% of the world’s Northern Gannets, and the fringe population of Puffin on Burhou. Dedicated monitoring programmes of the species and habitats over the last 18 years have allowed us to identify trends that can help inform conservation actions, such as the implementation of the Burhou Puffin Friendly Zone.

5. The Alderney Community Woodland

This was established by the AWT in 2009, with the designing of what was to become the largest Community Woodland in the Channel Islands.  This was followed by mass plantings between 2010 and 2013 with more than 11,000 native trees planted, the creation of 3 miles of woodland trail and interpretational features.  Today the site is a popular spot for walkers, and it regularly welcomes schools’ groups to come and explore.  Hundreds of new trees are planted Annually each year, and the woodland was the centre of the Alderney Queen’s Jubliee Woodland project, where 2000 trees, one for each island resident, was planted in 2022.  It is the island’s wooded backbone and in the future will provide not only vitally important habitat it provides sustainable fuel and timber for island projects as well as being a secluded spot to let off steam.

6. Wildlife Centre

Since its founding, the AWT’s Wildlife Centre is a hive of activity in the centre of the island’s capital of St. Anne.  It has provided a central resource for the island, supporting islanders and visitors alike with information, sustainable products and facilities including being able to take control of the live Puffin and Gannet webcams.  Not only is it manned year-round 6 days a week, with the volunteers and staff always ready to help with information, guidance and even wildlife rescue, it has become a mainstay of Alderney’s tourism offering.  In 2022 alone more than 12,000 visitors dropped into the centre.

7. Plastics ban

We take the need to reduce plastic waste very seriously because of its impact on our environment and wildlife. Since its founding, the AWT has organized hundreds of litter picks and clean ups.  Today we host regular beach cleans throughout the year and advertise and support the public to do their own 2-minute litter picks. Since 2017, we have been a partner in the Big Channel Islands Beach Clean, a pan-Channel Island event that sees hundreds of volunteers walking beaches and collecting litter. 

However, while beach cleans stop already present plastic from harming our wildlife, our aim has always been to reduce the need for disposable plastics. We worked hard to support the move towards using reusable glass bottles and milk dispensers. In 2017, Alderney was given the status of “Plastic Free Island” by Surfers Against Sewage and more recently in 2020 States members voted in favour of banning plastic carrier bags, though this has not yet been enacted.  We are proud of our achievements, but we have so much further to go!

8. Blue Islands Charter, delivery of Pan Island Environmental Meetings on Alderney (IIEMs) and the Wilder Islands Conference

Since its founding, the AWT has been proud to have helped host 5 Inter Channel Island Environmental Meetings.  Attended by scientists, conservationists and politicians from across the Channel Islands, the Isle of Man, UK and France amongst others, the IIEMs are special events.  In 2019, thanks to additional sponsorship, we were able to expand the IIEM into the Wilder Islands Conference bringing in over 110 delegates from 12 Island Jurisdictions spread across the whole of the Atlantic, to discuss our response to the threats of climate change and ecological crisis.  One of the outcomes of this meeting was the signing of the Blue Islands Charter, a commitment to prioritize our islands’ environments and work together to take action. 

As part of our 20^th anniversary, we proudly hosted the IIEM here in Alderney in October 2022. Read more about the event here. 

9. Bringing national and international attention to Alderney's Wildlife

As part of our efforts to campaign and protect our island’s special wildlife we have sought to draw attention to its beauty and fragility.  We have been proud to work with many media promotors from the BBC Natural History Unit to French Channel 1 & 2 amongst dozens of others.  Notably Alderney’s Wildlife has been part of BBC shows such as Countryfile, Coast, The One Show and Blue Planet, as well as the French National Television (Des Racines et Des Ailes).  It has been our pleasure to work with many naturalists from David Bellamy to Iolo Williams, and of course our patrons, Dr. George McGavin, Miranda Krestovnikoff and Simon Barnes.

10. Wildlife Webcams and the Teaching Through Nature online education programme

The AWT and States of Alderney have long used remote video cameras to monitor the Puffin colony on Burhou. Since 2014, our PuffinCam cameras have also been streamed online, mostly recently through our very own website. There were more than 650,000 views of the site in 2020 alone, making it one of the most popular wildlife webcams in the region. The website provides schools and home learners with educational resources and enables those far from Alderney to experience the island’s puffins, and now gannets, first hand.

In 2021, a new camera joined these online resources – GannetCam. GannetCam streams from the western cliffs of mainland Alderney overlooking the Les Etacs Gannetry. Despite being stationed over 350 metres from the colony, the camera’s powerful zoom allows viewers to follow birds throughout the breeding season.

Video evidence from this camera was used to as part of the national response to monitoring the impacts of bird flue in 2022 as it ravaged Gannet populations.  In 2022 the Puffincam webcams including the 3 Puffincams and the GannetCam saw an estimated 260,000 visits and over 65,000 users and were one of the biggest sources of referrals to the VisitAlderney website. 

All our wildlife webcam systems are now built on island by our team and are powered by their own dedicated solar arrays.  

11. Supporting Education on island and through Teaching through nature

The AWT is proud to be actively involved in the education of the island’s future: the children of Alderney. Our organisation has formed links with St. Anne’s School and the local playgroup where we visit frequently and lead nature-based activities, as well as with the Youth Commission for Guernsey and Alderney. Weekly, the children at playgroup enjoy participating in a variety of educational sessions, including recycling plastic bottles into plant pots and observing a snail race.

12. Research

The AWT was established to Study, Protect and Campaign on behalf of wildlife, and wildlife recording has always been a major part of our work.  This constant research effort forms the evidence base which guides our efforts to protect the island’s wildlife. 

In 2023  we won funding from the Social Investment Fund (Guernsey) for a three-year project to develop a Alderney 'State of Nature' assessment (ASoN)!

This project aims to understand how key species and habitats on the island (and within its territorial waters) have changed over time, making this information available for anyone interested in the natural world.   This will help us ensure that our conservation management is best targeted to the habitats and species that need it the most in our reserves.

The Alderney State of Nature project will learn from current reports and methods developed in the UK and EU, and modify them to fit to Alderney’s unique context! It will also aim to inspire the community to stand up for nature and get involved in biological recording.

This marks a significant milestone in the AWT’s continued work to study, champion, and protect Alderney’s wildlife.  

To read the full press release on the Alderney State of Nature, click here ➡️ https://bit.ly/480E8uF

Within our ASoN work we also have the:

Living Seas Programme - From measuring Green Ormers to identifying a variety of fish and seal species within the far flung deep, Living Seas is one of our most dynamic research efforts.

More recently, our focus has been on identifying priority marine habitats and species, including its Eelgrass beds, which are recognised as a nature-based solution to tackling climate change.  The AWT initiated the Bailiwick Eelgrass Exploration Project (BEEP) with several other Non Governmental Organisations NGOs across the Bailiwick.  BEEP trains volunteer citizen scientists to record Eelgrass, and information from this enables pro-active conservation measures, such as the replacement of traditional boat moorings with advanced mooring systems, which can be designed to reduce impact upon the marine environment.

Moths – Over the past decade we have contributed to the Garden Moth Scheme, which collects results from hundreds of citizen scientists to produce distribution, abundance and population data. Data collected from Alderney has been used in publications such as the UK Atlas of Larger Moths and helps to provide a more continental perspective to Britain’s moths – many that readily occur here are rare in the UK such as the Bloxworth Snout and Lappet.

Ramsar – a long term data set now reaching its 18th year providing information on the population size and productivity rates of ten seabird species. These are projects which help us establish trends and identify the threats faced by Alderney’s seabirds. Below the waves, marine habitat mapping is carried out in new locations each year to track changes in habitat, and monitoring programmes, targeted at non-native and climate change indicator species, which helps us identify the health of our intertidal environment.   Recently, we have used data from the Ramsar work to advise protection measures for the Channel Islands’ only population of Ringed Plovers, discover where Alderney’s gannets feed during the summer and monitor the spread of non-native and climate change marine species for national databases.

Bailiwick Bat Survey - Now in its 3rd year, this collaborative project between various environmental organisations in the Channel Islands and the UK, uses cutting edge audio technology and citizen science to uncover the hidden life of bats. Building on existing knowledge collected since the inception of the AWT, we added 2 new species (Serotine and Kuhl’s Pipistrelle) to the Alderney bat list in 2021. By harnessing peoples’ interest in these mammals, we have been able to provide data for the whole of the island which can be used to protect key roosts and feeding habitats.

13. Species Conservation

Over the last 20 years, the AWT has championed wildlife through study and direct action,  from the creation of the “Puffin Friendly Zone” around Burhou, to grassland management on the Longis Nature Reserve to prevent the loss of sensitive and threatened species such as Green-winged Orchids, Small Restharrow, Small Hare’s-ear and Small-flowered Catchfly.  We are proud of being able to work with our community and government, in the absence of legal protections, but it can be challenging. 

In 2022 we were very pleased to have finally been able to establish cordons to protect breeding Ringed Plover on the island’s beaches, but we are devastated to see the deliberate digging up of orchids on our nature reserves knowing that there is currently no legal action we can use to protect them

14. Countryside access

For the past 20 years, the AWT has managed 20km of footpath across the island.  We are committed to sustainable access to the countryside, especially within our nature reserves which we manage for their ecological and recreational value. Our largest site, the Longis Nature Reserve, is utilised by dog walkers, bird watchers, families and many others for its beautiful footpaths and views.

The AWT is responsible for ensuring the public have safe and easy access to the island’s natural environment.  We have installed numerous features to provide enjoyment for everyone, from the Longis and Mannez Bird Hides, to the iconic white marker stones and numerous public benches. We have also installed various information boards across the island to enhance the public’s understanding of the countryside around them. The Alderney Community Woodland can be explored using the woodland trail guide, and the letterbox challenge is a well-used family activity. These works would not be possible without the help of our group of Conservation Volunteers which meet twice weekly to work on projects such as these.

15. Heritage and Wildlife

In 2013 the AWT secured £50,000 of off island funding which, combined with support from the States of Alderney and Alderney Society and a commitment of thousands of hours of AWT support, helped to establish the Living Islands Project.  This joint effort truly established the vital nature of the combination of Alderney’s wildlife and history in securing its future, proving how important our biodiversity and historic sites are to both our existing and future tourism. 

The project saw multiple sites opened up to the public for the first time, including Tourgis Battery and Bibette Head. Additionally, it established the need for VisitAlderney to have these facets of our island as a leading part of the tourism offering, and this has led to there being a skilled member of SoA staff now dedicated to their promotion. 

Despite Covid, in 2021 we saw over 10,000 people use our Wildlife Centre on Victoria Street for information and a steady growth on previous years.  Yet it is vital to ensure that whilst we recognise the value of wildlife for tourism, we do not harm our environment in the effort to secure more, ensuring the pressure to experience wildlife is balanced by the mechanisms to protect it, such as the Puffin Friendly Zone.

16. Invasive species

Across the globe, invasive species have huge environmental, social and economic costs and Alderney is no different. Our main species of concern are Sour Fig, the Asian Hornet and Black Rats. One of our key focuses in the past year has been mapping the distribution of Sour Fig across the island. This has allowed us to identify the most vulnerable sites and therefore the key areas for removal. We have hosted several successful Sour Fig removal sessions with the local community, as well as in partnership with La Société in Guernsey.

17. Patrons - Miranda Krestovnikoff, Dr. George McGavin, Simon Barnes 

We are justifiably proud of our Patrons. In 2007 the AWT was joined by both Dr. George McGavin and Miranda Krestovnikoff, well known media personalities and natural historians. Since then, George and Miranda have supported us numerous times, not only by visiting to lead in activities and events, but also in helping to publicise the importance of Alderney’s wildlife on the local and national stage.  They have helped campaign to protect Alderney’s Greenbelt, supported the creation of a Biodiversity Fund in Guernsey and published numerous articles about what makes Alderney special to them. 

In 2016 we were delighted to welcome renowned Journalist, author and birder, Simon Barnes, to the ranks of our Patrons when we established the Alderney Bird Observatory (ABO). Simon’s family visited Alderney twice before the AWT and ABO became separate entities and we hope to see Cindy, Ed and Simon back on island soon.

18. Donors, Sponsors, Supporters

Being on a small island with few of the larger resources of either the UK, or even Guernsey, has meant that the AWT has been very dependent on raising funds locally, doing everything from our annual Jumble Sales to flag days and membership drives.  However, small scale local funding rarely allows charities such as ours to reach their potential and it would not have been possible for projects such as the construction of two bird hides, the development of the Wildlife Centre, the internationally recognised Track A Gannet Project or our future plans for decarbonisation and the development of the Essex Farm Field Centre, without the support of our Donors and Sponsors.  Often donations are small, but even a few pounds can cover important costs. Then occasionally large donations help to support staff and make big leaps forward in our work.

There is no way to name all those who have helped over the last 20 years, but we are sincerely grateful for all your support and hope you recognise that the AWT would not have achieved any of its goals without you.

19. Our staff

With funding so hard to secure on an island with only 2,000 residents, no wildlife protection legislation and little access to larger UK or Guernsey funding streams, staffing the AWT over the years has always been a challenge.   We have met this challenge largely though our placement (internship) programme and in the last 20 years we have welcomed and then said a sad farewell to some 50+ staff who have joined us for anything from six months to several years.  This family of ex-AWT staff now spreads across the world where they cover everything from roles in seabird and community work in the Caribbean to leading positions within the Wildlife Trusts and Natural England.  Without you all, the AWT would not have been able to step up to the challenge. There is no easy way to thank you but, on behalf of all of us who are still here, please be aware that you are all missed and we hope to see you again soon.

20. Members

As an island without wildlife protection in place, having the voice of our community to help campaign to protect our wildlife has always been vital.  The AWT was founded by the residents of Alderney and its membership grew to be the highest per capita of any Wildlife Trust in the British Isles within only a few years.  Today we celebrate more than 750 members. You are the core to Alderney’s TeamWilder!

Very important to us is the fact that 54% of these members are Alderney residents. That’s more than 19% of the population.  Yet despite all our work over the years, Alderney still lacks any real protection for its wildlife and without the people of Alderney being willing to fight for it, it will still be possible to dig up our island’s most important wild flowers with impunity.

So in our 20^th year we hope to expand our Wildlife Trust family and invite many more residents and visitors to join us in our fight to ensure Alderney’s Wildlife is protected for all our futures.