Alderney State of Nature

The Alderney Wildlife Trust (AWT) has won funding for a three-year project to develop a State of Nature assessment of  Alderney. The project aims to understand how key species and habitats on Alderney and within its territorial waters have  changed over time, and to make this information available to anyone interested in the natural world. The assessment will also help ensure the AWT’s conservation management is best targeted to the most important and effective actions in its reserves.

The Alderney State of Nature project will learn from current reports and methods developed in the UK and EU and modify them to be tailored to Alderney’s unique environment. The first step of this project is to identify the island’s key species and habitats that are important for global, or local conservation, as well as those important to members of Alderney’s community, and the island’s economy, such as tourism. The AWT will then assess patterns of change for these key species and habitats, and whether they are currently at a favourable conservation status. This builds on the baseline data collected by the AWT for over twenty years on a wide variety of species and habitats, with the project looking to make as much of this data publicly available as possible.

An integral part of the project is to enable members of Alderney’s community to get involved with wildlife recording. Throughout each year of the project, the AWT will run at least four engagement events aimed at encouraging new volunteer  recorders in the community. Further training opportunities will be provided for current volunteers to foster skill development  and thank those who actively help to collect biological data that is useful for the Alderney State of Nature assessment.

This project marks a significant milestone in the AWT’s continued work to study, champion, and protect Alderney’s wildlife. Further announcements about how members of the public can get involved in the project will be coming in the New Year. The Alderney State of Nature project is funded by the Social Investment Fund Guernsey (SIF) and provides funding for one full-time and one part-time member of staff until August 2026, as well as for hosting events and training for members of  Alderney’s community to help them get involved with biological recording.

2024

Q1

• Marine invasive non-native species (INNS) presentation and field surveys

Q2

• Bats and the Bailiwick Bat Survey presentation (in collaboration with Alderney Animal Welfare Society)
• Marine mammals and marine life rescue presentation (in collaboration with Alderney Animal Welfare Society)
• Bailiwick Eelgrass Exploration Project training workshop

Q3

• Braye common bioblitz talk and survey
• Seasearch observer course (delivered online by Marine Conservation Society) with field surveys completed on island by the Alderney Wildlife Trust

We are in the process of compiling data from Alderney's community, as well as local, national and international organisations to produce a list of key habitats and species for Alderney, according to our narrative criteria.

This list will be published in 2024, and we're very grateful to everyone who has contributed to this process.