Seabirds and sewage among UNESCO status challenges — SkimNews
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- State of the Biosphere report reviews the 10 years since the Isle of Man became the world’s first whole-nation UNESCO Biosphere in 2016, ahead of a decision next summer on whether it will retain the status.
- Juniper has been replanted in the Isle of Man’s uplands since 2016, with surveys reporting “encouraging survival and growth”; the island’s last native specimen was dug up from Glen Auldyn in 1947 and died soon afterwards.
- Calf of Man used rat control to help the Manx shearwater recover to about 1,500 breeding pairs.
- Nine new Marine Nature Reserves have been created since 2016 and now cover more than half the sea within three nautical miles of the coast; 420 hectares of damaged peatland were also restored by the end of last year.
- 48 of 166 bird species regularly seen on the Isle of Man were on the red list of greatest conservation concern in a 2024 assessment, while monitoring recorded declines in young salmon.
- Peel and Garff still have sewage discharged into the sea, while work on a new treatment works for Peel began last year.
Why it matters: UNESCO’s decision next summer will determine whether the Isle of Man keeps its whole-nation Biosphere status. The contrast between 1,500 shearwater breeding pairs and 48 red-listed bird species is material: the report presents measurable recovery and unresolved sewage and species decline as part of the same credibility test.
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