The Plémont Seabird Sanctuary | National Trust for Jersey

28962 Puffin Sculpture Interpretation Material A2 Panel 2 1 (1)

Plémont Seabird Sanctuary

A safe future for our puffins and their friends

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Latest Update: Planning Application Submitted

The Birds On The Edge partnership aims to create Europe’s first eco-sanctuary, where threatened wildlife is safe from invasive predators like rats and ferrets. It requires a 1km-long specialised fence that will stop them from burrowing under or climbing over.

Work will involve habitat restoration and enhancement of breeding opportunities for puffins and many other species. Scroll below to find out more about the project, planning application, what will the fence look like, frequently asked questions, and further resources.

Why do we need a Seabird Sanctuary?

You can see a visual representation here of our remaining puffin nests, and the predatory threats that surround them.

We can see that there are rats and ferrets on the cliff, but seabirds don't have natural defences against rats and other invasive predators.

In fact, most extinctions are caused by invasive predators and most extinctions happen on islands.

We have evidence that this is a serious problem here:

Seabirds have been declining for the past 100 years at least

Puffins have declined by 95% in 100 years, from over 500 to only 6 - that is 3 pairs

We have found rats and ferrets meters away from puffin nests

Aerial view of Plemont, Jersey, with key indicating sightings of puffin threats — Aerial photo showing our current predator landscape (2024)

We weighed up the solutions

We have carried out extensive research into the options available and concluded that a physical barrier (i.e. a specially designed fence) would prove most effective.

The fence proposed is a 'predator-exclusion fence', which creates a safe sanctuary for threatened wildlife. These special fences were created in the late 1990s and there are over 50 predator-free sanctuaries in New Zealand and Hawaii that use this type of solution.

The other options we looked into, but which would not be suitable were:

To do nothing, and puffins and other seabirds will become extinct within our lifetimes

Trap and poison predators. However, this will not work on all the threats, and might negatively affect other wildlife, pets and the environment.

Puffin Predators - ferrets and rats — Predators

Why build a fence?

Putting up the proposed fence will target a number of problems:

1. Increase native wildlife

2. Reduce bracken

3. Restore coastal grasslands

4. Remove invasive predators

5. Attract new pairs of puffins, razorbills, and many other seabirds

If successful, this will add great benefit to the Island:

Close contact with nature has health benefits for residents

Increase in visitors is positive for hospitality and leisure economy

New jobs and skillsets for local workforce

Opportunities for students, volunteers and apprentices

Skomer Puffins on grassy cliff face — Skomer puffin colony

Working with the community

It is really important that we work with our Island community on the Seabird Sanctuary, and we are lucky to have a strong support base who understand the importance of it.

An online poll in 2023 gathered 1,127 participants that showed 92% support to create the sanctuary.

This community participation and feedback has been integral to project design, and our fence positioning reflects our aim to minimise visual impact on landscape.

In turn, our promise to the community is that the fence will be removed when it is no longer needed, or if no benefits are recorded in 15 years.

In terms of funding, provisional funding has been sourced for first 20 years, and this funding is external to Jersey. Therefore, there is no financial risk to the Island or the community.

Puffin Sculptures unveiling - with crowds and musicians - Plemont, Jersey

HAVE YOUR SAY - read the planning application and submit your comments

View Planning Application

Frequently Asked Questions

Why do we need the fence?

To protect seabirds from introduced predators that cause extinctions in islands worldwide.

Even without other threats such as climate change and overfishing, without a fence there is no future for some breeding colonies.