These two small and remote islands in the
South Atlantic Ocean have UNESCO World Heritage status because they are
important nature reserves.
They are volcanic islands that are highly
attractive to wildlife but of no commercial interest, which is just as well for
the wildlife. They are therefore uninhabited, except for a small weather
station on Gough Island.
Gough Island (pictured) lies between the
British territory of Tristan da Cunha and South Africa, being a dependency of
the former. It is around 35 square miles in size, just over 8 miles long and 4
miles wide. It has been described as the world’s most important seabird colony
with some fifty species of bird found there.
It is the breeding ground for nearly half
the world’s population of rockhopper penguins, it has about three million pairs
of great shearwaters, 2,000 pairs of wandering albatrosses, and the world’s
last remaining southern giant petrels, now reduced to no more than 150 pairs.
Inaccessible Island (just under five and a
half square miles in size) is part of the Tristan da Cunha island group. Its
name may not be strictly accurate, but access is highly restricted so that the
wildlife can remain undisturbed. It is one of the few ocean islands in the
temperate zone to which no non-native mammals have been introduced. It has two
bird, eight plant and ten (or more) invertebrate species that are endemic to
the island.
© John Welford
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