Map of the Falkland Islands (click to view full-size)
Background information
Legislation regarding biodiversity and impact assessment
International
The Falklands are included in the UK's ratifications of the following Conventions:
- World Heritage Convention
- Ramsar Convention
- Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species
- Convention on Migratory Species
- International Convention on the Regulation of Whaling
National
Key national legislation related to the environment is diverse:
- The Nature Reserves Ordinance of 1964;
- The Wild Animals and Birds Protection Ordinance 1964
Species protection is catered for by:
- The Wild Animals and Birds Protection Ordinance 1964
- Seal Fishery Ordinance 1921 and Seal Fishery (Amendment) Ordinance 1951
- The Whale Fishery Ordinance 1936 and Whale Fishery Amendment Ordinance 1964 (now replaced by the 1992 Sea Mammals Protection Bill)
- The Control of Kelp Ordinance 1970
Further information on this legislation is available through the legislation pages.
Key development areas and issues
Key sectors of the economy are sheep ranching for wool, fishing license sales for foreign fleets (squid and finfish) and tourism, this mainly aimed at foreign wildlife and game-fishing enthusiasts, cruise ships and the local communities.
Biodiversity interest
The Falklands are of particular importance for their seabird colonies and marine mammal populations. The introduction of domestic animals such as pigs, goats and cattle and the burning of maritime tussock grass communities have had serious negative impacts on habitats and species. There are two main islands, with 420+ associated small islets. The main islands are rather rugged, both reaching to approximately 700m a.s.l. The cool, temperate maritime climate has led to vegetation dominated by bog, heath, grassland and feldmark communities, although burning in particular has degraded much of the natural vegetation on the main islands.
Of the 169 vascular plant species identified, at least 15 are endemic - more information can be found at this page. The information on lower plant species is apparently incomplete, although mosses contain at least 168 taxa, 43 of which have not been recorded elsewhere, and 127 known liverworts, 3 of which are endemic.
Invertebrate fauna of the islands is relatively unknown, although 70% of the insect species recorded have not been found anywhere else in the world - this may be due more to the quantity of survey work in the region rather than true endemism.
Only three freshwater fish species are known from the islands, one of them has not been recorded in recent times .
One endemic bird species occurs - the Falkland Steamer-duck Tachyeres brachydactyla - with another 16 subspecies considered endemic. The islands are considered an Endemic Bird Area (EBA) by BirdLife International, and with Tierra del Fuego form a second EBA. Seabird populations are of international importance, with over 80% of the world's Black-browed Albatross Thalassarche melanophris, 20% of the Southern Giant Petrel Macronectes giganteus giganteus, and significant proportions of the world populations of Thin-billed Prion Pachyptila belcheri, Rockhopper Penguin Eudyptes chrysocome chrysocome, Magellanic Penguin Spheniscus magellanicus and Gentoo Penguin Pygoscelis papua
Mammals of the islands are primarily marine: major populations of the Southern Sea-lion Otaria flavescens, Southern Elephant-seal Mirounga leonina and South American Fur-seal Arctocephalus australis occur, along with at least 18 cetacean species.
Information on invertebrates is lacking.
Problems have been encountered with brown trout (Salmo trutta) outcompeting (?) the native zebra trout (Aplochiton zebra), mammalian predators affecting the local passerines (esp. Cinclodes antarcticus and Troglodytes cobbi - latter endemic). Rat eradication programmes on small tussocked islands have cleared 17 islands so far (Varnham 2006).
Details of the important species of the Falklands can be found here.
Protected Areas
Falkland has the greatest number of proposed Ramsar sites of any of the UKOTs, although only two designated sites exist. These two are Bertha's Beach and Sea Lion Island, covering a total 4,747ha. There are another 18 proposed sites, covering at least 68,730ha. Further details can be found on the protected areas page.