Guillemot by AWT staff
Seabird Restoration Project
The Seabird Restoration Project is an Ørsted project delivered in partnership with Alderney Wildlife Trust Enterprises (AWTE) and Habitat Assessment & Restoration Ltd (HAR).
The Seabird Restoration Project (SRP) is being delivered by offshore wind company Ørsted, with the goal of boosting guillemot populations on and around Sark and Alderney.
The SRP has been established with the ambitious aim of removing rats which are invasive and predatory, from L’Etac de Sark, and the Twin Sisters stacks off of Alderney’s west coast.
The Monitoring Period
We are monitoring rats and native wildlife in the area around the Twin Sisters and Telegraph Bay from October 2026 – September 2027. This includes the placement of non-toxic bait, tamper-proof rodent traps, bat detectors and camera traps. All have been placed to avoid accidental interaction with humans or dogs. This monitoring will inform best practice during the removal and later biosecurity phases of the project, from October 2027, which will help protect seabird populations and other native wildlife, and we thank you for your support.
There will be signage around with information about site activities.
You may see black boxes or piping around the site, labelled with tags like this one. This includes bait stations, but they only contain non-toxic bait at the moment.
What to do if you find some kit
If you find equipment associated with the project, please do not touch. If you think that there is an issue, such as a piece of kit being damaged, or in the wrong place, please call the Alderney Wildlife Trust on 01481 822935, to make our team aware so that it can be resolved.
What you might see
You may see cameras around the site, which we are using to monitor wildlife activity. They have been positioned to minimise capturing footage of humans. All recordings made are held by the Alderney Wildlife Trust Ltd under its Data Protection Policy and will only be used to monitor wildlife or to respond to the infringement of Alderney law.
Vic Froome
Why remove rats?
Rats were introduced by humans to Alderney during the Roman period and have done huge damage to our native species since then. They are native to Asia, and our local wildlife evolved without these incredibly effective predators. They hunt a range of native species including small mammals (e.g. mice, shrews and even baby hedgehogs!), birds (in particular eggs of seabirds like guillemots and Atlantic puffins, but also ground nesting birds such as Skylarks) and other native animals like Slow Worms. Burhou, just to the north of Alderney, is a fantastic example of what a rat-free island can look like: it has the largest Atlantic puffin colony in the English Channel and an estimated 3,000 European storm petrels. Guillemots also breed on rat-free sites around Alderney. By removing rats from the Twin Sisters, we aim to give our native wildlife the chance to thrive.
Vic Froome
The Compensation Measure
The primary objective of the SRP is to eradicate rats from the islands, removing a key threat to seabird breeding success, and creating more favourable conditions for guillemot populations to recover and expand. In collaboration with biodiversity and seabird habitat specialists at HAR and AWTE, the project seeks to increase the availability of rat-free nesting sites, providing guillemots with safe and suitable locations to breed. Through improving breeding opportunities and supporting population growth, the SRP aims to contribute to the establishment of guillemot populations that can be recognised within the UK’s National Site Network, a network of protected sites designated under the EU Habitats and Birds Directives.
We expect to confirm the eradication of rats from the Twin Sisters site by early 2030. The long-term objective is to maintain the islands as rat-free for the operational lifetime of the offshore wind farm. Achieving this will provide seabirds with continued access to suitable nesting habitat, and additionally has the potential to deliver wider ecological benefits across the Channel Islands, contributing to the protection and restoration of native biodiversity and ecosystem health.
The SRP contributes to the delivery of an environmental compensation measure associated with Ørsted’s Hornsea Four Offshore Wind Farm, planned for construction off of the east coast of England. In July 2023, Ørsted was granted permission by the UK government to develop Hornsea Four, subject to requirements to implementing measures addressing the potential impacts of the wind farm on kittiwakes (Rissa tridactyla) and guillemots (Uria aalge). Both species are legally protected seabirds associated with the Flamborough and Filey Coast Special Protection Area (SPA).
Contact Us
If you would like to get in touch regarding the Seabird Restoration Project, please email SRP@AWTE.alderneywildlife.org, or contact the Alderney Wildlife Trust via telephone on 01481 822935.