Biosphere report flags sewage and threatened seabirds after decade of UNESCO status

Sewage still entering the sea and the pressures on seabirds are among the problems singled out in a new review of the island’s environment, 10 years after it became a UNESCO Biosphere, BBC News Isle of Man has reported.

The State of the Biosphere report assesses progress since 2016, when the island became the first whole nation, surrounding waters included, to gain the designation. It finds some wildlife is bouncing back but warns that many species and habitats remain in long-term decline.

The report comes before UNESCO decides next summer whether the island should keep the status, which is reviewed every decade. The UN agency awards it to places that balance conserving nature with supporting people, communities and the economy.

Juniper is one of the report’s success stories. The native shrub vanished from the island after its last wild plant, taken from Glen Auldyn in 1947 in a bid to save it, died shortly afterwards. It has been reintroduced to the uplands since 2016, and surveys point to “encouraging survival and growth”, according to the BBC.

On the Calf of Man, rat control has allowed Manx shearwaters to recover to about 1,500 breeding pairs, the report found.

Nine Marine Nature Reserves have been designated since 2016. Between them they cover more than half of the waters within three nautical miles of the shore. Some 420 hectares of degraded peatland had been restored by the end of last year.

The picture for birds is less positive. A 2024 assessment placed 48 of the 166 bird species regularly recorded on the island on the red list of greatest conservation concern. The BBC reported that 12 of the island’s 16 breeding seabird species are among them. Monitoring has also recorded falling numbers of young salmon.

The report accepts that sewage continues to be discharged into the sea at Peel and in Garff. Construction of a new treatment works for Peel started last year.

It states that Biosphere status is “not a claim that everything is working as it should”. It adds that the designation’s credibility relies partly on a willingness to own up to shortcomings.

Jason Bissell, who chairs Biosphere Isle of Man, said there was “much to celebrate from our first decade, and much still to do”.

An exhibition at the Manx Museum, Jeihosphere, accompanies the report and charts the Biosphere’s story through 10 objects. It runs until 28 February.