Discover Lundy Island: A Model of Conservation and Ecotourism

Anchored 19km off the coast of southwest England, Lundy Island is tiny, rugged, and remote. However, a visit here offers a broader vision for a more sustainable world. Conservation is central to Lundy’s contemporary story. Through its successful ecotourism initiatives, use of renewable energy, and efforts to become plastic-free, we can learn more about living and traveling responsibly. Lundy’s tourist season runs from spring to autumn, with at least three sailings a week from March 31 to late October.

Just setting sail for Lundy feels like an adventure. At the north Devon ports of Ilfracombe and Bideford, you board the MS Oldenburg, a 1950s supply ship adorned with brass and wood. Some two hours of often surging seas later, a slab of granite just 5km by 1km rises 140m out of the waves. Welcome to Lundy Island. In the surrounding waters, conservation practices have been pioneered, and on land, biodiversity projects protect everything from puffins to plants. Here, stars glint in an inky sky unaffected by street lights; the landscape is unmarred by roads, and wardens lead sustainable snorkeling safaris. This island serves as a castaway retreat where you can relax and recharge, while also absorbing eco messages to take home.

Philanthropist businessman Jack Hayward, concerned that the island might be developed, purchased it and gave it to the National Trust in 1969. Management was assigned to the Landmark Trust, which renewed a 50-year lease in September 2019 to continue caring for the island. Actions taken over the last five decades have made Lundy one of Britain’s most important wildlife havens.

Sea Life

In terms of saving species, Lundy Island is a pioneer. The seas around these rocky shores have been protected for decades and were home to Britain’s first Marine Nature Reserve. The island also led the charge on being a Marine Conservation Zone and a No Take Zone—a type of aquatic nature reserve where fishing, dumping, dredging, and building are prohibited. Consequently, this results in a spectacular diversity of marine life among Lundy’s sandbanks, reefs, kelp forests, and caves.

When swimming or diving here, you might spot basking sharks, spiny lobsters, pink sea fans, and one of the island’s 200-odd grey seals. You can discover more by joining one of the Snorkel Safaris (£15), which are held regularly during the summer. These hour-long sessions, where wetsuits, masks, and fins are provided, allow you to glide above star coral, skittering spider crabs, and flitting wrasse. A sustainable dive could lead you to the two protected wreck sites, while you also have a fair chance of spotting dolphins and porpoises from the cliffs.

Birdlife

Fittingly, for an island that means “puffin” in Norse, Lundy is now home to the biggest seabird colony in England’s southwest. That’s a significant turnaround from 2002 when the local seabird population plummeted to alarmingly low levels. This prompted a seabird recovery project aimed at eradicating rats from the island. The result? Soaring seabird numbers—they’ve tripled to more than 21,000 birds. Consequently, a coastal walk here allows you to spot countless guillemot, kittiwake, and razorbill, as well as some of the 5,500 pairs of Manx shearwaters and 375 puffins.

Conservation Efforts

The conservation measures that protect 330 different plant species on Lundy mean you can stroll beside cliffs adorned with the bright yellow flowers of the Lundy Cabbage— a plant that only grows here. You’ll also spot rare fungi, ferns, and various animals that have been introduced to the island, such as Sika deer, Soay sheep, feral goats, and wild ponies. In fact, Lundy’s relative isolation, diversity of species, and its edge-of-the-Atlantic location have led the Landmark Trust to dub the island Britain’s Galapagos.

Ecotourism

In such a spectacular wilderness, the self-catering properties have no televisions, radios, or telephones. The mobile phone signal is unreliable, allowing you to indulge in activities such as climbing, swimming, kayaking, diving, snorkeling, birdwatching, and hiking to your heart’s content. Visitors are invited to participate in regular beach clean-ups, and relaxing with a pint at the Marisco Tavern—the island’s only pub and the hub of local life—can allow you to leaf through the pub’s guides to the island’s wildlife and plants. Warden-led walks and talks help convey the wildlife conservation message, as do rockpool rambles and outreach work with schools.

Sustainable Living Practices

With no roads and only granite tracks, Lundy has no cars. In fact, the total vehicle count consists of five 4WDs, three tractors, a JCB, three quad bikes, a fire truck, and a coastguard buggy. Lundy also has a small, year-round permanent population of 28, so the annual visitor numbers of around 20,000 put significant demand on relatively few resources.

Green power supplies are challenging for an island located almost 20km offshore. However, the waste heat produced by the island’s generator helps warm buildings, and discussions are underway to explore renewable systems. A robust recycling system is in place, waste vegetable oil is converted into biofuel, and the island’s pigs consume any vegetable waste from the Marisco Tavern. This pub is the only building illuminated after midnight, preserving the famously dark, street light-free Lundy skies.

Surfers Against Sewage granted Lundy Island Plastic Free Community “approved status” in November 2019, recognizing the island’s efforts to minimize single-use plastics. Visitors are encouraged not to bring plastics or to take their plastic waste away. Notably, this year has brought a significant breakthrough—a revamped rainwater treatment plant means Lundy is now self-sufficient, eliminating the need to ship in 32,000 plastic bottles of water each year. This transformation is pivotal for an island where the charity that has been pioneering conservation for five decades has signed an additional 50-year management lease. All in all, Lundy is a remote, road-free, bird-rich island where sustainability inspirations and species protection make the best souvenirs.

Practical Information

From the end of March to October, the MS Oldenburg makes trips several times a week to Lundy from the north Devon ports of Ilfracombe and Bideford. These visits can be done as day trips or extended stays. In winter, reaching Lundy involves a helicopter ride from Hartland Point on the north Devon coast.

Lundy offers 23 self-catering properties, ranging from a 13th-century castle and a lighthouse to a fisherman’s hut. There’s also a 40-person campsite, the Marisco Tavern pub, and a general store. The Lundy Island website is a treasure trove of information about visiting this unique destination.

Article first published November 2019, and last updated March 2020.