What we do

Kittiwakes (c) Ed Marshall

Kittiwakes (c) Ed Marshall

What we do

Keeping Scilly Special

We are Scilly’s only local nature conservation organisation. We manage around half of the land area of the Isles of Scilly. That’s a huge area of nearly 700 hectares (around 1,700 acres) of the land above the high-tide line. This includes coastal heaths, maritime grassland, wetlands and pockets of mature elm woodland.

Sunset from Steval (c) Ed Marshall

How we are funded

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Darren Hart Brushcutting Halangy

Who we are

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Daymark, St Martin's

Isles of Scilly AONB

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Most of our land is open to the public at all times, but we keep some areas closed to protect seal haul-out sites and breeding seabirds. We keep over 80km (50 miles) of paths open, to make sure we can all enjoy our beautiful landscape, our unique wildlife and our cultural heritage.

On Scilly, we are renowned for our archaeology. We have a greater density of Scheduled Monuments than anywhere else in the country, with the Bronze Age and Civil War remains being particularly well-represented. We work with Historic England and the Isles of Scilly Museum Association to preserve these.

The Isles of Scilly are defined by the sea, and one of the world’s richest places for marine wildlife. The Trust is working increasingly with partners to make sure our marine wildlife is protected and appreciated. We also have responsibility for most of Scilly’s beaches and other intertidal land, which means we are involved with everything from wildlife strandings to the scourge of marine plastic. We also respond to environmental crises where possible, including in 2022 leading on the Isles of Scilly's community response to Bird Flu and an oil spill at Porthloo pond.

We take a lead in ensuring that environmental sustainability is to the fore in Scilly. The exceptional qualities of the Isles of Scilly are wonderfully reflected by the Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty (AONB) designation. We are very proud to be the delivery partner for the IoS AONB. We are members of the Islands' Partnership, working with them to make sure that tourism in Scilly has the minimum of impact and promoting the islands as a prime destination for wildlife watching.

We treasure our role as part of the community of local residents and passionate visitors who all love Scilly. We want everyone to enjoy our wildlife and landscape. It’s vital to us that we do all we can to inspire, encourage and support people to play their part in Keeping Scilly Special.

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