Responsible Tourism in the Falkland Islands

Falklands Conservation is a charity and works entirely on donations and voluntary help. They are doing superb work. Given that there are 22 Important Bird Areas on this archipelago, and yet no support in terms of national park designation, the organisation and everyone else on the island doing their bit for conservation, has a lot of work to do. They work in partnership with organisations such as the British Antarctic Survey on crested penguins; the Darwin Plus Initiative on planting vital tussock grass habitats for penguins; and the EU which has funded research work to improve knowledge of sei whales that migrate around Berkeley Sound. They do beach clean ups and debris surveys to see what rubbish is landing on their shores, and from where. Falklands Conservation also runs an impressive Adopt a Penguin scheme, which is very popular with visitors.

There are private landowners seriously committed to conservation too, and you may visit some of the private islands during your stay that are good examples of this, such as West Point. Indeed, the majority of beaches in the Falklands are privately owned. In the 1990s, Steeple Jason Island and Grand Jason Island, were bought by American Michael Steinhardt, who later donated them to the Bronx Zoo-based Wildlife Conservation Society. There are lots of stories of this nature in this vast archipelago.

What you can do
First and foremost, support the work of Falklands Conservation by donating to it. You can adopt a king penguin for £25 for a year, become a member from £30 for a year, or for a lifetime for £1,000. You can also become a corporate member, which is definitely worth proposing in the workplace. There are ongoing volunteering projects going on all the time, so do get in touch with them prior to your travels to see if you can help out with any work while on vacation. And, read their Falklands Countryside Code. They are gentle reminders of how a little care can go a long way.

One big reminder of the 1982 conflict is the presence of many unexploded mines, with thousands of them laid on beaches and inland terrain by Argentinean forces. Many of them were cleared, but there are still zoned off areas, the best known being Yorke Bay, on the outskirts of Stanley. The silver lining of a minefield is that, as humans are allowed nowhere near it, the beach here has been left to rewild and the Magellanic penguin population thrives. It would appear that the penguins don’t set them off.

What you can do
Read a wonderful article by leading journalist Matthew Teller on the BBC website on this subject, entitled “The Falklands penguins that would not explode”. And don’t cross the minefields line. Ever. Do some reading up on the history of the islands before you go. We have a history section on the 2 Minute summary of this travel guide. However, we also recommend The Battle for the Falklands by Max Hastings and Simon Jenkins (Pan Macmillan), just one of an array of books out there on the subject. If you are a Spanish visitor, it is worth remembering to avoid using Spanish names for places as you may risk offending local people.