Gough Island
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| State Party |  United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland |
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| Type | Natural | |
| Criteria | vii, x | |
| Identification | #740 | |
| Region2 | Europe and North America | |
| Inscription History | ||
| Formal Inscription: | 1995 19th WH Committee Session |
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| Extension/s | 2004 | |
| WH link: | http://whc.unesco.org/en/list/740 | |
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1 Name as officially inscribed on the WH List |
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Gough Island (also known as Diego Alvarez) is a volcanic island rising from the South Atlantic Ocean to heights of over 900 metres (2950 ft) above sea level with an area of approximately 65 km² (25 mi²). It is part of Tristan da Cunha, a dependency of the British overseas territory of Saint Helena.
It includes small satellite islands and rocks such as Southwest Island, Saddle Island (South), Tristiana Rock, Isolda Rock (West), Round Island, Cone Island, Lot's Wife, Church Rock (North), Penguin Island (Northeast), and The Admirals (East). It is a remote and lonely place, about 350 km (220 mi) southeast of the other islands in the Tristan da Cunha group, 2700 km (1700 mi) from Cape Town, and over 3200 km (2000 mi) from the nearest point of South America. It is a possession of the United Kingdom, but the only inhabitants are the crew of a weather station which South Africa has maintained continually on the island since 1956. It is one of the most remote places with a constant human presence.
The island is named after Charles Gough, who reputedly (re-)discovered it in 1731.
Gough and Inaccessible Island are a protected wildlife reserve, which has been designated a World Heritage Site by UNESCO. It has been described as one of the least disrupted ecosystems of its kind and one of the best shelters for nesting seabirds in the Atlantic. In particular, it is host to almost the entire world population of the Tristan albatross (Diomedea dabbenena) and the Atlantic Petrel (Pterodroma incerta'). RSPB conservationists have recently reported aggressive groups of unusually large and violent human-introduced house mice (Mus musculus) which have been posing a problem for the albatross breeding grounds, attacking large numbers of young birds; the mice are supposed to be eradicated in the coming years.
The RSPB has since been awarded £62,000 by the UK government's Overseas Territories Environment Programme to fund additional research on the Gough Island mice and a feasibility study of how best to deal with them. The grant will also pay for the assessment of a rat problem on Tristan Island.
Gough Island is located at . Topographic features include the High Peak, Mount Argus, Hags Tooth, Mount Rowett, Sea Elephant Bay, Quest Bay, and Hawkins Bay.
[edit] References
- ↑ Cuthbert, J. & Sommer, E. Population size and trends of four globally threatened seabirds at Gough Island, South Atlantic Ocean. Marine Ornithology 32: 97–103.
[edit] External links
- Gough Island on GlobalGuide
- map of Gough Island, with PDF downloadable
- The South Atlantic and Subantarctic Islands: Gough Island
- South African weather station on Gough Island
- Gough Island Wildlife Reserve
- Metre-high seabird chicks being eaten alive by mice
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| Tristan da Cunha | Inaccessible Island | Nightingale Islands (Nightingale Island | Middle Island | Stoltenhoff Island) | Gough Island | |
1 Sovereignity over territories in Antarctica currently suspended under the Antarctic Treaty System.
