:: Conservation
This South West corner of the Falkland archipelago is one of the best natural resources the Falklands have. It is hoped, our work will assist in developing plans for the management and conservation of this resource.

:: The Importance of New Island
The New Island reserve and its projects, now with over 30 years of wildlife study and conservation experience behind it, plays a leading role in the Falkland Islands' environmental protection efforts. The New Island Conservation Trust operates the only purpose-designed site with established facilities for field studies in the Falkland Islands. The legal status of New Island as a research site is an important guarantee to the researchers who come to work there. Long term research can be embarked upon with the knowledge that projects are protected and will not be hindered by any change in the property status.

New Island is an Important Bird Area, hosting the largest seabird colony in the Falkland Islands. This is the most important nesting site in the world for the Thin-billed prion Pachyptila belcheri (estimated population of 2 million pairs on New Island). Thousands of the globally threatened Black-browed Albatross Thalassarche melanophris and Rockhopper Penguin Eudyptes chrysocome also nest here, and regionally important populations of several other globally threatened (White-chinned Petrel Procellaria aequinoctialis) and near-threatened species (Gentoo penguin Pygoscelis papua, Magellanic penguin Spheniscus magellanicus and Striated Caracara Phalcoboenus australis) are also present, as well as one of the few South American Fur seal Arctocephalus australis colonies found in the Falklands.

:: Before Conservation
Although New Island's coastal marine habitats are in a pristine state, terrestrial habitats on the island have suffered from past depredations caused by a multitude of man's interferences : stock grazing (ca. 1860 - 1973), burning of native vegetation, the whaling industry (based on New Island between 1908 and 1916), sealing and penguin oiling (late 1800's), egging (taking of wild penguin and albatross eggs) and the introduction of non-native species such as cats and pigs, which were allowed to run wild.

Sheep and cattle were completely removed from the Southern half of New Island in 1978, but farming continued on the Northern half of the property (originally owned by Roddy Napier, and subsequently by Tony Chater) for approximately 26 years, albeit significantly reduced between 1986 and 2004. The Northern property was eventually purchased by the New Island Conservation Trust in 2006 by which time no sheep remained on the Northern property. National Nature Reserve status means that the island is now entirely free of livestock.

:: The New Island Project
Conceived in 1972 by Ian Strange and Roddy Napier, the project aimed to turn New Island into a reserve, and to introduce wildlife research and eco-tourism to show their potential as forms of diversification for the Falklands. The idea however, was a bold one - the Falklands in the 1970's were a predominantly staunch sheep farming community and the project was slow to develop, marred by politics and costly legal proceedings, but the objective never changed.
Today New Island, its original project and the research carried out on the reserve are recognised internationally and, under the New Island Conservation Trust, the island and its diverse wildlife will remain protected.