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First Minister launches Skomer Island project
Welsh First Minister Carwyn Jones has helped launch a £3.5m heritage scheme at Skomer Island nature reserve off the Pembrokeshire coast in south west Wales.
A series of buildings on the island - owned by the Countryside Council for Wales and managed by the Wildlife Trust of South and West Wales (WTSWW) - have been revamped as part of the project. The scheme included the transformation of former farm outbuildings into accommodation for overnight visitors, an interpretation space for visitors on day trips, a research centre and warden accommodation.
Skomer Island and sister island Skokholm boasts nearly half the world's population of the Manx Shearwater species and a wide number of grey seals. The Heritage Lottery Fund (HLF) contributed £1.6m towards the project, while the Tubney Foundation and the Crown Estate also supported work on the island.
WTSWW chief executive officer Sarah Kessell said: "With its population of 6,000 breeding pairs of puffins, 120,000 breeding pairs of Manx shearwater as well as many seals and fantastic marine life off its rocky shores, it is no wonder that Skomer is the only Marine Nature Reserve in Wales." Jennifer Stewart, head of the HLF in Wales, added: "The refurbished accommodation and expanded learning facilities has helped encourage more volunteers onto the island and increased the opportunities to develop ecology skills."