Exclusion zone to prevent damage at protected site

A six-month exclusion zone will be introduced at a protected Anglesey site to combat damage caused mainly by adventure activities.

Natural Resources Wales (NRW) has granted an exclusion zone following a request from the RSPB, covering a 1.8 mile stretch of coast from March 15 until September 15, 2025.

It covers part of an area known as the Range, which falls within Glannau Ynys Gybi Site of Special Scientific Interest (SSSI), on land leased to the RSPB by Isle of Anglesey County Council, which is part of South Stack Nature Reserve.

The request was in response to an increase in damage from commercial adventure activities neither the landowner nor occupier agreed to allow on the land.

Members of the public can still walk the full length of the site on the Wales Coast Path with no change to access along public rights of way or designated paths.

The zone will help protect rare bird species, endangered wildlife and the environment from damage caused by increasing numbers taking part in activities such as sea cliff traversing and coasteering, which involves exploring rocky coastlines by climbing, jumping, and swimming, during bird breeding season.

These activities are not allowed without the landowner’s or occupier’s permission, and the RSPB has previously tried initiatives to prevent them from taking place at the wrong time of year and in the wrong area.

The Countryside and Rights of Way (CROW) Act exclusion zone will cover open access land from the Wales Coast Path to the sea, and no access will be allowed without the landowner’s or occupier’s permission.

Euros Jones, NRW’s Operations Manager for North West Wales, said:

“The exclusion zone will prevent disturbance to schedule 1 protected breeding birds such as chough and peregrine falcons, seals and other rare wildlife including silver studded blue butterflies.

“We considered this request reasonable because of the impact from activities not permitted by the landowner or occupier on wildlife as well as damage caused to the geology of this SSSI such as disturbance to protected lichen and bolting of routes around this section of coastline.

“This exclusion zone does not prevent these activities taking place elsewhere and we will work with the Council to highlight where they can be carried out without disturbance to wildlife and endangered species.

“We will monitor activity throughout the exclusion period and review the situation after the six-month period.”

Laura Kudelska, Senior Site Manager at RSPB South Stack, said:

“The Range is a rare example of coastal heath habitat; an amazing spot for a wide diversity of birds, plants and insects.

“It’s also fragile and highly vulnerable to damage. Increasingly the level of activity near caves, on cliffs and on the coastal heath is causing unacceptable disturbance to wildlife, especially to chough that feed and nest here.

“We welcome the introduction of the six-month exclusion zone and we hope this will help to protect the rare wildlife of The Range as well as encouraging more chough to breed here.”

Anglesey Council’s Visitor Economy and Coastal Areas Manager, Andy Godber, added:

"We recognise the need for and challenges of balancing wildlife protection and outdoor leisure activities.

“Whilst the lease allows the RSPB to make such decisions independently, we would encourage further dialogue with the outdoor sector, during and after the trial period, to see if a workable solution can be reached.”