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See the island where puffins outnumber people

<p><span style="font-weight: 400;">With puffins outnumbering people 15 to one, the tiny Lundy island has endured a history of crazed pirates, renegade knights and shoddy MPs.</span></p> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;">Now, the island lying just north of Devon is a protected nature reserve, bird-watchers’ paradise, and home to just 26 people. </span></p> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;">“The beauty of Lundy is that it hasn't changed for many, many years; it’s like stepping back to the 1950s,” said Derek Green, the island’s general manager. “There are very few vehicles, no pollution, no noise, lots of woodlife. It’s a place that is untouched by the modern world.”</span></p> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;">The island has been occupied for centuries by people from all walks of life, and was named for its legacy as a base of operations by Viking raiders from the 8th century A.D.</span></p> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;">“The name Lundy means ‘puffin island’ in Old Norse,” Green said. “Lundy’s history is long and colourful.</span></p> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;">“There’s evidence of Bronze Age occupation in the remains of hut circles in the north, there’s a 13th century castle and there’s a long history of shipwrecks. There are three lighthouses; that’s unique for such a small island.”</span></p> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;">The island is home to a collection of historical stone buildings to the south known simply as the village, including staff and visitor accommodation, a pub, a shop, and a 19th century Anglican church.</span></p> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;">While the rest of the 5km-long and kilometre-wide island is covered in grassy meadows, the old castle, a former naval signal station, and the ruins of a Victorian quarry can be found scattered around the island.</span></p> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;">“The island’s topography and habitats are really quite special,” said Dean Woodfin Jones, Lundy’s warden.</span></p> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;">“Thousands of seabirds come here in the summer to breed: puffins, guillemots, Manx shearwaters, storm petrels. There’s also a really important Atlantic seal colony.”</span></p> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;">Rare species of flora can also be found on the island, including the endemic Lundy cabbage that grows nowhere else in the world.</span></p> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;">Though the island’s future looked perilous with the drop in tourism during the pandemic, a mixture of donations and government grants has secured the island’s future and ensured its inhabitants can continue their conservation work.</span></p> <p><em><span style="font-weight: 400;">Photo credits: lundylandmark / Instagram</span></em></p>

International Travel

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Popular tourist destination to be closed in 2020

<p>Faroe Islands are a beautiful and popular string of islands that are home to a colony of puffins.</p> <p>However, the islands are going to be closed for a portion of 2020 so that the ecosystem can be preserved from the droves of tourists that descend on the shores of the islands.</p> <p>Faroe Islands are located between Iceland and Norway, but if you’re still itching to see the puffin colony that calls the islands home, you can still go to the islands.</p> <p>You just have to volunteer your time to step foot on the islands.</p> <p>14 tourist sites will be closed for a portion of 2020, but volunteers that help rejuvenate the island are able to stay on the island for free during the maintenance period, which is during the weekend of April 16 – 17 2020.</p> <blockquote style="background: #FFF; border: 0; border-radius: 3px; box-shadow: 0 0 1px 0 rgba(0,0,0,0.5),0 1px 10px 0 rgba(0,0,0,0.15); margin: 1px; max-width: 540px; min-width: 326px; padding: 0; width: calc(100% - 2px);" class="instagram-media" data-instgrm-permalink="https://www.instagram.com/p/B37xx4cHMp3/?utm_source=ig_embed&amp;utm_campaign=loading" data-instgrm-version="12"> <div style="padding: 16px;"> <div style="display: flex; flex-direction: row; align-items: center;"> <div style="background-color: #f4f4f4; border-radius: 50%; flex-grow: 0; height: 40px; margin-right: 14px; width: 40px;"></div> <div style="display: flex; flex-direction: column; flex-grow: 1; justify-content: center;"> <div style="background-color: #f4f4f4; border-radius: 4px; flex-grow: 0; height: 14px; margin-bottom: 6px; width: 100px;"></div> <div style="background-color: #f4f4f4; border-radius: 4px; flex-grow: 0; height: 14px; width: 60px;"></div> </div> </div> <div style="padding: 19% 0;"></div> <div style="display: block; height: 50px; margin: 0 auto 12px; width: 50px;"></div> <div style="padding-top: 8px;"> <div style="color: #3897f0; font-family: Arial,sans-serif; font-size: 14px; font-style: normal; font-weight: 550; line-height: 18px;">View this post on Instagram</div> </div> <p style="color: #c9c8cd; font-family: Arial,sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 17px; margin-bottom: 0; margin-top: 8px; overflow: hidden; padding: 8px 0 7px; text-align: center; text-overflow: ellipsis; white-space: nowrap;"><a style="color: #c9c8cd; font-family: Arial,sans-serif; font-size: 14px; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: 17px; text-decoration: none;" rel="noopener" href="https://www.instagram.com/p/B37xx4cHMp3/?utm_source=ig_embed&amp;utm_campaign=loading" target="_blank">A post shared by Faroe Islands (@faroeislands)</a> on Oct 22, 2019 at 1:33pm PDT</p> </div> </blockquote> <p>Guðrið Højgaard, Director at Visit Faroe Islands, said successful applicants will need to apply quickly as the 2019 program saw thousands reach out to offer their assistance.</p> <p>"For us, tourism is not all about numbers," Højgaard told <em><a href="https://www.cnn.com/travel">CNN Travel</a></em> earlier this year.</p> <p>"We welcome visitors to the islands each year, but we also have a responsibility to our community and to our beautiful environment, and our aim is to preserve and protect the islands, ensuring sustainable and responsible growth."</p> <p>The first batch of volunteers included travellers from Mexico, Australia, China and the United States.</p> <p>The Faroe Islands’ capital of Tórshavn has a population of about 13,000 and visits to the islands have increased by 10 per cent over the last few years.</p>

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