La Société Guernesiaise realised in the early 1970s that because of the increasing development of the island many interesting and rare habitats were under threat. Indeed, it was feared that many of the most interesting and rare plants and animals in Guernsey might be lost unless measures were taken to protect them. La Société accordingly changed its constitution to enable it to hold land as nature reserves. The first reserve was the Silbe Nature Reserve in the Quanteraine Valley, and it started buying orchid fields in Les Vicheries soon afterwards. Now La Société has has over 400 vergees (65 hectares) of land it runs as nature reserves and is the largest landowner in the island after the States. Some of these reserves are owned outright by La Société, some are leased to it for nominal rents.
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on the name of a reserve or property to view further details.
The maintenance of this land costs La Société a great deal of money for an entirely voluntary organisation with no government support. Because of this La Societe has a strict land purchase policy. Land will only be purchased if it fulfills one or more of the following criteria.
- It has a rare or endangered habitat.
- It has high biodiversity.
- It has rare species.
- It is next to one of the existing reserves.
Candie Gardens, St Peter Port, Guernsey GY1 1UG, Channel Islands.
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