Île Foch is one of the Kerguelen Islands situated near to the north coast of Grande Terre, the principal island. It is separated from this main island by a narrow sea arm, the Tucker strait. It borders Île Saint-Lanne Gramont at the northwest, which is separated by the Baie de Londres. At the northeast point it borders Mac Murdo and

Howe Howe may refer to: People and fictional characters * Howe (surname), including a list of people and fictional characters * Howe Browne, 2nd Marquess of Sligo (1788–1845), Irish peer and colonial governor Titles * Earl Howe, two titles, an ext ...

island. With an area of , it is the second largest island in the archipelago. Its highest point, which has an

elevation The elevation of a geographic location is its height above or below a fixed reference point, most commonly a reference geoid, a mathematical model of the Earth's sea level as an equipotential gravitational surface (see Geodetic datum § Ver ...

of , is named .

Protected area

Since it is the largest island in the archipelago with no introduced species (no rabbits, cats, mice or rats), Île Foch is used as a reference as to the original ecosystem of Kerguelen Island. To prevent any accidental introduction of species, access is highly regulated and restricted to scientific missions only.

Important Bird Area

The island, along with the neighbouring, and relatively large, islands of Île Saint-Lanne Gramont and

Île Howe Île Howe is one of the islands of the Kerguelen archipelago, situated to the north of Île Foch, just after Île MacMurdo. It is about 8 km in length. Apart from rabbits, it is free of introduced animals. Important Bird Area The island ...

, as well as the smaller Île Mac Murdo, Île Briand, Îles Dayman and Îlots Hallet, have been identified by BirdLife International as an Important Bird Area (IBA) because of its value as a breeding site, especially for

seabird Seabirds (also known as marine birds) are birds that are adapted to life within the marine environment. While seabirds vary greatly in lifestyle, behaviour and physiology, they often exhibit striking convergent evolution, as the same enviro ...

s, with at least 29 species nesting in the IBA.

References

Foch Ferdinand Foch ( , ; 2 October 1851 – 20 March 1929) was a French general and military theorist who served as the Supreme Allied Commander during the First World War. An aggressive, even reckless commander at the First Marne, Flanders and Ar ...

Important Bird Areas of Kerguelen {{FrenchSouthernTerritories-geo-stub