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Loch An Duin
Loch an Duin is a complex system of freshwater, brackish and sea lochs, tidal channels and islands, on and close to North Uist off the west coast of Scotland. An area of 2,621 hectares has been protected since 1990 as a Ramsar Site. The area under protection includes part of the north-eastern coastland of North Uist, as well as nearby islands and skerries in the Sound of Harris. It supports nationally important populations of common terns, around 1.5% of the UK breeding population, as well as providing habitat for otters. As the largest fjardic loch system in Britain, Loch an Duin has been recognised as a wetland of international importance under the Ramsar Convention The Ramsar Convention on Wetlands of International Importance Especially as Waterfowl Habitat is an international treaty for the conservation and sustainable use of Ramsar site, Ramsar sites (wetlands). It is also known as the Convention on We ..., and additionally as a Site of Special Scientific Interest. ...
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North Uist
North Uist (; ) is an island and community in the Outer Hebrides of Scotland. Etymology In Donald Munro's ''A Description of the Western Isles of Scotland Called Hybrides'' of 1549, North Uist, Benbecula and South Uist are described as one island of ''Ywst'' (Uist). Starting in the south of this 'island', he described the division between South Uist and Benbecula where "the end heirof the sea enters, and cuts the countrey be ebbing and flowing through it". Further north of Benbecula he described North Uist as "this countrey is called Kenehnache of Ywst, that is in Englishe, the north head of Ywst".''A Description of the Western Isles of Scotland Called Hybrides''; Monro, Donald, 1549 Some have taken the etymology of Uist from Old Norse, meaning "west", much like Westray in Orkney. Another speculated derivation of Uist from Old Norse is ', derived from ' meaning "an abode, dwelling, domicile". A Gaelic etymology is also possible, with ' meaning "Crossings-island" or "Fords-isl ...
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Scotland
Scotland is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It contains nearly one-third of the United Kingdom's land area, consisting of the northern part of the island of Great Britain and more than 790 adjacent Islands of Scotland, islands, principally in the archipelagos of the Hebrides and the Northern Isles. To the south-east, Scotland has its Anglo-Scottish border, only land border, which is long and shared with England; the country is surrounded by the Atlantic Ocean to the north and west, the North Sea to the north-east and east, and the Irish Sea to the south. The population in 2022 was 5,439,842. Edinburgh is the capital and Glasgow is the most populous of the cities of Scotland. The Kingdom of Scotland emerged as an independent sovereign state in the 9th century. In 1603, James VI succeeded to the thrones of Kingdom of England, England and Kingdom of Ireland, Ireland, forming a personal union of the Union of the Crowns, three kingdo ...
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Stornoway
Stornoway (; ) is the main town, and by far the largest, of the Outer Hebrides (or Western Isles), and the capital of Lewis and Harris in Scotland. The town's population is around 6,953, making it the third-largest island town in Scotland after Kirkwall in Orkney and Lerwick in Shetland. The historical civil parish of Stornoway, which includes various nearby villages, has a combined population of just over 10,000. The Comhairle nan Eilean Siar (the Western Isles Council) measures population in a different area: the ''Stornoway settlement'' area, Laxdale, Sandwick and Newmarket; in 2019, the estimated population for this area was 6,953. Stornoway is an important port and the administrative centre of the Outer Hebrides. It is home to Comhairle nan Eilean Siar and a variety of educational, sporting and media establishments. Until relatively recently, observance of the Christian Sabbath (Sunday) has been associated with Hebridean culture. Recent changes mean that Sund ...
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Scottish Natural Heritage
NatureScot () is an executive non-departmental public body of the Scottish Government responsible for Scotland’s natural heritage, especially its natural, genetic and scenic diversity. It advises the Scottish Government on nature conservation, and acts as a government agent in the delivery of conservation designations, i.e. national nature reserves, local nature reserves, national parks, Sites of Special Scientific Interest (SSSIs), Special Areas of Conservation, Special Protection Areas and the national scenic areas. It receives annual funding from the Scottish Government in the form of Grant in Aid to deliver government priorities for Scotland’s natural heritage. NatureScot is the Scottish Government's adviser on all aspects of nature, wildlife management and landscape in Scotland, and also helps the Scottish Government meet its responsibilities under EU environmental laws, particularly in relation to the Habitats Directive and the Birds Directive. The agency currentl ...
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List Of Ramsar Sites In Scotland
This list includes all Ramsar sites in Scotland. Ramsar sites are internationally recognised wetland sites, protected under the terms of the Ramsar Convention, which was developed and adopted by participating nations at a meeting in Ramsar, Mazandaran, Ramsar, Iran, on 2 February 1971. At the end of 2010, 160 states were contracting parties to the convention, and the worldwide total of sites was 1,920. The United Kingdom was one of 18 original signatories to the convention, and has since designated 168 Ramsar sites. 51 of these sites are within Scotland, including one site, the Upper Solway Flats and Marshes, which covers parts of both Scotland and England in the Solway Firth. The total area of all Ramsar sites in Scotland is approximately . All of Scotland's Ramsar sites form part of the European Natura 2000 network as either Special Protection Areas or Special Areas of Conservation, and many sites are further protected as Sites of Special Scientific Interest under UK legislation. ...
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Skerry
A skerry ( ) is a small rocky island, or islet, usually too small for human habitation. It may simply be a rocky reef. A skerry can also be called a low stack (geology), sea stack. A skerry may have vegetative life such as moss and small, hardy grasses. They are often used as resting places by animals such as Pinniped, seals and seabird, birds. Etymology The term ''skerry'' is derived from the Old Norse ', which means a small rocky island in the sea (which in turn derives from the Proto-Indo-European root *''sker''-, "cut", in the sense of a rock cut off from the land). The Old Norse term ' was brought into the English language via the Scots language word spelled or . It is a cognate of the Scandinavian languages' words for ''skerry'' – Icelandic language, Icelandic, , , , , found also in , , , , and (). In Scottish Gaelic, it appears as ', e.g. Sula Sgeir, in Irish language, Irish as '','' in Welsh language, Welsh as '','' and in Manx language, Manx as ''.'' Formatio ...
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Sound Of Harris
The Sound of Harris () is a channel between the islands of Harris and North Uist in the Outer Hebrides of Scotland. Geography Approximately in width, the Sound of Harris provides the main sea passage through the Hebridean archipelago, from the Atlantic Ocean to The Minch. There are many islands and numerous reefs in the Sound, the largest being Berneray, Pabbay, Ensay and Killegray. It is part of the South Lewis, Harris and North Uist National Scenic Area, one of 40 in Scotland."National Scenic Areas"
. SNH. Retrieved 30 Mar 2011.


Ferry

Since 1996, a vehicle ferry links Leverburgh, Harris to
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Common Tern
The common tern (''Sterna hirundo'') is a seabird in the family Laridae. This bird has a circumpolar distribution, its four subspecies breeding in Temperateness, temperate and subarctic regions of Europe, Asia and North America. It is strongly bird migration, migratory, wintering in coastal Tropics, tropical and Subtropics, subtropical regions. Breeding adults have light grey upperparts, white to very light grey underparts, a black cap, orange-red legs, and a narrow pointed bill. Depending on the subspecies, the bill may be mostly red with a black tip or all black. There are several similar species, including the partly Sympatry, sympatric Arctic tern, which can be separated on plumage details, leg and bill colour, or Bird vocalization, vocalisations. Breeding in a wider range of habitats than any of its relatives, the common tern nests on any flat, poorly vegetated surface close to water, including beaches and islands, and it readily adapts to artificial substrates such as ...
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Eurasian Otter
The Eurasian otter (''Lutra lutra''), also known as the European otter, Eurasian river otter, European river otter, common otter, and Old World otter, is a semiaquatic mammal native to Eurasia and the Maghreb. The most widely distributed member of the otter subfamily (Lutrinae) of the Mustelidae, weasel family (Mustelidae), it is found in the waterways and coasts of Europe, many parts of Asia, and parts of northern Africa. The Eurasian otter has a diet mainly of fish, and is strongly territorial. It is endangered in some parts of its range, but is recovering in others. Description The Eurasian otter is a typical species of the otter subfamily. Brown above and cream below, these long, slender creatures are well-equipped for their aquatic habits. Their bones show osteosclerosis, increasing their density to reduce buoyancy. This otter differs from the North American river otter by its shorter neck, broader visage, the greater space between the ears and its longer tail. However, the ...
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Fjard
A fjard (, ) is a large open space of water between groups of islands or mainland in archipelagos. Fjards can be found along sea coasts, in freshwater lakes or in rivers. Fjard and fjord were originally the same word, and they generally meant sailable waterway. In Scandinavia, fjords dominate along the North Sea coast while fjards dominate the Baltic Sea coast. Fjards vs. fjords vs. förden vs. rias Although fjards and fjords are similar in that they are a glacially-formed topography, they still differ in some key ways: * Fjords are characterized by steep high relief cliffs carved by glacial activity and often have split or branching channels. * Fjards are glacial depressions or valleys that have much lower reliefs than fjords. Fjards fill with eroded local materials which assist in "filling", along with rising sea levels since the last ice age contributing as well. Other low relief landforms that are only associated with fjards, such as mud flats, salt marshes, and flood plain ...
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List Of Ramsar Wetlands Of International Importance
Ramsar sites are protected under by the Ramsar Convention, an international treaty for the conservation and sustainable use of wetlands, recognizing the fundamental ecological functions of wetlands and their economic, cultural, scientific, and recreational value. The convention establishes that "wetlands should be selected for the list on account of their international significance in terms of ecology, botany, zoology, limnology or hydrology." Over the years, the Conference of the Contracting Parties has adopted more specific criteria interpreting the convention text. The Ramsar List organizes the Ramsar sites according to the contracting party that designated each to the list. Contracting parties are grouped into six "regions": Africa, Asia, Europe, Latin American and the Caribbean, North America, and Oceania. , 171 states have acceded to the convention and designated 2,531 sites to the list, covering ; one other state has acceded to the convention but has yet to designate any s ...
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Ramsar Convention
The Ramsar Convention on Wetlands of International Importance Especially as Waterfowl Habitat is an international treaty for the conservation and sustainable use of Ramsar site, Ramsar sites (wetlands). It is also known as the Convention on Wetlands. It is named after the city of Ramsar, Mazandaran, Ramsar in Iran, where the convention was signed in 1971. Every three years, representatives of the contracting parties meet as the Ramsar Convention#Conference of the Contracting Parties, Conference of the Contracting Parties (COP), the policy-making organ of the wetland conservation, convention which adopts decisions (site designations, resolutions and recommendations) to administer the work of the convention and improve the way in which the parties are able to implement its objectives. In 2022, COP15 was held in Montreal, Canada. List of wetlands of international importance The list of wetlands of international importance included 2,531 Ramsar site, Ramsar sites in Februa ...
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