Les Pierres de Lecq

View across Les Pierres de Lecq Ramsar site looking west from Great Rock
View of Great Rock and Sharp Rock, Les Pierres de Lecq Ramsar site

Les Pierres de Lecq

  • Country: 
    United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland (Crown dependencies)
  • Site number: 
    1457
  • Area: 
    512 ha
  • Designation date: 
    02-02-2005
  • Coordinates: 
    49°17'N 02°12'W
Materials presented on this website, particularly maps and territorial information, are as-is and as-available based on available data and do not imply the expression of any opinion whatsoever on the part of the Secretariat of the Ramsar Convention concerning the legal status of any country, territory, city or area, or of its authorities, or concerning the delimitation of its frontiers or boundaries.

Overview

The Site is based on an exposed underwater plateau, located five kilometres north of the Channel Island of Jersey. It comprises a sub-tidal reef characterized by kelp forests and animal turfs, and an intertidal zone dominated by rocks and boulders. The Site is rich in biodiversity, with 25 different biotopes and around 200 marine species recorded. Extensive shallow-water areas and numerous intertidal pools provide habitat and act as a nursery area to a wide range of fish and invertebrate species. Some species are regionally scarce, or globally vulnerable such as the green ormer (Haliotis tuberculata) and pink sea fan (Eunicella verrucosa). The Site is used by grey seals (Halichoerus grypus) which breed in the other Jersey Ramsar Sites, and is a foraging habitat for one of the largest breeding populations of bottlenose dolphin (Tursiops truncates) in the British Isles. The exposed reef also forms an important resting site for birds and feeding ground for seabirds. The area provides multiple ecosystem services: it contributes to an important commercial fishery for various shellfish and wet fish, is used extensively for recreational fishing, and in the summer is frequented by canoeists. It also plays an important role in offering biological resilience to the wider Bay of Granville region.

Administrative region: 
Bailiwick of Jersey, Channel Islands

  • Last publication date: 
    10-04-2024

Downloads

Ramsar Information Sheet (RIS)

Additional reports and documents