De grønlandske fuglebeskyttelsesområder. Technical Report No. 87

According to the Greenland bird protection order no. 8 of March 2, 2009, 13 
sites are designated as bird protection areas. In these sites admission is prohibited in the breeding season. All the sites were originally important breeding 
colonies for seabirds either on small islands or on steep cliffs. They are all situated in West Greenland between 60° N and 77.5° N. 
In the summer 2010, ten of these sites were surveyed in the bird breeding 
season in order to get an up-to-date status on the bird populations. The survey 
results, together with the most recent data form the remaining sites, form the 
basis for this report, in which all the bird protection sites are described and 
evaluated. 
The most important species breeding within the sites are: Thick-billed murre, 
Arctic tern, Atlantic puffin, common eider and black-legged kittiwake.
In eight of the sites, the important seabird populations have decreased or even 
disappeared. This is the case in six thick-billed murre colonies, where the most 
likely reason is human activities. In two sites Atlantic puffins have decreased 
markedly. Four of the murre sites are completely abandoned and are in fact, no 
longer relevant as protected sites.
During the 2010-survey several other sites were surveyed, and the six most 
important are described in the report. These additional sites could be added to 
or replace the sites found to be irrelevant as bird protection areas.
The report concludes that the general awareness of the bird protection sites is 
very limited and therefore proposes some additional actions to raise the knowledge on the sites and to strengthen the protection of their birds:
- an information campaign about the sites
- increased and more formalized inspection of the sites
- bird monitoring programs for all the sites