Natural Heritage
The sea, the mountains, the glens, the wetlands, and the creatures that made the island distinctive.
The Island’s Character
The Irish Sea is the thing. It always was. An islander might go a lifetime without climbing Snaefell, but the sea was there every day — in the weather, in the economy, in the plate of herring on the table. A hundred miles of coastline for an island thirty miles long and ten miles wide.
The glens run down from the interior to the coast — Dhoon, Glen Maye, Glen Helen, Sulby. The Curragh wetlands of the northern plain are willow carr and marsh. The Calf of Man shelters the Sound from the southwest gales.
Wildlife & the Marine World
The Loaghtan sheep — brown-woolled, multi-horned, native to the Island — are a living link to the agricultural past. The Manx cat, tailless and recognisable worldwide, became one of the Island’s most enduring symbols. The marine environment supports basking sharks, grey seals, and seabird colonies. The holy wells that once drew pilgrims now share the landscape with nature reserves. The Isle of Man is the world’s first entire island nation UNESCO Biosphere, and Manx National Heritage manages over 3,000 acres of coastline and landscape including the Calf of Man Bird Observatory.
Go further
The Manx National Heritage website has information on the Island’s natural sites, conservation work, and wildlife. The Manx Museum’s Natural History Gallery covers the Island’s geology, wildlife, and marine life.
See also: Isle of Man Places — the harbours, parishes, hills, and headlands. Folklore — the supernatural beings that inhabited this landscape.
All Natural Heritage Records
Keep exploring
The story of the Isle of Man is told across people, places, trade, law, and culture. Every path leads somewhere new.
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