Welsh First Minister Rhodri Morgan has officially unveiled new accommodation and visitor facilities at Skomer Island nature reserve off the Pembrokeshire coast, south west Wales.
The £3.2m Skomer Island Heritage Experience Project has included a complete overhaul of the island's farmhouse complex, which now provides accommodation for visitors, staff and volunteers, a classroom, a library, a laboratory and study rooms.
A new-look visitor centre has been established at the end of the Old Barn with a live video feed of a Manx Shearwater burrow as part of the scheme, which is administered by the Wildlife Trust of South and West Wales (WTSWW), while Lockley Lodge on the mainland has also been revamped to include multimedia exhibits of the area's wildlife.
The Countryside Council for Wales has supported the WTSWW-led project, while funding has also been provided by the Heritage Lottery Fund, Tubney Charitable Trust and the Crown Estate Marine Stewardship Fund.
Morgan said: "A visit to Skomer is always a truly magical experience and the new Skomer Island visitor facilities will allow many more people to appreciate the spectacular wildlife of this very special island in all its glory."
WTSWW's Colin Preston added: "Bad weather and demanding pathways have previously prevented visitors from going to the island. Now, remote cameras beam live pictures from Skomer Island to the mainland, enabling everyone to enjoy the wildlife spectacle of the seabird cliffs at The Wick, seals on the beach at North Haven and puffins returning to their burrows on The Neck."
