Lord Howe Island (/h aʊ/; formerly Lord Howe's Island) is a volcanic island shaped like a crescent in the Tasman Sea between Australia and New Zealand. It is part of the Australian state of New South Wales. The island is located 600 km (370 mi; 320 nmi) directly east of mainland Port Macquarie, 780 km (480 mi; 420 nmi) northeast of Sydney, and about 900 km (560 mi; 490 nmi) southwest of Norfolk Island. It is approximately 10 km (6.2 mi) long and ranges from 0.3 to 2.0 km (0.19 to 1.24 mi) wide, with an area of 14.55 km (3,600 acres). Only 3.98 km (980 acres) of this area includes the low-lying developed part of the island. The island is named after Richard Howe, 1st Earl Howe. Along the west coast is a sandy, semi-enclosed coral reef lagoon. Less than 500 people live on the island, mostly in the north, while the south is covered by forested hills that rise to Mount Gower, the island's highest point at 875 m (2,871 ft). The Lord Howe Island Group includes 28 islands, islets, and rocks. The most notable of these, apart from Lord Howe Island itself, is Ball's Pyramid, a volcanic and uninhabited island located 23 km (14 mi; 12 nmi) to the southeast. To the north lies the Admiralty Group, a cluster of seven uninhabited islets.

The first known sighting of Lord Howe Island occurred on 17 February 1788, when Lieutenant Henry Lidgbird Ball, commander of the Armed Tender HMS Supply, was traveling from Botany Bay to establish a penal settlement on Norfolk Island. On the return journey, Ball sent a group ashore to claim the island as a British possession. Later, the island became a provisioning port for the whaling industry and was permanently settled in June 1834. After whaling declined, the 1880s marked the start of exporting the island’s endemic kentia palms, which remains a key part of the island’s economy. Tourism, another ongoing industry, began after World War II ended in 1945.

The Lord Howe Island Group is part of New South Wales and is legally considered an unincorporated area managed by the Lord Howe Island Board, which reports to the New South Wales Minister for Environment and Heritage. The island’s standard time zone is UTC+10:30, or UTC+11 during daylight saving time. The currency used is the Australian dollar. Commuter airlines operate flights to Sydney, Gold Coast, Newcastle, and Port Macquarie.

UNESCO recognizes the Lord Howe Island Group as a World Heritage Site of global natural importance. Most of the island remains largely untouched forest, with many plant and animal species found nowhere else in the world. Other natural features include diverse landscapes, varied upper mantle and oceanic basalts, the world’s southernmost barrier coral reef, nesting seabirds, and rich historical and cultural heritage. The Lord Howe Island Act 1981 created a "Permanent Park Preserve" covering about 70% of the island. The island was added to the Australian National Heritage List on 21 May 2007 and the New South Wales State Heritage Register on 2 April 1999. The surrounding waters are protected as part of the Lord Howe Island Marine Park.

Bioregion

Lord Howe Island is part of the IBRA region called Pacific Subtropical Islands and is classified as subregion PSI01, with an area of 1,909 hectares (4,720 acres). In the WWF ecoregion system, Lord Howe Island makes up the entire 'Lord Howe Island subtropical forests' ecoregion (WWF ID#AA0109). This ecoregion is located in the Australasian realm and is part of the tropical and subtropical moist broadleaf forests biome. The WWF ecoregion covers an area of 14 square kilometers (5½ square miles).

History

Before European explorers arrived, Lord Howe Island was not inhabited and was unknown to Polynesian people from the South Pacific. No evidence of prehistoric human activity has ever been found on the island, even after a detailed archaeological study in 1996. In 2003, Australian archaeologist Atholl Anderson wrote that the lack of pre-European settlement on Lord Howe Island is now more certain than before. He also noted that the absence of early settlers is difficult to explain. At 16 kilometers (about 6¼ square miles), Lord Howe Island is twice the size of Pitcairn Island and half the size of Norfolk Island, two other remote subtropical islands that were inhabited long ago. Lord Howe Island had plant and animal life similar to that of Norfolk Island.

The first recorded sighting of Lord Howe Island was on February 17, 1788, by Lieutenant Henry Lidgbird Ball, who was in charge of the ship HMS Supply. This ship was part of the First Fleet, which was traveling from Botany Bay to Norfolk Island to establish a penal settlement. On March 13, 1788, during the return journey, Ball spotted Ball’s Pyramid and sent a group to Lord Howe Island to claim it for Britain. He captured turtles and tame birds and sent them to Sydney. Ball named Mount Lidgbird and Ball’s Pyramid after himself, and he named the main island after Richard Howe, 1st Earl Howe, who was a high-ranking British naval official at the time.

In May 1788, Arthur Bowes Smyth, a surgeon on the ship Lady Penrhyn, made a drawing of the island. Many names on the island date back to this time. Four ships from the First Fleet, including HMS Supply, visited the island in May 1788. Visitors like David Blackburn, a ship officer, and Arthur Bowes Smyth recorded details about the island’s plants and animals in their journals.

Smyth wrote in his journal on March 19, 1788, about his observations. Artists like George Raper and John Hunter created watercolor sketches of native birds, including the Lord Howe woodhen, white swamphen, and Lord Howe pigeon. These paintings are the only remaining visual records of these birds, as they were hunted to extinction. Over the next three years, HMS Supply returned to the island multiple times to collect turtles. The island was also visited by ships from the Second and Third Fleets. Between 1789 and 1791, the whaling industry began in the Pacific, with British and American ships hunting sperm whales near the equator and in Australian and New Zealand waters. American whalers had 675 ships, and Lord Howe Island was located in a region called the Middle Ground, known for its whale populations.

Lord Howe Island became a stop for many ships traveling between New South Wales, Norfolk Island, and the Pacific. Some ships left goats and pigs on the island as food for future visitors. In July to October 1791, the Third Fleet arrived in Sydney, and preparations began for the whaling industry. Whale oil became Australia’s most valuable export until the 1830s, and whaling shaped the island’s early history.

Permanent settlement on Lord Howe Island began in June 1834, when the British whaling ship Caroline, commanded by Captain John Blinkenthorpe, arrived. Three men—George Ashdown, James Bishop, and Chapman—were left to establish a supply station. They brought or acquired their Māori wives and two Māori boys. They built huts in an area now called Old Settlement and started a garden near Blinky Beach.

The settlers traded water, wood, vegetables, meat, fish, and bird feathers for clothes, tea, sugar, tools, and other goods not available on the island. Prices were set by whalers. These early settlers left the island in 1841 when they sold their land for £350 to businessmen Owen Poole, Richard Dawson, and John Foulis. Their employees and others then settled on the island.

A small ship called Rover’s Bride became the first regular trading vessel to visit the island. Between 1839 and 1859, five to 12 ships arrived each year, sometimes up to 20. In 1842 and 1844, the first children were born on the island. In 1847, Poole, Dawson, and Foulis abandoned the settlement, but three employees remained. A family named Andrews discovered onions on the beach in 1848 and grew them as the “Lord Howe red onion,” which was popular for about 30 years until a disease destroyed the crop.

In 1849, only 11 people lived on the island, but farming expanded. In the 1850s, gold was discovered on mainland Australia, causing many sailors to abandon their ships and seek gold instead. This led to more trade with Lord Howe Island, which peaked between 1855 and 1857. In 1851, about 16 people lived on the island, and crops included potatoes, carrots, maize, pumpkin, taro, watermelon, grapes, passionfruit, and coffee. Between 1851 and 1853, the New South Wales government considered establishing a penal settlement on the island but did not proceed.

From 1851 to 1854, Henry Denham, captain of HMS Herald, conducted the island’s first hydrographic survey during a scientific expedition. Onboard were three Scottish scientists: William Milne, a botanist; John MacGillivray, a naturalist; and Denis Macdonald, a zoologist. These men collected information about the island’s geology, plants, and animals.

In 1853, three settlers arrived on the American whaling ship Belle, captained by Ichabod Handy. George Campbell and Jack Brian arrived, and Nathan Thompson brought three women from the Gilbert Islands. Thompson later built a house from mainland cedar washed up on the beach. Most residents with island ancestry are related to Thompson and his wife, Bogue.

In 1855, Lord Howe Island was officially made part of New South Wales by the Constitution Act.

From the 1860s, whaling declined due to the use of petroleum, the California Gold Rush, and the American Civil War. This affected the island’s economy. In 1867, Thompson purchased a ship called Sylph to trade pigs and onions with Sydney.

Demographics

According to the 2016 census, the island had 382 residents, and the number of visitors was limited to 400. The first people to live there were European and American whalers, and many of their descendants have lived on the island for more than six generations. Today, people work in industries such as kentia palm farming, tourism, retail, fishing, and agriculture. In 1876, work and games were stopped on Sundays, but no religious services were held. Now, the area called Church Paddock includes Anglican, Roman Catholic, and Seventh Day Adventist churches. On the island, 30% of people are Anglican, 22% have no religious affiliation, 18% are Catholic, and 12% are Seventh Day Adventist. The number of men and women is about the same. Nearly half (47%) of the population is between the ages of 25 and 54, and 92% are Australian citizens.

Governance and land tenure

Official control of Lord Howe Island was first held by the British Crown. In 1855, control passed to New South Wales. Until at least 1876, the islanders lived in a peaceful and self-governing community. In 1878, Richard Armstrong became the administrator after the New South Wales Parliament declared the island a forest reserve. However, due to conflicts and an investigation, Armstrong was removed from his position on 31 May 1882. He returned later that year to observe the transit of Venus from Transit Hill. After his removal, the island was managed by four magistrates until 1913, when a Sydney-based board was formed. In 1948, a resident superintendent was appointed. In 1913, the Lord Howe Island Board of Control was created, mainly to regulate the palm seed industry. This board also managed the island from Sydney until the current Lord Howe Island Board was established in 1954.

The Lord Howe Island Board is an official group in New South Wales, created by the Lord Howe Island Act 1953. It manages the island as part of the state and reports directly to the state’s Minister for Environment and Heritage. Its duties include protecting World Heritage values, controlling development, managing Crown Land, providing community services, and regulating tourism. In 1981, the Lord Howe Island Amendment Act gave islanders the right to have three members on a five-member board. The board also manages the Lord Howe Island kentia palm nursery, which, along with tourism, provides the island’s only income. In 2004, the board was changed to have seven members, with four elected by the island’s residents. This gives about 350 permanent residents significant control. The other three members are appointed by the minister to represent business, tourism, and conservation. The full board meets on the island every three months, while daily operations are handled by the board’s staff, which grew to 22 people by 1988.

Land ownership has been a topic of discussion since the island was first settled. Early residents were squatters, and land was not owned by them. In 1878, Richard Armstrong was given a 100-acre lease, which caused complaints. Later, short-term land use rights were granted. In 1913, the board of control was created, and the board itself was given temporary land use rights. The Lord Howe Island Act 1953 made all land the property of the Crown. Direct descendants of those with temporary land use rights in 1913 were given long-term leases for residential use on up to five acres. Larger areas for agriculture received short-term leases. In 1955, 55 long-term leases and 43 short-term leases were granted. In 1981, the law was changed to give land and political rights to all residents who had lived on the island for at least 10 years. Today, there is ongoing discussion about how many residents have land rights and how much influence islanders have on the board regarding planning for visitors, environmental issues, and heritage protection.

As a part of New South Wales, Lord Howe Island was not represented in parliament until the 1894 election, after the Parliamentary Electorates and Elections Act, 1893, was passed. Since 1894, the island has been part of the following New South Wales Legislative Assembly districts.

As part of the 2023 state election, a proposal was made to move Lord Howe Island into the Sydney electorate. However, the NSW Electoral Commission decided to keep the island in the Port Macquarie electorate.

Since 1901, Lord Howe Island has been included in the following Australian House of Representatives electoral divisions.

Economy

The first person to send palm seeds overseas was Ned King, a mountain guide who worked on the Fitzgerald surveys in 1869 and 1876. He sent seeds to the Sydney Botanic Gardens. In the 1880s, trade with other countries began. A type of palm called the kentia palm (Howea forsteriana), which grows naturally in the island’s lowlands, became popular in Britain, Europe, and the United States because it thrived in the conservatories of wealthy people. In 1906, Frank Farnell, a mainland magistrate, helped make the business successful by becoming a director of the Lord Howe Island Kentia Palm Nursery. The nursery had 21 islanders and a Sydney-based seed company as shareholders. In 1913, the Lord Howe Island Board of Control was formed to solve problems related to the business.

The kentia palm, also called the thatch palm because early settlers used it to build roofs, is now popular worldwide as a decorative plant. It grows well both outdoors in warm climates and indoors. The island’s mild climate helped the palm evolve to survive in low light, dry air, and cooler temperatures—making it ideal for indoor spaces like hotel lobbies, galleries, and large foyers. Until the 1980s, the palms were sold only as seeds. After that, they were sold only as high-quality seedlings. In 1997, the nursery received certification for its high-quality management, meeting the standards of Australian Standard AS/NZS ISO 9002.

Palm seeds are collected from natural forests and plantations by people who are descendants of the island’s original settlers. The seeds are grown in soil-free mix and sealed to prevent contamination. After testing, seedlings are cleaned, sanitized, and certified. They are then packed into insulated containers for export. Money earned from the nursery is used to improve the island’s ecosystems. The nursery plans to expand by adding another palm, the curly palm (Howea belmoreana), and other native plants.

By the late 1980s, annual exports of kentia palms brought in over A$2 million. This became the island’s main industry, along with tourism. Lord Howe Island is famous for its geology, birds, plants, and marine life. Popular tourist activities include scuba diving, birdwatching, snorkeling, surfing, kayaking, and fishing. To protect the environment, only 400 tourists are allowed at a time. The island is reached by plane from Sydney to Lord Howe Island Airport in under two hours. A Permanent Park Preserve, created in 1981, has rules similar to a national park.

The island has fewer than 800 people at any time, and facilities are limited. These include a bakery, butcher, general store, liquor store, restaurants, post office, museum, and information center. There is also a police officer, a ranger, and an ATM at the bowling club. Supplies are delivered every two weeks by the Island Trader from Port Macquarie. The island has a small hospital and dispensary. A botanic garden displays local plants with labels. Most electricity comes from solar power and batteries, with diesel generators as backup. There is no public transport or mobile phone coverage, but public telephones, fax machines, internet access, a local radio station, and a newsletter called The Signal are available.

Tourist accommodations range from luxury lodges to apartments and villa units. The currency is the Australian dollar, and there are two banks. Camping is not allowed on the island, and remote-area camping is prohibited. To protect the fragile environment of Ball’s Pyramid, where the last wild population of the endangered Lord Howe Island stick insect lives, climbing is not allowed. Pets are not permitted without permission from the board. Islanders use rainwater stored in tanks and bore water for showers and washing clothes.

Cycling is the main way to get around because distances to attractions are short. Tourist activities include golf (9-hole), lawn bowls, tennis, fishing (including deep-sea game fishing), yachting, windsurfing, kitesurfing, kayaking, and boat trips (including glass-bottom tours of the lagoon). Swimming, snorkeling, and scuba diving are popular in the lagoon and near Tenth of June Island, a rocky outcrop where an underwater plateau drops 36 meters to reveal coral-covered walls. Other diving spots are near Ball’s Pyramid, 26 kilometers away, where trenches, caves, and volcanic drop-offs are found.

Bushwalking, natural history tours, talks, and guided walks are available along many tracks. The most challenging hike is the eight-hour climb to the top of Mount Gower. The island has 11 beaches, and feeding kingfish and large wrasse at Ned’s Beach is a popular activity. Walking tracks are graded by difficulty from 1 to 5. In the north, tracks include Transit Hill (2-hour return, 2 km), Clear Place (1–2 hours, 2 km), Stevens Reserve, North Bay (4-hour return, 4 km), Mount Eliza, Old Gulch (20-minute return, 300 m), Malabar Hill, and Kims Lookout (3–5 hours, 7 km). In the south, tracks include Goat House Cave (5-hour return, 6 km), Mount Gower (8-hour return, 14 km), Rocky Run and Boat Harbour, Intermediate Hill (45-minute return, 1 km), and Little Island (40-minute return, 3 km). Recreational climbers must get permission from the Lord Howe Island Board.

Geography

Lord Howe Island is a crescent-shaped volcanic remnant in the southwest Pacific Ocean. It is located in the Tasman Sea between Australia and New Zealand, 600 km (370 mi) east of mainland Port Macquarie, 702 km (436 mi) northeast of Sydney, and about 772 km (480 mi) from Norfolk Island to its northeast. The island is approximately 10 km (6.2 mi) long and between 0.3 and 2.0 km (0.19 and 1.24 mi) wide, with an area of 14.55 km² (5.62 sq mi). A semienclosed coral reef lagoon with white sand lies along the west coast, forming the most accessible of the island’s 11 beaches.

The north and south sections of the island feature high ground covered by relatively untouched forests. In the south, two volcanic mountains, Mount Lidgbird (777 m or 2,549 ft) and Mount Gower (875 m or 2,871 ft, the island’s highest point), are separated by a saddle at the head of Erskine Valley. In the north, where most of the population lives, high points include Malabar (209 m or 686 ft) and Mount Eliza (147 m or 482 ft). Between these areas is a cleared lowland with farming, an airstrip, and housing.

The Lord Howe Island Group includes 28 islands, islets, and rocks. Balls Pyramid, a 551 m (1,808 ft) eroded volcanic islet 23 km (14 mi) southeast of Lord Howe Island, is uninhabited but home to birds and the only known wild population of the Lord Howe Island stick insect. To the north lies the Admiralty Group, a cluster of seven small, uninhabited islands. Mutton Bird Island (4.5 ha or 11 acres) is near the east coast, and Blackburn (Rabbit) Island (2.4 ha or 5.9 acres) is located in the lagoon.

Lord Howe Island is the eroded remains of a 7-million-year-old shield volcano formed by eruptions over 500,000 years. It is part of the Lord Howe Rise, a 3,000 km (1,900 mi) long and 300 km (190 mi) wide continental shelf that separated from the Australian plate 60 to 80 million years ago. The Lord Howe Seamount Chain, a series of volcanic peaks, stretches 1,000 km (620 mi) north of the island and includes the Middleton and Elizabeth Reefs Marine National Park Reserve. This chain likely formed as the Australian Plate moved over a stationary hotspot, creating volcanic features that are now coral-capped underwater mountains.

The Lord Howe Seamount Chain runs parallel to the Tasmantid Seamount Chain. Studies of rock samples from Lord Howe Island suggest similarities in composition to volcanic rocks from Taupo Bank, indicating a shared mantle plume source. Geological evidence shows two periods of volcanic activity shaped the island: the first, 7.20 million years ago, formed northern and central hills, while the second, 6.3 million years ago, created Mount Gower and Mount Lidgbird through lava flows that filled a volcanic caldera. These lava layers are now visible as horizontal strata on mountain cliffs, occasionally interrupted by vertical lava intrusions called dikes.

The island’s lowland areas consist of alluvial soils, while rocks at the base of the mountains are calcarenite, a type of coral sand cemented by water. Fossils of bird bones, eggs, snails, and the extinct giant horned turtle (Meiolania platyceps) are found in these rocks. The island’s crescent shape protects a coral reef and lagoon, with the barrier reef at 31°30’S being the southernmost in the world. Beach sands are made of shell, coral, and basalt fragments, not quartz grains as on the mainland.

Lord Howe Island is expected to erode and sink beneath the ocean within 200,000 years, resembling the Middleton and Elizabeth Reefs. It has a humid subtropical climate (Cfa), with warm, humid summers and mild, wet winters. Rainfall is uneven, with July and August being the coldest months (average minimum temperatures around 13 °C or 55 °F) and no frost. Average temperatures range from 17–20 °C (63–68 °F) in winter to 24–27 °C (75–81 °F) in summer. Humidity averages 60–70% year-round, with higher levels in summer. Sea temperatures range from 20.0 °C (68.0 °F) in July–September to 25.3 °C (77.5 °F) in March. The island experiences frequent winds, with July being the windiest month, and occasional storms or cyclones.

Flora and fauna

Lord Howe Island is a unique area of land known as the Lord Howe Island subtropical forests. It is part of a larger region called the Australasian realm and shares many types of plants and animals with Australia, New Guinea, and New Caledonia. In terms of age, Lord Howe Island is about 7 million years old, which is relatively young. It was never connected to any continent, and its plants and animals arrived from across the sea, carried by wind, water, or birds. This happened when other islands were visible, allowing animals and plants to move between them. However, the island has been far away from other land for so long that many unique species have developed there.

The island has many species that are found nowhere else in the world. Five groups of plants, called genera, are completely unique to Lord Howe Island: Negria, Lordhowea, Howea, Lepidorrhachis, and Hedyscepe. Some plants on Lord Howe Island are similar to those on Norfolk Island, such as a rare vine called Calystegia affinis. Together, the plants of these two islands are more closely related to those of New Zealand and New Caledonia than to those of Australia. There is also a small connection to the plants of Vanuatu. The plants on Lord Howe Island are most similar to those in subtropical southeastern Queensland on the Australian mainland. Some plants, like the wedding lily (Dietes robinsoniana), are linked to ancient landmasses like Gondwanaland, as their closest relatives are found in South Africa.

The plants on Lord Howe Island have remained largely undisturbed, with 44% of them found only on the island. The island has many different environments, from valleys and ridges to mountain tops, which support a wide variety of plant life. These plant communities have been studied and mapped in detail. Many unique plants grow on or near the mountain summits, where the high elevation creates a cloud forest with many different small habitats. The moisture from clouds on Mount Gower and other peaks supports mosses, ferns, and flowering plants.

One of the most famous plant groups on the island is Howea, a type of palm tree known as kentia palms. These palms are popular as houseplants. Other plants include mosses like Spiridens muelleri and 57 species of ferns, 25 of which are found only on the island. These ferns are most common in the wetter areas of the southern part of the island, especially on Mount Gower. Four types of tree ferns in the genus Cyathea are also unique to the island. Two other palm groups, Hedyscepe and Lepidorrhachis, are also found only on Lord Howe Island.

After a program to remove invasive rodents, scientists noticed more plant growth and seed production, especially in plants with large, fleshy fruits that were previously eaten by rats. As the forest undergrowth becomes denser, it creates homes for small animals like snails and insects, which in turn provide food for birds.

Plant communities on the island have been divided into nine groups: lowland subtropical rainforest, submontane rainforest, cloud-forest and scrub, lowland swamp forest, mangrove scrub and seagrass, coastal scrub and cliff vegetation, inland scrub and herbland, offshore island vegetation, shoreline and beach vegetation, and disturbed vegetation. Some plants are easy to spot. The banyan tree (Ficus macrophylla subsp. columnaris) has a large trunk and hanging roots, and can be seen along certain trails. The pandanus tree (Pandanus forsteri) has tall, cone-shaped roots and bright orange-red fruits. Ten types of orchids grow on the island, with the bush orchid (Dendrobium macropus subsp. howeanum) being the most noticeable. In summer, plants like the mountain rose (Metrosideros nervulosa and Metrosideros sclerocarpa), corokia (Corokia carpodetoides), pumpkin tree (Negria rhabdothamnoides), and Fitzgerald tree (Dracophyllum fitzgeraldii) bloom. The kava bush has large, fragrant leaves, and after heavy rain, glowing mushrooms like Mycena chlorophanos and Omphalotus nidiformis appear in palm forests.

Palms are the most famous plants on the island, with kentia palms and curly palms dominating the landscape. The kentia palm (Howea forsteriana) is especially important economically and is widely grown as an indoor plant. It grows in lowland areas and has drooping leaves. The curly palm (H. belmoreana) grows on slightly higher ground and has upward-pointing leaves. Natural hybrids of these two palms exist on the island. Higher up the mountains, the big mountain palm (Hedyscepe canterburyana) grows, with large fruits, while the little mountain palm (Lepidorrhachis mooreana) has smaller fruits and is found only on mountain peaks.

There are no snakes, poisonous animals, or dangerous daytime sharks near the beaches, though tiger sharks have been seen near the cliffs.

A total of 202 different bird species have been recorded on the island. Eighteen types of birds live on the island year-round, and many more visit seasonally. The island is recognized as an important area for birds because it is home to the entire population of Lord Howe woodhens, most of the breeding population of providence petrels, over 1% of the world population of five other seabird species, and the entire populations of three endemic bird subspecies.

Fourteen types of seabirds breed on the island. Red-tailed tropicbirds can be seen flying around Malabar cliffs, where they perform acrobatic displays during mating season. Flesh-footed and wedge-tailed shearwaters return to the island daily from August to May. The providence petrel, one of the world’s rarest birds, performs courtship displays on Little Island Track from March to November. This bird was once only found on Lord Howe Island after its population on Norfolk Island was destroyed in the late 1800s, though a small group now lives on nearby Phillip Island. The Kermadec petrel was discovered breeding on Mount Gower in 1914, and the black-winged petrel was confirmed as a breeder in 1971. Its numbers have grown after feral cats were removed from the island.

Flesh-footed shearwaters, which breed on the main island during spring and autumn, were once hunted for their chicks. Wedge-tailed and little shearwaters also breed on the island and nearby islets, though only a few little shearwaters are found on the main island. White-bellied storm petrels were another discovery by ornithologist Roy Bell. Masked boobies are the largest seabirds that breed on Lord Howe Island.

Heritage listings

The Lord Howe Islands Group was added to the World Heritage List because of its special landforms and plants and animals, its different and mostly undisturbed ecosystems, its natural beauty, and its homes for endangered species. It also has important cultural connections to the history of New South Wales.

Lord Howe Island, nearby islets, Admiralty Islands, Mutton Bird Islands, Ball's Pyramid, and related coral reefs and ocean areas were added to the Australian National Heritage List on May 21, 2007, based on the World Heritage List.

Lord Howe Island was added to the New South Wales State Heritage Register on April 2, 1999.

In September 2019, it was reported that in 2017, the federal environment minister, Josh Frydenberg, decided not to follow a suggestion from his department to build two wind turbines. The project, which would have greatly decreased the island's need for electricity from diesel generators, was considered not to harm the island's heritage status and was supported by people living on the island.

General and cited references

This article includes information from the Lord Howe Island Group entry number 00970 in the New South Wales State Heritage Register. It was published by the State of New South Wales Department of Planning and Environment in 2018 under the CC-BY 4.0 license. The information was accessed on 2 June 2018.