Île Foch is one of the

Kerguelen Islands The Kerguelen Islands ( or ; in French commonly ' but officially ', ), also known as the Desolation Islands (' in French), are a group of islands in the subantarctic, sub-Antarctic region. They are among the Extremes on Earth#Remoteness, most i ...

situated near to the north coast of Grande Terre, the principal island. It is separated from this main island by a narrow sea arm, the Tucker strait. It borders Île Saint-Lanne Gramont at the northwest, which is separated by the Baie de Londres. At the northeast point it borders Mac Murdo and Howe island. With an area of , it is the second-largest island in the archipelago. Its highest point, which has an

elevation The elevation of a geographic location (geography), ''location'' is its height above or below a fixed reference point, most commonly a reference geoid, a mathematical model of the Earth's sea level as an equipotential gravitational equipotenti ...

of , is named .

Protected area

Since it is the largest island in the archipelago with no introduced species (no rabbits, cats, mice or rats), Île Foch is used as a reference as to the original ecosystem of Kerguelen Island. To prevent any accidental introduction of species, access is highly regulated and restricted to scientific missions only.

Important Bird Area

The island, along with the neighbouring, and relatively large, islands of Île Saint-Lanne Gramont and

Île Howe Île Howe is one of the islands of the Kerguelen Islands, Kerguelen archipelago, situated to the north of Île Foch, just after Île MacMurdo. It is about 8 km in length. Apart from rabbits, it is free of introduced species, introduced anima ...

, as well as the smaller Île Mac Murdo, Île Briand, Îles Dayman and Îlots Hallet, have been identified by

BirdLife International BirdLife International is a global partnership of non-governmental organizations that strives to conserve birds and their habitats. BirdLife International's priorities include preventing extinction of bird species, identifying and safeguarding i ...

as an

Important Bird Area An Important Bird and Biodiversity Area (IBA) is an area identified using an internationally agreed set of criteria as being globally important for the conservation of bird populations. IBA was developed and sites are identified by BirdLife Int ...

(IBA) because of its value as a breeding site, especially for

seabird Seabirds (also known as marine birds) are birds that are adaptation, adapted to life within the marine ecosystem, marine environment. While seabirds vary greatly in lifestyle, behaviour and physiology, they often exhibit striking convergent ...

s, with at least 29 species nesting in the IBA.

References

Foch Important Bird Areas of Kerguelen {{FrenchSouthernTerritories-geo-stub