Fair Isle On The Edge

First broadcast 20050822. First repeated 20050924.

This island on the edge of Europe could be on the edge of catastrophe. Fair Isle is famous for its massive colonies of seabirds, and has been called 'Britain's equivalent of the Serengeti' because of the rare migrant birds which find their way there.

But the seabirds have stopped breeding because a combination of over fishing and global warming has resulted in the disappearance the sand eels they feed on.

Nature writer Jim Crumley explores the island, meets the crofters and discovers how one small community is coping with the kind of change which could be on the way for the rest of us.