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 Griend in 1975 | |
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| Geography | |
|---|---|
| Coordinates | 53°15′5″N5°15′15″E / 53.25139°N 5.25417°E /53.25139; 5.25417 |
| Archipelago | (West)Frisian Islands |
| Adjacent to | North Sea Wadden Sea |
| Administration | |
Netherlands | |
| Province | Friesland |
| Municipality | Terschelling |
| Demographics | |
| Population | Uninhabited |
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Griend (Dutch pronunciation:[ɣrint]ⓘ;West Frisian:Gryn) is a small uninhabitedDutch islet in theWadden Sea, lying around 12 kilometres south ofTerschelling. It is one of theWest Frisian Islands, and belongs to the municipality ofTerschelling. The island currently has an area of around 0.1 km2.
In theMiddle Ages, the island was inhabited, and on it a walled settlement and amonastery could be found. As a result of continuous erosion of the coast, Griend became smaller over time. In 1287, the settlement was almost completely destroyed as a consequence ofSt. Lucia's flood. The city was thereafter abandoned and from that time until the eighteenth century, Griend was inhabited by a few farmers, who built their houses on artificial hills. Around 1800, Griend still had an area of 0.25 km2, but the island was moving to the southeast at a speed of 7 metres a year. By that time, all of its inhabitants had abandoned the island, and from then on it was used by inhabitants of Terschelling as a grazing area for sheep, and for the making of hay. The eggs ofgulls andterns were also gathered there for consumption.
In 1916, the grazing rights on the island were bought by theVereniging Natuurmonumenten,[1] a union devoted to the protection of nature, which also tried to prevent the gathering of eggs by guarding the bird colonies on the island. After theAfsluitdijk was completed in 1933, the rate of erosion increased even more. However, the island has survived to the present day, though it is smaller than before, and its current location is to the southeast of what its location was in the Middle Ages.
Nowadays, the island is uninhabited, with the exception of a cabin used in summer by birdwatchers and biologists. Griend is not accessible to the general public.
Because Griend is unprotected bydykes, the island is slowly moving eastward. To protect the island and prevent it from vanishing altogether, some measures have been taken: along its southern edge, a few dams have been built, and, around 1990, the island was strengthened by building a low sand dyke along its north side. Since then, the process of erosion has changed into a process of gradual growth.
The largest colony ofSandwich terns in Western Europe can be found on Griend: every year, around 10,000 pairs breed on the island. Among others, thecommon tern,Arctic tern,common eider,common shelduck,Eurasian oystercatcher,common redshank, and occasionally theshort-eared owl also breed on the island. During the building of the sand dike, the island was colonized by thewood mouse.
Griend is currently managed by theVereniging Natuurmonumenten.
Media related toGriend at Wikimedia Commons| West Frisian Islands (Netherlands) |
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| East Frisian Islands (Germany) |
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| Heligoland Bight (Germany) | |||||||
| North Frisian Islands (Germany) |
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| Danish Wadden Sea Islands (Denmark) |
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