Ascension

British island of volcanic origin in the South Atlantic, a dependency of St Helena since 1922; area 88 sq km/34 sq mi; population (2001 est) 1,100 (excluding military personnel). The chief settlement is Georgetown.

A Portuguese navigator landed on the island on Ascension Day in 1501, but it remained uninhabited until occupied by Britain in 1815. It is known for its role as a staging post to the Falkland Islands, and is chiefly used as a relay and cable station.

In March 2001, the Royal Society for the Protection of Birds (RSPB), along with the British government, invested £500,000 in a project to restore Ascension as a major breeding ground for seabirds (especially boobies, shearwaters, terns, and petrels, almost extinct on the island) and turtles. The project involved the humane killing of the island's population of rats and feral cats, both inimical to other wildlife, which were first introduced onto the islands from ships in the early 19th century.