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Year of most recent IBA criteria assessment: 2000

Populations of IBA trigger species

Species	Current IUCN Red List Category	Season	Year(s) of estimate	Population at site	IBA criteria triggered
Western Capercaillie Tetrao urogallus	LC	resident	1990	125 breeding pairs	C6
Eurasian Dotterel Eudromias morinellus	LC	breeding	1990	240 breeding pairs	C2, C6
Osprey Pandion haliaetus	LC	breeding	1991	2 breeding pairs	B2, C6
Golden Eagle Aquila chrysaetos	LC	resident	1992	8 breeding pairs	B2, C6
Hen Harrier Circus cyaneus	LC	resident	1990	15 breeding pairs	C6
Merlin Falco columbarius	LC	breeding	1992	25 breeding pairs	C6
Peregrine Falcon Falco peregrinus	LC	resident	1990	10 breeding pairs	C6
Scottish Crossbill Loxia scotica	LC	resident	1996	abundant	A1, B2, C1, C6

Note: The current IUCN Red List category may differ from the category that was valid at the time of IBA criteria assessment.

For more information about the IBA criteria, please click here

Threats to the site (pressure)
Threat level 1	Threat level 2	Timing	Scope	Severity	Result
Climate change and severe weather	habitat shifting and alteration	likely in long term (beyond 4 years)	whole area/population (>90%)	slow but significant deterioration	medium
Human intrusions and disturbance	recreational activities	happening now	some of area/population (10-49%)	slow but significant deterioration	medium
Invasive and other problematic species and genes	problematic native species/diseases - unspecified species	happening now	some of area/population (10-49%)	slow but significant deterioration	medium
Natural system modifications	fire & fire suppression - increase in fire frequency/intensity	happening now	some of area/population (10-49%)	slow but significant deterioration	medium

Condition of the site (state), by species
Scientific name	Common name	Reference population	Actual population	Units	% of population remaining	Result
Aquila chrysaetos	Golden Eagle	4	6	breeding pairs	100	favourable

Conservation actions taken at the site (response)
Protected-area designation	Management planning	Other conservation action	Result
Whole area of site (>90%) covered by appropriate conservation designation	A management plan exists but it is out of date or not comprehensive	Not assessed	low

For more information about IBA conservation status, please click here

Protected area (PA)	PA designation	PA area (ha)	Relationship of PA with IBA	Overlap of PA with IBA (ha)
Eastern Cairngorms	Site of Special Scientific Interest (UK)	16,507	protected area contained by site	16,441
Cairngorms Massif	Special Protection Area (Birds Directive)	187,485	is identical to site	50,592
Cairngorms	National Park	452,810	protected area contains site	50,688
Cairngorms	Site of Special Scientific Interest (UK)	29,231	protected area contained by site	29,162
Cairngorms	National Nature Reserve	25,964	protected area contained by site	25,948
Cairngorms	Site of Community Importance (Habitats Directive)	57,692	protected area contains site	50,688

IUCN Habitat	Habitat detail	Extent (% of site)
Forest	Broadleaved deciduous woodland, Native coniferous woodland	-
Shrubland	Scrub, Heathland	-
Grassland	Steppes and dry calcareous grassland	-
Wetlands (inland)	Blanket bogs	-

For further information about the IUCN habitat classification, please click here.

Land-use	Extent (% of site)
forestry	-
hunting	-
nature conservation and research	-
tourism/recreation	-

For further information about the land-use classification, please click here.

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Recommended citation
BirdLife International (2023) Important Bird Area factsheet: Cairngorms. Downloaded from http://datazone.birdlife.org/site/factsheet/2436 on 01/06/2023.