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The site was identified as important in 1998 because it was regularly supporting significant populations of the species listed below, meeting ('triggering') IBA criteria.

Populations meeting IBA criteria ('trigger species'):

Species	Current IUCN Red List Category	Season	Year(s)	Population estimate at site	IBA criteria met
Greater Flamingo Phoenicopterus roseus	LC	breeding	-	17,500 breeding pairs	A4i
Greater Flamingo Phoenicopterus roseus	LC	non-breeding	-	50,000 individuals	A4i
Lesser Flamingo Phoeniconaias minor	NT	breeding	-	10,000 breeding pairs	A1, A4i
Lesser Flamingo Phoeniconaias minor	NT	non-breeding	-	60,000 individuals	A1, A4i
Burchell's Sandgrouse Pterocles burchelli	LC	resident	1998	present	A3
Wattled Crane Bugeranus carunculatus	VU	non-breeding	-	100 individuals	A1
African Spoonbill Platalea alba	LC	non-breeding	-	369 individuals	A4i
Great White Pelican Pelecanus onocrotalus	LC	resident	-	1,500 breeding pairs	A4i
Great White Pelican Pelecanus onocrotalus	LC	non-breeding	-	6,000 individuals	A4i
Pied Avocet Recurvirostra avosetta	LC	breeding	-	85 breeding pairs	A4i
Chestnut-banded Plover Charadrius pallidus	LC	breeding	-	135 breeding pairs	A4i
Black-winged Pratincole Glareola nordmanni	NT	winter	-	5,000 individuals	A1, A4i
Barred Wren-warbler Calamonastes fasciolatus	LC	resident	1998	present	A3
Burchell's Starling Lamprotornis australis	LC	resident	1998	present	A3
Kalahari Scrub-robin Cercotrichas paena	LC	resident	1998	present	A3
A4iii Species group - waterbirds	n/a	breeding	-	50,000-99,999 individuals	A4iii
A4iii Species group - waterbirds	n/a	non-breeding	-	100,000-499,999 individuals	A4iii

The current IUCN Red List category may differ from that which was valid at the time of IBA criteria assessment (1998).

State (condition of the trigger species' habitats)
Habitat	Habitat detail	Reference area (ha)	Actual area (ha)	Habitat quantity (% remaining)	Habitat quality (carrying capacity)	Result
Shrubland		0	0	moderate (70-90%)	moderate (70-90%)	unfavourable
Wetlands (inland)		0	0	moderate (70-90%)	moderate (70-90%)	unfavourable

Response (conservation actions taken for the trigger species and/or their habitats)
Protected-area designation	Management planning	Other conservation action	Result
Most of site (50-90%) covered (including the most critical parts for important bird species)	A management plan exists but it is out of date or not comprehensive	Substantive conservation measures are being implemented but these are not comprehensive and are limited by resources and capacity	medium

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)
Nxai Pan	National Park	257,600	protected area overlaps with site	0
Nata Sanctuary	Private Game Reserve	31,000	protected area contained by site	25,000
Nata	Bird Sanctuary	96,100	protected area overlaps with site	0
Makgadikgadi Pans	National Park	490,200	protected area overlaps with site	487,710
Flamingo	Sanctuary	42,500	protected area contained by site	42,500

The Local Conservation Groups listed below are working to support conservation at this IBA.

Name	Year formed
Nata Santuary Trust	1988

For more information on BirdLife's work with Local Conservation Groups, please click here.

Habitat (IUCN level 1)	Habitat detail	Extent (% of site)
Artificial/Terrestrial		-
Wetlands (inland)		-
Shrubland		-
Grassland		-

For more information about the IUCN Habitat classification, please click here.

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

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Recommended citation
BirdLife International (2023) Important Bird Area factsheet: Makgadikgadi Pans. Downloaded from http://datazone.birdlife.org/site/factsheet/makgadikgadi-pans-iba-botswana on 29/11/2023.