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The site was identified as important in 2001 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
Little Egret Egretta garzetta	LC	breeding	-	500 breeding pairs	A4i
Little Egret Egretta garzetta	LC	non-breeding	-	20,000 individuals	A4i
Long-tailed Cormorant Microcarbo africanus	LC	breeding	-	6,000-7,000 breeding pairs	A4i
Grey-headed Gull Larus cirrocephalus	LC	breeding	-	10,000 breeding pairs	A4i
Grey-headed Gull Larus cirrocephalus	LC	non-breeding	-	100,000 individuals	A4i
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 (2001).

State (condition of the trigger species' populations)
Scientific name	Common name	Reference population	Actual population	Units	% of population remaining	Result
Egretta garzetta		695	183	individuals	27	very unfavourable
Microcarbo africanus	Long-tailed Cormorant	5000	8420	individuals	100	favourable
Larus cirrocephalus	Grey-headed Gull	100000	89955	individuals	90	near favourable
Species group - waterbirds	A4iii	20000	99316	individuals	100	favourable

State (condition of the trigger species' habitats)
Habitat	Habitat detail	Reference area (ha)	Actual area (ha)	Habitat quantity (% remaining)	Habitat quality (carrying capacity)	Result
Rocky areas (eg. inland cliffs, mountain peaks)		0	0	good (> 90%)	good (> 90%)	favourable

Pressure (threats to the trigger species and/or their habitats)
Threat level 1	Threat level 2	Timing	Scope	Severity	Result
Biological resource use	fishing & harvesting aquatic resources - unintentional effects: subsistence/small scale	happening now	majority/most of area/population (50-90%)	slow but significant deterioration	high
Biological resource use	hunting & collecting terrestrial animals - intentional use (species being assessed is the target)	happening now	majority/most of area/population (50-90%)	slow but significant deterioration	high
Residential and commercial development	housing and urban areas	happening now	some of area/population (10-49%)	no or imperceptible deterioration	low

Response (conservation actions taken for the trigger species and/or their habitats)
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	Some limited conservation initiatives are in place	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)
Musambwa islands	Ramsar Site, Wetland of International Importance	8	is identical to site	8

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

Name	Year formed
Musambwa Islands Joint Conservation Organisation (MIJCO)	1998

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

Habitat (IUCN level 1)	Habitat detail	Extent (% of site)
Rocky areas (eg. inland cliffs, mountain peaks)		-

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

Land-use	Extent (% of site)
fisheries/aquaculture	-
urban/industrial/transport	-
other	-

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Recommended citation
BirdLife International (2023) Important Bird Area factsheet: Musambwa islands. Downloaded from http://datazone.birdlife.org/site/factsheet/musambwa-islands-iba-uganda on 08/12/2023.