• Summary
• Text account
• Data table and detailed info
• Map
• Reference and further resources

Year of most recent IBA criteria assessment: 2007

Populations of IBA trigger species

Species	Current IUCN Red List Category	Season	Year(s) of estimate	Population estimate	IBA Criteria Triggered
Arctic Tern Sterna paradisaea	LC	breeding	2007	800 breeding pairs	C6
Black Guillemot Cepphus grylle	LC	breeding	2007	294 individuals	B1ii, B2, C3

Note: This table presents the IBA criteria triggered and the species that triggered then at the time of assessment, the current IUCN Red List category may vary from that which was in place at that time.

For more information about the IBA assessment process and 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	happening now	whole area/population (>90%)	moderate to rapid deterioration	very high

Condition of key/trigger populations (state)
Scientific	Common	TargetPop	ActualPop	Units	Remaining	Result
Sterna paradisaea	Arctic Tern	1690	800	breeding pairs	48	unfavourable
Cepphus grylle	Black Guillemot	380	294	individuals	78	near favourable

Conservation actions taken at site (response)
Conservation Designation	Management Planning	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90%) covered by appropriate conservation designation	A management plan exists but it is out of date or not comprehensive	Substantive conservation measures are being implemented but these are not comprehensive and are limited by resources and capacity	medium

For more information about IBA monitoring please click here

Protected Area	Designation	Area (ha)	Relationship with IBA	Overlap with IBA (ha)
Papa Westray (North Hill and Holm)	Special Protection Area (Birds Directive)	246	is identical to site	245
Papa Westray	Nature Conservation Marine Protected Area	3,330	protected area overlaps with site	0
Papa Westray	Marine Protected Area (OSPAR)	3,300	protected area overlaps with site	0
North Hill	Site of Special Scientific Interest (UK)	201	protected area overlaps with site	206
North Hill	RSPB Reserve	201	protected area contained by site	201
North Hill	Nature Reserve	201	protected area overlaps with site	0
Holm of Papa Westray	Site of Special Scientific Interest (UK)	45	protected area overlaps with site	48

IUCN Habitat	Habitat detail	Extent (% of site)
Shrubland	Heathland	-
Grassland		-
Wetlands (inland)	Standing freshwater	-
Coastline	Sea cliffs and rocky shores	-
Marine Coastal/Supratidal		-

For further information about the habitat classification please click here.

Land-use	Extent (% of site)
agriculture	-
nature conservation and research	-

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

---

Recommended citation
BirdLife International (2023) Important Bird Areas factsheet: Papa Westray (North Hill and Holm). Downloaded from http://www.birdlife.org on 27/03/2023.