Data Zone
Country/territory: Netherlands
IBA criteria met: A4i, A4iii, B1i, C3, C4, C6 (2000)
For more information about IBA criteria, please click here
Area: 782 ha
Site description (2000 baseline)
A small, uninhabited barrier island in the Wadden Sea between Schiermonnikoog and Rottumeroog, with beaches, shifting and fixed sand-dunes, saltmarshes, cord-grass Spartina swards, and mudflats (the entire site is enclosed by site 001). The accretion of the island was promoted by the building of a sand dyke, which was reinforced in the 1970s. There are a small number of guided excursions, otherwise the island is closed to the public. Hunting is restricted to rabbits. The site (all of the mudflats south of the island) has been entirely closed to cockle Cardium and mussel Mytilus fishing since 1993. Coastal defence measures have been reduced since 1988. This site, together with site 012, formed part of a single, larger site (former site NL009) in the previous pan-European IBA inventory (Grimmett and Jones 1989).
Key biodiversity
An important high-tide roost for waterbirds that feed in the Wadden Sea.
Recommended citation
BirdLife International (2023) Important Bird Area factsheet: Rottumerplaat. Downloaded from
http://datazone.birdlife.org/site/factsheet/rottumerplaat-iba-netherlands on 09/12/2023.
