Summary/History
Slovenia only has a small coastline against the Adriatic sea in the Mediterranean however, according to BirdLife's Slovenian partner DOPPS the area is very important to some seabird species. Following the Barcelona convention, action plans were prepared for 15 threatened marine bird species in this region of the Adriatic Sea and of these five were found to have been regularly frequenting the Slovenian coast. An analysis of the population size was conducted in terms of the proportion of birds of the respective global populations breeding, wintering or foraging in the Gulf of Trieste, including the Slovenian sea. Those whose proportions of their global population was high (>1%) were the near threatened Yelkouan shearwater (up to 1.5%) and Mediterranean subspecies of the European shag (up to 11.4%, with nearly half the entire breeding population in the Adriatic Sea congregating here in late summer). Both Yelkouan shearwater and Shag formed dense summer aggregations in foraging areas of the Gulf of Trieste which relatively shallow and rich with food. Other priority species include the Yellow-legged Gull (LC), Common Tern (LC) and the Mediterranean Gull (LC). This data shows that the Slovenian part of the Gulf of Triests, alongside the Italian part together fulfil IBA criteria and likely qualify as a marine IBA on a basis of the size of these non-breeding aggregations.

Key threats to Slovenian seabird species include:
o Overfishing and accidental bycatch
o Pollution
o Loss of breeding and foraging habitats

National priorities
o Complete research of the Slovenian sea in order to establish the exact populations of Mediterranean subspecies of the European Shag and Yelkouan Shearwater, their phaenology and spatial use of the sea
o Define marine IBA borders on the basis of the above mentioned research
o Produce a proposal for marine SPA declaration and present to the Government for the final reading

Government's support/relevant policy
In 2010 a LIFE project Please see policy tab for list of agreements that this country is party to.

References
o Benussi, E. (2005): Marangone dal ciuffo Phalacrocorax aristotelis (Linnaeus, 1761). Pp. 117-118 In: Guzzon, C., Tout, P. & Utmar, P. (eds.): I censimenti degli uccelli acquatici svernanti nelle zone umide del Friuli Venezia Giulia, Anni 1997-2004.