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The site was identified as internationally important for bird conservation in 2007 because it was regularly supporting significant populations of the species listed below, meeting IBA criteria.

Populations meeting IBA criteria ('key species') at the site:

Species	Red List	Season (year/s of estimate)	Size	IBA criteria
Eurasian Dotterel Eudromias morinellus	LC	breeding (1993)	11 breeding pairs	C6

Ideally the conservation status of the IBA will have been checked regularly since the site was first identified in 2007. The most recent assessment (2007) is shown below.

Pressure (threats to the key species and/or their habitats)
Threat	Timing	Scope	Severity	Result
Human intrusions and disturbance	happen­ing now	whole popul­ation/area (>90%)	slow deteri­oration (1–10% over 3 gener­ations)	high

Response (conservation actions taken for the key species and/or their habitats)
Designation	Planning	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90%) covered by appropriate conservation designation	A manage­ment plan exists, but it is out of date or not compre­hensive	Very little or no conservation action taking place	low

Year	Protected Area	Designation (management category)	% coverage of IBA
1964	Ben Alder and Aonach Beag	Site of Special Scientific Interest (UK) (IV)	100

Habitat	% of IBA	Habitat detail
Grassland	-	Steppes and dry calcareous grassland
Rocky areas (eg. inland cliffs, mountain peaks)	-	Scree & boulders; Inland cliffs
Shrubland	-	Heathland
Wetlands (inland)	-	Blanket bogs

Land use	% of IBA
hunting	-

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Recommended citation
BirdLife International (2025) Important Bird Area factsheet: Ben Alder (United Kingdom). Downloaded from https://datazone.birdlife.org/site/factsheet/ben-alder-iba-united-kingdom on 10/01/2025.