Data Zone
Country/territory: Svalbard and Jan Mayen Islands (to Norway)
IBA criteria met: A1, A3, A4i, A4ii, A4iii, B1i, B1ii, B2, B3 (2014)
For more information about IBA criteria, please click here
Area: 298,850 hectares (2,988.50 km2)
Site description (2000 baseline)
An oceanic island between Spitsbergen and Norway. There are steep sea cliffs at the southern end, while the northern part is flat with numerous lakes and ponds. There is rich vegetation close to the seabird colonies, but tundra is far more sparse in the central and northern parts. The only permanent human settlement on the island is a meteorological station, which does not pose any threat to the birdlife.
Key biodiversity
There is a very large seabird colony at the southern end of the island with many tens of thousands of pairs, dominated by Rissa tridactyla, Uria aalge and Uria lomvia. Other notable breeding birds include at least five out of the 32 species that are restricted in Europe (when breeding) to the Arctic/tundra biome. The island is an important staging area for an unknown but significant proportion of the Svalbard populations of Anser brachyrhynchus (c.30,000 birds in total) and Branta leucopsis (c.13,000 birds in total).
Recommended citation
BirdLife International (2024) Important Bird Area factsheet: Bjørnøya (Bear Island) (Svalbard and Jan Mayen Islands (to Norway)). Downloaded from
https://datazone.birdlife.org/site/factsheet/bjørnøya-(bear-island)-iba-svalbard-and-jan-mayen-islands-(to-norway) on 22/12/2024.