Boyne estuary (Ireland) - BirdLife IBA factsheet

IE119

Boyne estuary

Current view: Data table and detailed info

IBA Justification

The site was identified as important in 2009 because it was regularly supporting significant populations of the species listed below, meeting ('triggering') IBA criteria.

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

Species	Red List¹	Season	Year(s)	Size	IBA criteria
Red Knot Calidris canutus	NT	winter	2002-2006	150-1,225 individuals	B2

1. The current IUCN Red List category. The category at the time of the IBA criteria assessment (2009) may differ.

IBA Conservation

Ideally the conservation status of the IBA will have been checked regularly since the site was first identified in 2009. The most recent assessment (2013) is shown below.

IBA conservation assessment
Year of assessment	State	Pressure	Response
2013	not assessed	very high	low
Whole site assessed?	State assessed by	Accuracy of information
yes	unset	unknown

Pressure (threats to the trigger species and/or their habitats)
Threat	Timing	Scope	Severity	Result
Human intrusions and disturbance	happening now	whole area/population (>90%)	moderate to rapid deterioration	very high
Transportation and service corridors	past (and unlikely to return) and no longer limiting	majority/most of area/population (50-90%)	very rapid to severe deterioration	low
Invasive and other problematic species and genes	past (and unlikely to return) and no longer limiting	some of area/population (10-49%)	moderate to rapid deterioration	low

Response (conservation actions taken for the trigger species and/or their habitats)
Protected areas	Management plan	Other action	Result
Whole area of site (>90%) covered by appropriate conservation designation	No management planning has taken place	Some limited conservation initiatives are in place	low

IBA Protection

Year	Protected Area	Designation	% overlap with IBA
-	Boyne Estuary	Wildfowl Sanctuary	-
1995	Boyne Estuary SPA	Special Protection Area (Birds Directive)	91
1999	Boyne Coast and Estuary SAC	Site of Community Importance (Habitats Directive)	84

Habitats

Habitat¹	Habitat detail	% of IBA
Marine Intertidal		major (>10)
Marine Neritic		major (>10)

1. IUCN Habitat classification.

Land use

Land use	% of IBA
hunting	100
fisheries/aquaculture	80
urban/industrial/transport	20

Recommended citation
BirdLife International (2024) Important Bird Area factsheet: Boyne estuary (Ireland). Downloaded from https://datazone.birdlife.org/site/factsheet/boyne-estuary-iba-ireland on 23/11/2024.