Current view: Text account
Site description (2022 baseline):
Site location and context
The islet Branco is located between Santa Luzia and the islet Raso and has the smallest land area, about 2.8 km2, whose highest point is 327 m. It is a very mountainous islet of difficult landing and access. On the southern part of the islet you can see very high dunes that can be observed from a long distance.
In Branco islet we can find 5 species of Cape Verde breeding seabirds (Calonectris edwardsii, Hydrobates jabejabe, Puffinus lherminieri boydi, Pelagodroma marina eadesorum and Bulweria bulwerii) and 3 species of terrestrial birds such as Passer iagoensis, Falco tinnunculus, Pandion haliaetus. Some species of Geckos can also be found such as: Tarentola gigas brancoensis, Tarentola gigas and the lizard Chioninia stangeri. Besides the terrestrial reptiles, the sea turtle (Caretta caretta) also breeds there.
MAVA Foundation, BirdLife International, DNA, SPEA, University of Coimbra. .
Site identified during the MAVA funded project: "Conserving the seabirds of Cabo Verde" (2020 - 2022). Partner consultation supported by Ana Veiga (BirdLife Project Manager, Cabo Verde) and Jonathan Handley (BirdLife, UK). Site identification supported by: Samir Martins (BIOS.CV), Herculano Dinis (Projecto Vitó), Albert Taxonera (Associação Projeto Biodiversidade), Marcos Hernández (Associação Projeto Biodiversidade), Isabel Fortes (Biosfera), Catelene Monteiro (Biosfera), Pedro Geraldes (SPEA ), Ariana Cabral (Lantuna), Jacob González-Solís (University of Barcelona), Teresa Militão (University of Barcelona), Vitor Paiva (University of Coimbra)
Recommended citation
BirdLife International (2024) Important Bird Area factsheet: Branco Islet Integral Natural Reserve (Cape Verde). Downloaded from
https://datazone.birdlife.org/site/factsheet/branco-islet-integral-natural-reserve-iba-cape-verde on 23/11/2024.
