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• Text account
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• Reference and further resources

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 ('triggering') IBA criteria.

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

Species	Red List	Season (year/s of estimate)	Size	IBA criteria
European Shag Gulosus aristotelis	LC	breeding (1999)	740 pairs	B3

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.

State (condition of the trigger species' populations)
Species	Actual vs Reference (units)	% remaining	Result
European Shag Gulosus aristotelis	740 / 980 (pairs)	76	moderate

Pressure (threats to the trigger species and/or their habitats)
Threat	Timing	Scope	Severity	Result
Climate change and severe weather	happe­ning now	whole of popul­ation/area (>90%)	moderate decline (10–30% over 3 gener­ations)	very high
Biological resource use	happe­ning now	whole of popul­ation/area (>90%)	moderate decline (10–30% over 3 gener­ations)	very high

Response (conservation actions taken for the trigger species and/or their habitats)
Designation	Planning	Action	Result
Whole area (>90%) covered by appropriate conservation designation	A compre­hensive and appropriate management plan exists that aims to maintain or improve the populations of qualifying bird species	Substantive conservation measures are being implemented, but these are not compre­hensive and are limited by resources and capacity	high

Year	Protected Area	Designation (management category)	% coverage of IBA
1974	Canna and Sanday	Site of Special Scientific Interest (UK) (IV)	100
2011	Canna and Sanday	Marine Protected Area (OSPAR) (UA)	12
2011	Rum	Marine Protected Area (OSPAR) (UA)	3
2014	Small Isles	Marine Protected Area (OSPAR) (UA)	12

Habitat	% of IBA	Habitat detail
Forest	-	Mixed woodland
Grassland	-	Steppes and dry calcareous grassland; Mesophile grasslands; Machair
Marine Coastal/Supratidal	-
Shrubland	-	Heathland
Wetlands (inland)	-	Blanket bogs

Land use	% of IBA
agriculture	-

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Recommended citation
BirdLife International (2024) Important Bird Area factsheet: Canna and Sanday (United Kingdom). Downloaded from https://datazone.birdlife.org/site/factsheet/canna-and-sanday-iba-united-kingdom on 21/12/2024.