Cousin Island Special Reserve (Seychelles) IBA | Details

SC004

Cousin Island Special Reserve

Current view: Data table and detailed info

IBA Justification

The site was identified as internationally important for bird conservation in 2001 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
White-tailed Tropicbird Phaethon lepturus	LC	breeding (1999)	860–1,540 pairs	A4ii
Wedge-tailed Shearwater Ardenna pacifica	LC	breeding (-)	9,250–16,900 pairs	A4ii
Lesser Noddy Anous tenuirostris	LC	breeding (1999)	71,900–90,000 pairs	A4i
Gygis alba	NR	breeding (1997)	1,860–4,080 pairs	A4i
Seychelles Warbler Acrocephalus sechellensis	NT	resident (1999)	present	A1, A2
Seychelles Magpie-robin Copsychus sechellarum	EN	resident (1999)	present	A1, A2
Seychelles Fody Foudia sechellarum	NT	resident (1999)	present	A1, A2
A4iii Species group - seabirds	n/a	breeding (-)	20,000-49,999 birds	A4iii
A4iii Species group - waterbirds	n/a	breeding (-)	100,000-499,999 birds	A4iii

IBA Conservation

Ideally the conservation status of the IBA will have been checked regularly since the site was first identified in 2001. The most recent assessment (2020) is shown below.

IBA conservation assessment
Year of assessment	State	Pressure	Response
2020	very poor	not assessed	high
Whole site assessed?	State assessed by	Accuracy of information
yes	population	good

State (condition of the trigger species' populations)
Species	Actual vs Reference (units)	% remaining	Result
Lesser Noddy Anous tenuirostris	25,000 / 80,500 (pairs)	32	very poor
Seychelles Warbler Acrocephalus sechellensis	310 / 300 (birds)	100	good
Seychelles Fody Foudia sechellarum	1,015 / 1,700 (birds)	60	poor

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	The conservation measures needed for the site are being comprehensively and effectively implemented	high

IBA Protection

Year	Protected Area	Designation (management category)	% coverage of IBA
1975	Cousin Island	Special Reserve (Ia)	2

Land use

Land use	% of IBA
nature conservation and research	-
tourism/recreation	-

Recommended citation
BirdLife International (2024) Important Bird Area factsheet: Cousin Island Special Reserve (Seychelles). Downloaded from https://datazone.birdlife.org/site/factsheet/cousin-island-special-reserve-iba-seychelles on 24/12/2024.