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The site was identified as internationally important for bird conservation in 2011 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
Cory's Shearwater Calonectris borealis	LC	passage (2005–2007)	489,607–673,032 birds	A4ii, B1ii, C2
Balearic Shearwater Puffinus mauretanicus	CR	passage (2007)	12,864–27,631 birds	A1, A4ii, B1ii, C1, C2
Northern Gannet Morus bassanus	LC	passage (2007)	13,599–24,073 birds	A4ii, B1ii, C3
Audouin's Gull Larus audouinii	VU	passage (2007)	42,000–48,000 birds	A1, A4i, B1i, C1, C2
Sandwich Tern Thalasseus sandvicensis	LC	passage (2006)	min 4,000 birds	A4i, B1i, C2
Great Skua Catharacta skua	LC	passage (2007)	2,798–5,310 birds	A4ii, B1ii, C3

Ideally the conservation status of the IBA will have been checked regularly since the site was first identified in 2011. The most recent assessment (2016) is shown below.

Pressure (threats to the trigger species and/or their habitats)
Threat	Timing	Scope	Severity	Result
Pollution	happe­ning now	most of popul­ation/area (50–90%)	rapid decline (>30% over 3 gener­ations)	very high
Transportation and service corridors	happe­ning now	most of popul­ation/area (50–90%)	moderate decline (10–30% over 3 gener­ations)	high
Human intrusions and disturbance	happe­ning now	some of popul­ation/area (10–49%)	no or slight decline (<1% over 3 gener­ations)	low
Agricultural expansion and intensification	happe­ning now	few indivi­duals/small area (<10%)	no or slight decline (<1% over 3 gener­ations)	low
Energy production and mining	likely in short term (<4 years)	few indivi­duals/small area (<10%)	slow decline (1–10% over 3 gener­ations)	low

Response (conservation actions taken for the trigger species and/or their habitats)
Designation	Planning	Action	Result
Little/none of area covered (<10%)	No management planning has taken place	Very little or no conservation action taking place	very low

Year	Protected Area	Designation (management category)	% coverage of IBA
1989	La Breña y Marismas del Barbate	Parque Natural (V)	1
2003	Estrecho	Parque Natural (V)	7

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

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Recommended citation
BirdLife International (2024) Important Bird Area factsheet: Estrecho de Gibraltar (Spain). Downloaded from https://datazone.birdlife.org/site/factsheet/estrecho-de-gibraltar-iba-spain on 22/12/2024.