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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
Leach's Storm-petrel Hydrobates leucorhous	VU	breeding (2001)	15 pairs	C6
Northern Fulmar Fulmarus glacialis	LC	breeding (2000)	21,106 pairs	B1ii, C3
European Shag Gulosus aristotelis	LC	breeding (2000)	2,277 pairs	A4i, B1i, B3, C3
Arctic Tern Sterna paradisaea	LC	breeding (2000)	950 pairs	C6
Great Skua Catharacta skua	LC	breeding (2000)	2,293 pairs	A4ii, B1ii, B3, C3
Atlantic Puffin Fratercula arctica	VU	breeding (2000)	22,500 pairs	B1ii, B2, C3
Razorbill Alca torda	LC	breeding (2000)	2,121 birds	B3
Common Murre Uria aalge	LC	breeding (2000)	41,435 birds	B1ii, C3
A4iii Species group - seabirds	n/a	breeding (2000–2001)	76,012 pairs	A4iii, C4

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
Northern Fulmar Fulmarus glacialis	21,106 / 46,800 (pairs)	46	poor
European Shag Gulosus aristotelis	2,277 / 2,400 (pairs)	95	good
Arctic Tern Sterna paradisaea	107 / 1,000 (pairs)	11	very poor
Great Skua Catharacta skua	2,293 / 2,170 (pairs)	100	good
Atlantic Puffin Fratercula arctica	22,500 / 48,000 (pairs)	47	poor
Razorbill Alca torda	2,121 / 6,194 (birds)	35	very poor
Common Murre Uria aalge	41,435 / 37,463 (birds)	100	good
A4iii Species group - seabirds	76,012 / 127,014 (pairs)	60	poor

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%)	rapid decline (>30% over 3 gener­ations)	very high
Agricultural expansion and intensification	happe­ning now	some of popul­ation/area (10–49%)	slow decline (1–10% over 3 gener­ations)	medium

Response (conservation actions taken for the trigger species and/or their habitats)
Designation	Planning	Action	Result
Whole area (>90%) covered by appropriate conservation designation	Unknown	Not assessed	low

Year	Protected Area	Designation (management category)	% coverage of IBA
1956	Foula	Site of Special Scientific Interest (UK) (IV)	84
1990	Foula Coast	Site of Special Scientific Interest (UK) (III)	18
2011	Foula	Marine Protected Area (OSPAR) (UA)	6

Habitat	% of IBA	Habitat detail
Grassland	-
Marine Coastal/Supratidal	-
Wetlands (inland)	-	Fens, transition mires and springs

Land use	% of IBA
agriculture	90

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Recommended citation
BirdLife International (2024) Important Bird Area factsheet: Foula (United Kingdom). Downloaded from https://datazone.birdlife.org/site/factsheet/foula-iba-united-kingdom on 22/12/2024.