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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
Fulvous Whistling-duck Dendrocygna bicolor	LC	non-breeding (1999)	100,000 birds	A4i
Black Crake Zapornia flavirostra	LC	non-breeding (1999)	100,000 birds	A4i
Purple Swamphen Porphyrio porphyrio	LC	non-breeding (1996)	2,500 birds	A4i
Allen's Gallinule Porphyrio alleni	LC	non-breeding (1999)	200,000 birds	A4i
Lesser Moorhen Paragallinula angulata	LC	non-breeding (1999)	600,000 birds	A4i
African Spoonbill Platalea alba	LC	non-breeding (1996)	300 birds	A4i
Glossy Ibis Plegadis falcinellus	LC	non-breeding (1999)	5,000 birds	A4i
Black Heron Egretta ardesiaca	LC	non-breeding (1996)	600 birds	A4i
Great Snipe Gallinago media	NT	winter (-)	uncommon	A1
African Skimmer Rynchops flavirostris	LC	non-breeding (2000)	280 birds	A1, A4i
Grey-headed Gull Larus cirrocephalus	LC	non-breeding (1996)	2,500 birds	A4i
Pallid Harrier Circus macrourus	NT	winter (-)	present	A1
Lesser Kestrel Falco naumanni	LC	winter (-)	present	A1
A4iii Species group - waterbirds	n/a	non-breeding (1999)	1,000,000-2,499,999 birds	A4iii

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

Pressure (threats to the trigger species and/or their habitats)
Threat	Timing	Scope	Severity	Result
Biological resource use	happe­ning now	most of popul­ation/area (50–90%)	moderate decline (10–30% over 3 gener­ations)	high

Response (conservation actions taken for the trigger species and/or their habitats)
Designation	Planning	Action	Result
Not assessed	Not assessed	Not assessed	not assessed

Year	Protected Area	Designation (management category)	% coverage of IBA
2006	Lake Chilwa Wetland	UNESCO-MAB Biosphere Reserve (UA)	-

Habitat	% of IBA	Habitat detail
Wetlands (inland)	57
Forest	16
Artificial/Terrestrial	14
Shrubland	12

Land use	% of IBA
agriculture	-
fisheries/aquaculture	-
hunting	-
nature conservation and research	-

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Recommended citation
BirdLife International (2024) Important Bird Area factsheet: Lake Chilwa and flood-plain (Malawi). Downloaded from https://datazone.birdlife.org/site/factsheet/lake-chilwa-and-flood-plain-iba-malawi on 23/12/2024.