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Site description (2004 baseline):

The Land Fall Island Wildlife Sanctuary lies in the Andaman Islands in the Bay of Bengal. In this IBA, the mangroves are still more or less intact, with medium to large trees, extensive lagoons and creeks. Further inland, tropical rain forest is found. Pandanus andamanensium and P. tectorius are seen in the creeks and lagoons.

AVIFAUNA: The site is inaccessible and requires proper survey to identify the avifauna. However, the following Restricted Range species are assumed to be present in the Sanctuary (R. Sankaran pers. comm. 2003, R. Sivakumar pers. comm. 2003). Due to very few studies having been conducted here, it is a Data Deficient site. Apart from this tentative list, more Restricted Range species are probably present in this IBA. Moreover, many endemic subspecies, which are not included in the Red Data List but nevertheless vital from the conservation point of view, are also found here.

OTHER KEY FAUNA: There is no large terrestrial wild mammal on this site. The Andaman Water Monitor Varanus salvator andamanensis, which can swim between the islands, has colonised this site. Lagoons and the sea around Land Fall Island abound in Green Sea Turtle Chelonia mydas and Hawksbill Turtle Eretmochelys imbricata. Various corals and fish have been recorded in the seas around this IBA.

MAIN THREATS: Poaching; Indiscriminate fishing; Habitat destruction.

Land Fall is the northernmost island of the Andaman group, thus poachers and fishermen from neighbouring countries frequently come here for the sea turtles. Interestingly, it also attracts a large number of sea snakes to its coastal areas, which have numerous rocks and niches where these animals can hide.

Key contributor: Ravi Sankaran.

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Recommended citation
BirdLife International (2024) Important Bird Area factsheet: Landfall Island Wildlife Sanctuary (India). Downloaded from https://datazone.birdlife.org/site/factsheet/landfall-island-wildlife-sanctuary-iba-india on 23/12/2024.