Current view: Text account
Site description (2007 baseline):
Site location and context
A large shallow estuary comprising extensive mudflats, shell ridges, mussel-beds, low-lying reclaimed farmland and limited areas of saltwater marsh. This is a cross-border IBA, with a minority of the site falling within the Republic of Ireland (IBA 004). The stated area of 21,803 ha refers to the whole site (on both sides of the border) but other data given here (habitats, land-uses, threats and birds) are specific to the UK side. The IBA is internationally important for wintering wildfowl and waders.
Branta bernicla are from the Canadian/Greenland breeding population of the
hrota subspecies.
Recommended citation
BirdLife International (2024) Important Bird Area factsheet: Lough Foyle and River Foyle (United Kingdom). Downloaded from
https://datazone.birdlife.org/site/factsheet/lough-foyle-and-river-foyle-iba-united-kingdom on 23/11/2024.
