Low Rocks and Sterna Island (Kimberley) (Australia) IBA | Details

Low Rocks and Sterna Island (Kimberley)

Current view: Data table and detailed info

IBA Justification

The site was identified as internationally important for bird conservation in 2009 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
Roseate Tern Sterna dougallii	LC	resident (1997–2004)	1,800–4,000 pairs	A4i

IBA Conservation

Ideally the conservation status of the IBA will have been checked regularly since the site was first identified in 2009. The most recent assessment (2008) is shown below.

IBA conservation assessment
Year of assessment	State	Pressure	Response
2008	not assessed	high	not assessed
Whole site assessed?	State assessed by	Accuracy of information
yes	unset	medium

Pressure (threats to the trigger species and/or their habitats)
Threat	Timing	Scope	Severity	Result
Human intrusions and disturbance	happening now	most of population/area (50–90%)	slow decline (1–10% over 3 generations)	high
Natural system modifications	happening now	some of population/area (10–49%)	moderate decline (10–30% over 3 generations)	high
Invasive and other problematic species and genes	likely in long term (>4 years)	most of population/area (50–90%)	no or slight decline (<1% over 3 generations)	low

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

IBA Protection

Year	Protected Area	Designation (management category)	% coverage of IBA
1976	Low Rocks	Nature Reserve (Ia)	27
2016	Uunguu	Indigenous Protected Area (VI)	27

Habitats

Habitat	% of IBA	Habitat detail
Forest	major (>10)	Acacia forests & woodlands
Marine Coastal/Supratidal	-

Land use

Land use	% of IBA
not utilised	60
nature conservation and research	40

Land ownership

Low Rocks = WA State govt; Sterna Island = Unallocated Crown Land, claimed under Native Title. Management is the responsibility of Dept of Environment & Climate Change (DEC).

Recommended citation
BirdLife International (2024) Important Bird Area factsheet: Low Rocks and Sterna Island (Kimberley) (Australia). Downloaded from https://datazone.birdlife.org/site/factsheet/low-rocks-and-sterna-island-(kimberley)-iba-australia on 27/12/2024.