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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
Bridled Tern Onychoprion anaethetus	LC	breeding (1995)	3,000–5,000 pairs	A4i
Greater Crested Tern Thalasseus bergii	LC	breeding (1997–2008)	4,000–9,097 pairs	A4i

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.

Pressure (threats to the trigger species and/or their habitats)
Threat	Timing	Scope	Severity	Result
Energy production and mining	likely in long term (>4 years)	most of popul­ation/area (50–90%)	moderate decline (10–30% over 3 gener­ations)	medium
Invasive and other problematic species and genes	happe­ning now	some of popul­ation/area (10–49%)	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

Year	Protected Area	Designation (management category)	% coverage of IBA
1976	Lowendal Islands	Nature Reserve (Ia)	100

Habitat	% of IBA	Habitat detail
Shrubland	major (>10)
Marine Coastal/Supratidal	-

Land use	% of IBA
nature conservation and research	major (>10)
energy production and mining	minor (<10)

Varanus Island managed by DEC as part of Lowendal Islands Nature Reserve (class C) but 30 ha leased to Apache Energy for oil and gas production.

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Recommended citation
BirdLife International (2024) Important Bird Area factsheet: Lowendal Islands (Australia). Downloaded from https://datazone.birdlife.org/site/factsheet/lowendal-islands-iba-australia on 23/12/2024.