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The site was identified as internationally important for bird conservation in 2017 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
Grey Plover Pluvialis squatarola	VU	winter (1994–2017)	610–932 birds	B3a
Charadrius mongolus	NR	winter (1994–2017)	1,530–1,939 birds	B3a
Bar-tailed Godwit Limosa lapponica	NT	winter (1994–2017)	1,050–1,704 birds	B1a, B3a
Bar-tailed Godwit Limosa lapponica	NT	passage (1994–1995)	1,130–1,619 birds	B1a, B3a
Great Knot Calidris tenuirostris	EN	winter (1993–2001)	130–282 birds	A1, B3a
Great Knot Calidris tenuirostris	EN	passage (1993–1995)	200–603 birds	A1, B3a
Crab-plover Dromas ardeola	LC	winter (1994–1998)	366–528 birds	B2a

Ideally the conservation status of the IBA will have been checked regularly since the site was first identified in 2017. The most recent assessment (2017) is shown below.

State (condition of the trigger species' populations)
Species	Actual vs Reference (units)	% remaining	Result
Grey Plover Pluvialis squatarola	150 / 610 (birds)	25	very poor
Charadrius mongolus	1,100 / 1,500 (birds)	74	moderate
Bar-tailed Godwit Limosa lapponica	440 / 1,050 (birds)	42	poor
Great Knot Calidris tenuirostris	130 / 100 (birds)	100	good

State (condition of the trigger species' habitats)
Habitat	Quantity (% remaining)	Quality (% carrying capacity)	Result
Marine Intertidal	good (>90%)	good (>90%)	good

Pressure (threats to the trigger species and/or their habitats)
Threat	Timing	Scope	Severity	Result
Human intrusions and disturbance	happe­ning now	few indivi­duals/small area (<10%)	slow decline (1–10% over 3 gener­ations)	low

Response (conservation actions taken for the trigger species and/or their habitats)
Designation	Planning	Action	Result
Whole area (>90%) covered by appropriate conservation designation	A compre­hensive and appropriate management plan exists that aims to maintain or improve the populations of qualifying bird species	Substantive conservation measures are being implemented, but these are not compre­hensive and are limited by resources and capacity	high

Year	Protected Area	Designation (management category)	% coverage of IBA
2007	Marawah	UNESCO-MAB Biosphere Reserve (UA)	100

Habitat	% of IBA	Habitat detail
Marine Coastal/Supratidal	major (>10)
Marine Intertidal	major (>10)
Forest	minor (<10)	Subtropical & tropical mangrove
Marine Neritic	minor (<10)

Land use	% of IBA
nature conservation and research	100

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Recommended citation
BirdLife International (2024) Important Bird Area factsheet: Marawah Island (United Arab Emirates). Downloaded from https://datazone.birdlife.org/site/factsheet/marawah-island-iba-united-arab-emirates on 23/12/2024.