• Summary
• Text account
• Data table and detailed info
• Map
• Reference and further resources

The site was identified as internationally important for bird conservation in 2004 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
Long-tailed Duck Clangula hyemalis	VU	winter (1992–1999)	68,000 birds	A4i, B1i
Velvet Scoter Melanitta fusca	VU	winter (1988)	25,000–70,000 birds	A4i, B1i, B2, C3
Goosander Mergus merganser	LC	winter (1988)	1,500–3,000 birds	C3
Red-throated Loon Gavia stellata	LC	winter (1988)	1,500 birds	A4i, B1i, C2
Razorbill Alca torda	LC	winter (1988)	1,000 birds	A4ii, B1ii, C3

Ideally the conservation status of the IBA will have been checked regularly since the site was first identified in 2004. The most recent assessment (2013) is shown below.

State (condition of the trigger species' populations)
Species	Actual vs Reference (units)	% remaining	Result
Melanitta fusca	15,000 / 50,000 (birds)	30	very poor
Red-throated Loon Gavia stellata	100 / 1,000 (birds)	10	very poor

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%)	moderate decline (10–30% over 3 gener­ations)	high
Residential and commercial development	likely in long term (>4 years)	some of popul­ation/area (10–49%)	no or slight decline (<1% over 3 gener­ations)	low
Pollution	likely in long term (>4 years)	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
Some of area covered (10–49%)	A management plan exists, but it is out of date or not compre­hensive	Substantive conservation measures are being implemented, but these are not compre­hensive and are limited by resources and capacity	low

Year	Protected Area	Designation (management category)	% coverage of IBA
1991	Kursiu Nerija	National Park (-)	20
2013	Baltic Sea Biosphere Polygon	Baltic Sea Protected Area (HELCOM) (IV)	58
2013	Baltic Sea biosphere polygon	Biosferos poligonas (VI)	58

Habitat	% of IBA	Habitat detail
Marine Neritic	100

Land use	% of IBA
tourism/recreation	10
fisheries/aquaculture	major (>10)
urban/industrial/transport	-

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Recommended citation
BirdLife International (2024) Important Bird Area factsheet: Marine waters along the Curonian Spit (Lithuania). Downloaded from https://datazone.birdlife.org/site/factsheet/marine-waters-along-the-curonian-spit-iba-lithuania on 28/12/2024.