Monach Islands (United Kingdom) - BirdLife IBA factsheet

UK202

Monach Islands

Current view: Data table and detailed info

IBA Justification

The site was identified as important in 2007 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 List¹	Season	Year(s)	Size	IBA criteria
Barnacle Goose Branta leucopsis	LC	winter	1984-1988	760 individuals	B1i, B2, C2
Black Guillemot Cepphus grylle	LC	breeding	2002	819 individuals	B1ii, B2, C3

1. The current IUCN Red List category. The category at the time of the IBA criteria assessment (2007) may differ.

IBA Conservation

Ideally the conservation status of the IBA will have been checked regularly since the site was first identified in 2007. The most recent assessment (2007) is shown below.

IBA conservation assessment
Year of assessment	State	Pressure	Response
2007	favourable	high	low
Whole site assessed?	State assessed by	Accuracy of information
yes	population	good

State (condition of the trigger species' populations)
Species	Reference	Actual	Units	% remaining	Result
Black Guillemot Cepphus grylle	425	819	individuals	100	favourable

Pressure (threats to the trigger species and/or their habitats)
Threat	Timing	Scope	Severity	Result
Climate change and severe weather	happening now	whole area/population (>90%)	slow but significant deterioration	high

Response (conservation actions taken for the trigger species and/or their habitats)
Protected areas	Management plan	Other action	Result
Whole area of site (>90%) covered by appropriate conservation designation	A management plan exists but it is out of date or not comprehensive	Very little or no conservation action taking place	low

IBA Protection

Year	Protected Area	Designation	% overlap with IBA
1961	Monach Isles	Site of Special Scientific Interest (UK)	97
1966	Monach Isles	National Nature Reserve	100
1992	Monach Isles	Special Protection Area (Birds Directive)	100
1996	Monach Islands	Site of Community Importance (Habitats Directive)	100
2005	Monach Islands	Marine Protected Area (OSPAR)	41
2014	Monach Isles	Nature Conservation Marine Protected Area	13
2014	Monach Isles	Marine Protected Area (OSPAR)	13

Habitats

Habitat¹	Habitat detail	% of IBA
Grassland	Humid grasslands, Machair	major (>10)
Marine Coastal/Supratidal		major (>10)

1. IUCN Habitat classification.

Land use

Land use	% of IBA
agriculture	100

Recommended citation
BirdLife International (2024) Important Bird Area factsheet: Monach Islands (United Kingdom). Downloaded from https://datazone.birdlife.org/site/factsheet/monach-islands-iba-united-kingdom on 23/11/2024.