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The site was identified as important in 2001 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
Little Egret Egretta garzetta	LC	breeding	-	500 breeding pairs	A4i
Little Egret Egretta garzetta	LC	non-breeding	-	20,000 individuals	A4i
Long-tailed Cormorant Microcarbo africanus	LC	breeding	-	6,000-7,000 breeding pairs	A4i
Grey-headed Gull Larus cirrocephalus	LC	breeding	-	10,000 breeding pairs	A4i
Grey-headed Gull Larus cirrocephalus	LC	non-breeding	-	100,000 individuals	A4i
A4iii Species group - waterbirds	n/a	breeding	-	50,000-99,999 individuals	A4iii
A4iii Species group - waterbirds	n/a	non-breeding	-	100,000-499,999 individuals	A4iii

1. The current IUCN Red List category. The category at the time of the IBA criteria assessment (2001) may differ.

Ideally the conservation status of the IBA will have been checked regularly since the site was first identified in 2001. The most recent assessment (2012) is shown below.

State (condition of the trigger species' populations)
Species	Reference	Actual	Units	% remaining	Result
Egretta garzetta	695	183	individuals	27	very unfavourable
Long-tailed Cormorant Microcarbo africanus	5,000	8,420	individuals	100	favourable
Grey-headed Gull Larus cirrocephalus	100,000	89,955	individuals	90	near favourable
A4iii Species group - waterbirds	20,000	99,316	individuals	100	favourable

State (condition of the trigger species' habitats)
Habitat	Quantity (% remaining)	Quality (% carrying capacity)	Result
Rocky areas (eg. inland cliffs, mountain peaks)	good (> 90%)	good (> 90%)	favourable

Pressure (threats to the trigger species and/or their habitats)
Threat	Timing	Scope	Severity	Result
Biological resource use	happening now	majority/most of area/population (50-90%)	slow but significant deterioration	high
Residential and commercial development	happening now	some of area/population (10-49%)	no or imperceptible deterioration	low

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90%) covered by appropriate conservation designation	A management plan exists but it is out of date or not comprehensive	Some limited conservation initiatives are in place	medium

Year	Protected Area	Designation	% overlap with IBA
2006	Musambwa islands	Ramsar Site, Wetland of International Importance	100

The Local Conservation Group(s) listed below are working to conserve this IBA.

Name	Year formed
Musambwa Islands Joint Conservation Organisation (MIJCO)	1998

For more information on BirdLife's work with Local Conservation Groups, please click here.

Habitat1	Habitat detail	% of IBA
Rocky areas (eg. inland cliffs, mountain peaks)		100

1. IUCN Habitat classification.

Land use	% of IBA
fisheries/aquaculture	-
urban/industrial/transport	-
other	-

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Recommended citation
BirdLife International (2024) Important Bird Area factsheet: Musambwa islands (Uganda). Downloaded from https://datazone.birdlife.org/site/factsheet/musambwa-islands-iba-uganda on 22/11/2024.