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Site description (2007 baseline):

Area extending along coast from Westpunt and Noordpunt at northern end of island around northern tip and south along coast through Playa Grandi and ending near Hato Airport. At northern end of island extending inland from the 100 hectare coastal Shete Boka Park. to include the 2000 hectare Christoffel Park,

Major Least Tern nesting area with at least 514 breeding birds documented in 2002 (over 10% of regional population). Brown Booby roosts of unknown size at several locations within IBA and just offshore are important feeding areas for Least Terns and Brown Booby and likely other seabirds. Inland portion of Christoffel Park is one of largest unfragmented scrub habitat remaining on island with significant numbers of characteristic species including Curaçao subspecies of Brown-throated Parakeet (was former breeding area for now-extirpated Yellow-shouldered Amazon), Black-whiskered Vireo, Ruby-topaz Hummingbird, Caribbean Elaenia, Northern Scrub-Flycatcher, Yellow Oriole, Scaly-naped Pigeon, Bare-eyed Pigeon, and a few White-tailed Hawks. The rare endemic Curaçao subspecies of Barn Owl nests along the limestone escarpments near Hato and the rare endemic subspecies of Grasshopper Sparrow is known historically from the Hato Plains. Ten of the eleven Leeward Dutch Antilles endemic subspecies of birds occurring on Curaçao also breed in the Christoffel Park and the proposed IBA. The area is further visited annually by large flocks of neotropical migrants among which warblers, swallows and many shore birds, the Merlin and the Osprey. Several natural springs and manmade waterholes are frequented by native and migrant birds.

Non-bird biodiversity: The Christoffel Park is home to no less than 50 rare plants that are found almost only within the park boundaries, and 26 other more widely distributed rare plant species (Debrot et al. 1992). The Christoffel Park is further home to seven rare mammal species including the rare mouse Calomys hummelincki and the Curaçao white-tailed deer, Odocoileus virginianus curassavica. The Shete Boka Park forms a nesting area for three species of endangerd sea turtles (Debrot and Pors 1995). The Hato-Boka Ascension section is home to no less than 55 species that are either endemic to the Leeward Dutch Antilles or which have a very limited geographical distribution outside of this island group (Debrot 2003)

This area amounts to about 6000 hectares of coastal limestone terraces and inland hills of the knip formation with evergreen vegetations, lagoons with seagrass and mangroves and dry deciduous vegetations typical of the volcanic sections of the island. Beers et al (1997) describe no less than 24 distinct ecological vegetation units for this area, ranging from the best surviving beach vegetations of the island to high quality dry-evergreen limestone vegetations and the least disturbed and speciose Bromelia- Schomburgkia hill country. The vegetation of the silica-rich soils of the inland Knip geological formation, known as the Bromelia-Schomburgkia vegetation type, is practically limited to this part of the island and the Christoffel Park in particular. Common trees in this vegetation are the rare and endemic trees Myrcia curassavica and Mayteneus versluysii, as well as other trees that are rare elswhere on the island such as Tabebuia billbergii, Erythroxylum havanens, Eugenai procera, Vitex compressa and Guapira fragrans. The ground layer of these forests are covered by extensive mats of Bromelia humilis. Bromeliad ground cover is characteristic of well-developed dry deciduous West Indian woodlands but these areas have largely been lost to agriculture throughout the region. Bromeliads collect rainwater and dew in their rosettes and greatly extend the period of water availability to both insects and birds under arid conditions. The area further possesses a rare relict vegetation of ground-growing Tillandsia’s and orchids (Debrot and de Freitas, 1993) The vegetations of the volcanic areas are largely deciduous vegetations in which trees such as Bursera bonairiensis, Bourreria succulenta, Caesalpinia coriaria, Cordia alba, Hematoxylon brasiletto, Randia aculeata and Malpighia glabra are common. These vegetations reach their peak in terms of foliage, flowers and fruits during and shortly after the rainy season, and are visited by flocks of Bare-eyed pigeon, Columba corensis, which relish the ripe berries of Bourreria succulenta and bushes such as Cordia globosa and Cordia curassavica. In contrast, the vegetations of calcareous limestone formations are largely evergreen with such trees as Bumelia obovata, Capparis odoratissima, Casearia tremulans, Coccoloba swartzii, Condalia henriquezii, Guayacum sanctum, Jacquinia armillaris and Metopium brownei. Many of these species bear fruit and flowers after the rainy season or even during the dry season in the months of June, July and August. The whole area is legally designated as conservation area in the Curaçao island land-use plan, ratified by government in 1997.

Greatest threats, especially to nesting terns, are from disturbance from humans and disturbance and predation from free-running dogs and feral cats. There has been extensive damage to dry scrub habitat from free-ranging goats but within Christoffel National Park there has been extensive work to rid the park of goats and vegetation recovery is evident. Elsewhere, such as in the Hato area, illegal livestock husbandry has been on the rise, as has illegal dumping, and actual management is urgently needed (Debrot 2003). In 1999 the Christoffel Park was expanded with about 240 hectares of the Jeremi plantation to encompass examples of rare vegetation types and rare plants as well as natural springs that are often extensively used by both resident and migrant birds. Additional areas have been identified for future inclusion within the park.

Extensive research on all aspects of the ecology, biology and geology of this area have been conducted throughout the course of more than 50 years of scientific research by CARMABI staff and visiting scientists. For the Hato area alone Debrot (2003) compiled a bibliography of more than 100 scientific studies and reports documenting the biodiversity and conservation value of a 1400 hectare section stretching from Hato westwards to Boka Ascension

Included in boundaries of IBA are Shete Boka National Park and Christoffel National Park, which are managed by the Carmabi Foundation. The rest of the area has been legally designated as protected conservation area by island ordinance (1997) but remains unmanaged.

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Recommended citation
BirdLife International (2024) Important Bird Area factsheet: North-east Curaçao parks and coast, Curaçao (Curaçao (to Netherlands)). Downloaded from https://datazone.birdlife.org/site/factsheet/north-east-curaçao-parks-and-coast-curaçao-iba-curaçao-(to-netherlands) on 23/12/2024.