Current view: Text account
Site description (2001 baseline):
Site location and context
The site covers the north-eastern part of the island, north of a line linking Long Point in the south-east and Banks Point in the north-west, via Hutt’s Gate in the interior, together with Shore Island (68 m), George Island (32 m) and all other offshore rocks. There are three vegetation zones. Below 350 m, c.25% of the area, the landscape is arid with large-scale erosion, dominated by
Suaeda,
Lantana and
Carpobrotus. This gives way, up to 500 m, to pasture and non-indigenous woodland dominated by
Pennisetum,
Cynodon and
Digitaria, with
Acacia and
Pinus. Above 500 m lies ‘moist’ and ‘semi-moist’ grassland, woodland (dominants include
Agrostis,
Pennisetum and
Stenotaphrum, with
Podocarpus,
Acacia and
Pinus), and flax
Phormium tenax plantations. The coast is dominated by imposing sea cliffs, rising mainly to between 300 m and 570 m. The Barn (616 m), in the far north-east, is the highest point, but the elevation is almost the same at Hutt’s Gate (609 m). Shore Island is a large, steep basaltic stack, whereas George Island, also basaltic, is shoe-shaped, less steep, its ‘toe’ pointing into the south-easterly swell. Encircled by breakers, with landing difficult, both islets are barren, with heavy guano deposits at upper levels. Included are eight important
Charadrius sanctaehelenae breeding sites, Sane Valley, Deadwood Plain (the main site), Longwood Farm, Bottomwoods, Horse Point Plain, Prosperous Bay North, Prosperous Bay Plain and Upper Prosperous Bay. Important fossil sites are at Sugarloaf, Flagstaff Hill, Prosperous Bay and Dry Gut.
See Box and Table 2 for key species. Although as many as 48 bird taxa have been recorded, there are now only eight known species of breeding seabirds and 11 species of resident landbirds, i.e.
Oceanodroma castro,
Phaethon aethereus,
Sula dactylatra,
S. leucogaster,
Alectoris chukar,
Phasianus colchicus,
Gallinula chloropus,
Charadrius sanctaehelenae,
Sterna fuscata,
Anous stolidus,
A. minutus,
Gygis alba,
Columba livia,
Geopelia striata,
Acridotheres tristis,
Foudia madagascariensis,
Padda oryzivora,
Estrilda astrild and
Serinus flaviventris.
Bulweria bulwerii may also breed. Shore Island has the highest seabird breeding diversity in St Helena, with at least seven species, possibly eight. There are also records from the site of non-breeding visitors, and vagrants with fewer than five records. The former include
Diomedea exulans,
Pterodroma mollis,
Oceanites oceanicus,
Fregetta grallaria,
Fregata sp.,
Ardea cinerea,
Bubulcus ibis,
Ciconia ciconia,
Calidris alba,
Stercorarius parasiticus and
Sterna paradisaea. The site requires further study.
Non-bird biodiversity: Of particular importance are the endemic invertebrates, of which the best known are Labidura herculeana (CR) and Aplothorax burchelli (CR), known alive only from the area of Horse Point Plain, and last seen in the mid-1960s. Both may well be extinct. This highlights the extreme importance of habitat protection of the northern plains areas.
Pressure/threats to key biodiversity
Within the IBA is the eastern end (63 ha) of Diana’s Peak National Park, proclaimed in 1995, which contains the largest area of what remains of the native tree-fern thicket and cabbage-tree woodland, but which is poor in birds. Also included is Prosperous Bay Plain which is protected as a ‘national forest’ (c.300 ha), and the new Millennium Forest of endemic gumwoods
Commidendrum robustum (c
.4,000 trees), planted on Horse Point Plain in 2000 and to be extended. Strict protection of all bird species, with the possible exception of
Acridotheres tristis, is provided for under the St Helena Birds Protection Ordinance of 1996. Species regarded as ‘game’, i.e.
Alectoris chukar and
Phasianus colchicus, are subject to the appropriate game laws. With the fall in numbers of
Charadrius sanctaehelenae further conservation measures are needed.
Recommended citation
BirdLife International (2024) Important Bird Area factsheet: North-east St Helena (St Helena (to UK)). Downloaded from
https://datazone.birdlife.org/site/factsheet/north-east-st-helena-iba-st-helena-(to-uk) on 23/11/2024.
