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

The site was identified as internationally important for bird conservation 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 List	Season (year/s of estimate)	Size	IBA criteria
Arctic Tern Sterna paradisaea	LC	breeding (2007)	800 pairs	C6
Black Guillemot Cepphus grylle	LC	breeding (2007)	294 birds	B1ii, B2, C3

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.

State (condition of the trigger species' populations)
Species	Actual vs Reference (units)	% remaining	Result
Arctic Tern Sterna paradisaea	800 / 1,690 (pairs)	48	poor
Black Guillemot Cepphus grylle	294 / 380 (birds)	78	moderate

Pressure (threats to the trigger species and/or their habitats)
Threat	Timing	Scope	Severity	Result
Climate change and severe weather	happe­ning now	whole of popul­ation/area (>90%)	moderate decline (10–30% over 3 gener­ations)	very high

Response (conservation actions taken for the trigger species and/or their habitats)
Designation	Planning	Action	Result
Whole area (>90%) covered by appropriate conservation designation	A management plan exists, but it is out of date or not compre­hensive	Substantive conservation measures are being implemented, but these are not compre­hensive and are limited by resources and capacity	medium

Year	Protected Area	Designation (management category)	% coverage of IBA
-	North Hill	RSPB Reserve (-)	82
1973	North Hill	Site of Special Scientific Interest (UK) (IV)	84
1988	Holm of Papa Westray	Site of Special Scientific Interest (UK) (IV)	20
1996	North Hill	Nature Reserve (IV)	72
2014	Papa Westray	Marine Protected Area (OSPAR) (UA)	20

Habitat	% of IBA	Habitat detail
Grassland	-
Marine Coastal/Supratidal	-
Shrubland	-	Heathland
Wetlands (inland)	-	Standing freshwater

Land use	% of IBA
agriculture	-
nature conservation and research	-

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Recommended citation
BirdLife International (2024) Important Bird Area factsheet: Papa Westray (North Hill and Holm) (United Kingdom). Downloaded from https://datazone.birdlife.org/site/factsheet/papa-westray-(north-hill-and-holm)-iba-united-kingdom on 23/12/2024.