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The site was identified as important in 2011 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
Barbary Partridge Alectoris barbara	LC	resident	2009	15-30 breeding pairs	B2, C2
Cory's Shearwater Calonectris borealis	LC	breeding	2007	max 300 breeding pairs	B2

1. The current IUCN Red List category. The category at the time of the IBA criteria assessment (2011) may differ.

Ideally the conservation status of the IBA will have been checked regularly since the site was first identified in 2011. The most recent assessment (2008) is shown below.

State (condition of the trigger species' populations)
Species	Reference	Actual	Units	% remaining	Result
Barbary Partridge Alectoris barbara	6	6	breeding pairs	100	favourable
Plain Swift Apus unicolor	50	50	breeding pairs	100	favourable
Calonectris diomedea	60	60	breeding pairs	100	favourable
Burhinus oedicnemus	10	10	breeding pairs	100	favourable
Common Kestrel Falco tinnunculus	10	10	breeding pairs	100	favourable
Lanius excubitor	13	13	breeding pairs	100	favourable
Spectacled Warbler Curruca conspicillata	30	30	breeding pairs	100	favourable
Berthelot's Pipit Anthus berthelotii	50	50	breeding pairs	100	favourable
Trumpeter Finch Bucanetes githagineus	30	30	breeding pairs	100	favourable

Pressure (threats to the trigger species and/or their habitats)
Threat	Timing	Scope	Severity	Result
Residential and commercial development	happening now	some of area/population (10-49%)	moderate to rapid deterioration	high
Transportation and service corridors	happening now	some of area/population (10-49%)	moderate to rapid deterioration	high
Biological resource use	happening now	some of area/population (10-49%)	moderate to rapid deterioration	high
Invasive and other problematic species and genes	happening now	majority/most of area/population (50-90%)	moderate to rapid deterioration	high
Pollution	happening now	some of area/population (10-49%)	moderate to rapid deterioration	high
Agricultural expansion and intensification	happening now	some of area/population (10-49%)	slow but significant deterioration	medium
Climate change and severe weather	likely in long term (beyond 4 years)	some of area/population (10-49%)	slow but significant deterioration	medium
Energy production and mining	happening now	small area/few individuals (<10%)	slow but significant deterioration	low
Human intrusions and disturbance	happening now	small area/few individuals (<10%)	slow but significant deterioration	low

Response (conservation actions taken for the trigger species and/or their habitats)
Protected areas	Management plan	Other action	Result
Most of site (50-90%) covered (including the most critical parts for important bird species)	A management plan exists but it is out of date or not comprehensive	Some limited conservation initiatives are in place	low

Year	Protected Area	Designation	% overlap with IBA
1994	Montaña de Guaza	Monumento Natural	47
1994	Malpaís de La Rasca	Reserva Natural Especial	21
1994	Montaña de Guaza	Natural Monument	49
1994	Malpaís de la Rasca	Special Nature Reserve	21
1996	Malpaís de la Rasca	Site of Community Importance (Habitats Directive)	20
2006	Rasca y Guaza	Special Protection Area (Birds Directive)	67

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

Name	Year formed
Ayuntamiento de Arona	0
Centro de Recuperación de Fauna Silvestre (Cabildo)	0
Oficina Voluntariado Ambiental (Cabildo)	0

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

Habitat1	Habitat detail	% of IBA
Desert	Semidesert	26
Artificial/Terrestrial	Arable land	-
Grassland	Steppes and dry calcareous grassland	-
Marine Coastal/Supratidal		-
Marine Intertidal		-
Rocky areas (eg. inland cliffs, mountain peaks)	Inland cliffs	-
Shrubland		-

1. IUCN Habitat classification.

Land use	% of IBA
agriculture	26
tourism/recreation	-

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Recommended citation
BirdLife International (2024) Important Bird Area factsheet: Rasca lava fields-Guaza mountain-Las Mesas plain (Spain). Downloaded from https://datazone.birdlife.org/site/factsheet/rasca-lava-fields-guaza-mountain-las-mesas-plain-iba-spain on 23/11/2024.