River Shannon callows: Portumna-Athlone (Ireland)

IE131

River Shannon callows: Portumna-Athlone

Current view: Data table and detailed info

IBA Justification

The site was identified as important in 2009 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
Mute Swan Cygnus olor	LC	winter	2002-2006	66-528 individuals	B1i
Corncrake Crex crex	LC	breeding	2005-2007	9-23 breeding pairs	C6

1. The current IUCN Red List category. The category at the time of the IBA criteria assessment (2009) may differ.

IBA Conservation

Ideally the conservation status of the IBA will have been checked regularly since the site was first identified in 2009. The most recent assessment (2013) is shown below.

IBA conservation assessment
Year of assessment	State	Pressure	Response
2013	not assessed	very high	low
Whole site assessed?	State assessed by	Accuracy of information
yes	unset	unknown

Pressure (threats to the trigger species and/or their habitats)
Threat	Timing	Scope	Severity	Result
Climate change and severe weather	happening now	whole area/population (>90%)	very rapid to severe deterioration	very high

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)	No management planning has taken place	Very little or no conservation action taking place	low

IBA Protection

Year	Protected Area	Designation	% overlap with IBA
1996	Middle Shannon Callows SPA	Special Protection Area (Birds Directive)	100
2000	River Shannon Callows SAC	Site of Community Importance (Habitats Directive)	100

Habitats

Habitat¹	Habitat detail	% of IBA
Wetlands (inland)	Rivers and streams, Raised bogs, Water fringe vegetation	60
Grassland	Humid grasslands	40

1. IUCN Habitat classification.

Land use

Land use	% of IBA
nature conservation and research	100
agriculture	40
fisheries/aquaculture	40
water management	10

Recommended citation
BirdLife International (2024) Important Bird Area factsheet: River Shannon callows: Portumna-Athlone (Ireland). Downloaded from https://datazone.birdlife.org/site/factsheet/river-shannon-callows:-portumna-athlone-iba-ireland on 23/11/2024.