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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 IBA criteria.

Populations meeting IBA criteria ('key species') at the site:

Species	Red List	Season (year/s of estimate)	Size	IBA criteria
Manx Shearwater Puffinus puffinus	LC	breeding (2001)	120,000 breeding pairs	A4ii, B1ii, B2, C3
A4iii Species group - seabirds	n/a	breeding (2000–2001)	125,323 breeding pairs	A4iii, C4

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 key species' populations)
Species	Actual vs Reference (units)	% remaining	Result
Manx Shearwater Puffinus puffinus	120,000 / 63,000 (breeding pairs)	100	favourable
Manx Shearwater Puffinus puffinus	125,323 / 66,223 (breeding pairs)	100	favourable

Pressure (threats to the key species and/or their habitats)
Threat	Timing	Scope	Severity	Result
Invasive and other problematic species and genes	happen­ing now	whole popul­ation/area (>90%)	slow deteri­oration (1–10% over 3 gener­ations)	high

Response (conservation actions taken for the key species and/or their habitats)
Designation	Planning	Action	Result
Whole area of site (>90%) covered by appropriate conservation designation	A manage­ment plan exists, but it is out of date or not compre­hensive	Substantive conservation measures are being implemented, but these are not comprehensive and are limited by resources and capacity	medium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
1957	Rum	National Nature Reserve (II)	100
1971	Rum	Site of Special Scientific Interest (UK) (IV)	100
2011	Rum	Marine Protected Area (OSPAR) (UA)	3
2014	Small Isles	Marine Protected Area (OSPAR) (UA)	2

Habitat	% of IBA	Habitat detail
Forest	-	Broadleaved deciduous woodland
Grassland	-	Steppes and dry calcareous grassland
Marine Coastal/Supratidal	-
Marine Intertidal	-
Shrubland	-	Heathland

Land use	% of IBA
nature conservation and research	100

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Recommended citation
BirdLife International (2025) Important Bird Area factsheet: Rum (United Kingdom). Downloaded from https://datazone.birdlife.org/site/factsheet/rum-iba-united-kingdom on 08/01/2025.