Data Zone
Country/territory: Norway
IBA criteria met: A4i, A4ii, A4iii, B1i, B1ii, B2, B3 (2014)
For more information about IBA criteria, please click here
Area: 15,980 ha
| IBA conservation status | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Year of assessment (most recent) | State (condition) | Pressure (threat) | Response (action) |
| 2019 | not assessed | medium | not assessed |
| For more information about IBA monitoring, please click here | |||
Site description (2000 baseline)
Røst is an archipelago consisting of more than 400 islands. The most important seabird colonies are on Vedøy, Storfjellet, Ellefsnyken, Trenyken and Hernyken. These are steep, grass-covered islands (92-259 m high). The island of Røstlandet is inhabited, with numerous ponds, saltmarshes and mires.
Key biodiversity
The islands of Røst are famous for one of Europe's largest colonies of Fratercula arctica. However, the species has declined severely in abundance during the last 30 years, due to a collapse in the food supply: in the late 1960s the population was estimated as twice as large as it is now. Other breeding seabirds include Hydrobates pelagicus and Oceanodroma leucorhoa (the largest colonies in Norway), Alca torda, Phalacrocorax aristotelis, Uria aalge (abundance has decreased by 20-30% since the early 1980s), Fulmarus glacialis and Rissa tridactyla (c.17,500 pairs in 1988; decrease in numbers by more than 30% between 1993 and 1994). Species of global conservation concern that do not meet IBA criteria: Haliaeetus albicilla (common).
Recommended citation
BirdLife International (2024) Important Bird Area factsheet: Røst (Norway). Downloaded from
https://datazone.birdlife.org/site/factsheet/røst-iba-norway on 05/12/2024.