Sandwich Harbour (Namibia) - BirdLife IBA factsheet

NA014

Sandwich Harbour

Current view: Data table and detailed info

IBA Justification

The site was identified as important in 1998 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
Greater Flamingo Phoenicopterus roseus	LC	non-breeding	-	2,480-11,900 individuals	A4i
Lesser Flamingo Phoeniconaias minor	NT	non-breeding	-	common	A1
Cape Cormorant Phalacrocorax capensis	EN	non-breeding	-	4,230-25,300 individuals	A1, A4i
African Oystercatcher Haematopus moquini	LC	non-breeding	-	20-90 individuals	A1, A4i
Pied Avocet Recurvirostra avosetta	LC	non-breeding	-	120-940 individuals	A4i
White-fronted Plover Charadrius marginatus	LC	non-breeding	-	440-2,540 individuals	A4i
Chestnut-banded Plover Charadrius pallidus	LC	non-breeding	-	170-5,590 individuals	A4i
Ruddy Turnstone Arenaria interpres	NT	winter	-	402-2,260 individuals	A4i
Curlew Sandpiper Calidris ferruginea	VU	winter	-	3,580-43,680 individuals	A4i
Sanderling Calidris alba	LC	winter	-	1,630-14,160 individuals	A4i
Little Stint Calidris minuta	LC	winter	-	3,590-30,480 individuals	A4i
Kelp Gull Larus dominicanus	LC	non-breeding	-	280-3,200 individuals	A4i
Damara Tern Sternula balaenarum	LC	non-breeding	-	50-300 individuals	A1, A4i
Caspian Tern Hydroprogne caspia	LC	non-breeding	-	30-168 individuals	A4i
Common Tern Sterna hirundo	LC	winter	-	4,610-42,000 individuals	A4i
Sandwich Tern Thalasseus sandvicensis	LC	winter	-	200-3,660 individuals	A4i
Greater Crested Tern Thalasseus bergii	LC	non-breeding	-	80-820 individuals	A4i
A4iii Species group - waterbirds	n/a	non-breeding	-	50,000-99,999 individuals	A4iii

1. The current IUCN Red List category. The category at the time of the IBA criteria assessment (1998) may differ.

IBA Conservation

Ideally the conservation status of the IBA will have been checked regularly since the site was first identified in 1998. The most recent assessment (2001) is shown below.

IBA conservation assessment
Year of assessment	State	Pressure	Response
2001	not assessed	high	not assessed
Whole site assessed?	State assessed by	Accuracy of information
yes	unset	good

Pressure (threats to the trigger species and/or their habitats)
Threat	Timing	Scope	Severity	Result
Human intrusions and disturbance	happening now	majority/most of area/population (50-90%)	slow but significant deterioration	high

Response (conservation actions taken for the trigger species and/or their habitats)
Protected areas	Management plan	Other action	Result
Not assessed	Not assessed	Not assessed	not assessed

IBA Protection

Year	Protected Area	Designation	% overlap with IBA
1986	Namib-Naukluft	National Park	100
1995	Sandwich Harbour	Ramsar Site, Wetland of International Importance	100
2013	Namib Sand Sea	World Heritage Site (natural or mixed)	93

Habitats

Habitat¹	Habitat detail	% of IBA
Grassland		60
Marine Intertidal		31
Marine Coastal/Supratidal		8

1. IUCN Habitat classification.

Land use

Land use	% of IBA
nature conservation and research	-
tourism/recreation	-

Recommended citation
BirdLife International (2024) Important Bird Area factsheet: Sandwich Harbour (Namibia). Downloaded from https://datazone.birdlife.org/site/factsheet/sandwich-harbour-iba-namibia on 23/11/2024.