Current view: Text account
Site description (2008 baseline):
Site location and context
IBA Santiaguito Volcano is located in the Guatemalan volcanic belt, bordered in the West by IBA Tacana-Tajumulco and in the East by IBA Atitlan. The site includes volcano Santiaguito, one of Guatemala’s active volcanoes, and the major volcanoes Santa María, Santiaguito, Chicabal, and Santo Tomás. The site ranges in altitude from 500 to 3600 m.
IBA Santiaguito Volcano is important for range-restricted species of the North Central American Highlands (16 species recorded) and of the North Central American Pacific Slope (2 species), and for biome-restricted species of the Madrean Highlands (36 species) and the Pacific Arid Slope (6 species). The site supports populations of four globally threatened species: Highland and Horned Guan (
Penelopina nigra and
Oreophasis derbianus), Pink-headed Warbler (
Ergaticus versicolor), and Azure-rumped Tanager (
Tangara cabanisi), according to local bird inventories (Vannini 1989, Tenez 1997, 2005, Valle et al. 2000, González-García et al. 2001, 2006, Cooper 2003, Brooks & Gee 2006, Eisermann & Avendaño 2007).
Broadleaf and mixed Forest cover has been reduced to 27% of the IBA, 69% of the area is used for agriculture: 55% of the IBA is used for coffee plantations, 8% for corn fields, and 4% are covered by secondary growth scrub (MAGA 2006).
Pressure/threats to key biodiversity
About 150 years ago began the establishment of coffee plantations, which caused an extensive loss of habitat for species like Azure-rumped Tanager and Highland Guan, which are now considered threatened. Bird populations are threatened by management deficiencies in protected areas, an advancing agricultural border, illegal logging and hunting, and forest fires.
Conservation responses/actions for key biodiversity
Nearctic-Neotropical migratory birds have been studied by Vannini (1994) and Calvo & Blake (1998).
About 21% of the IBA are legally protected, including a National Park, five Regional Parks, protected zones of all volcano cones (Zona de Veda Definitiva), and six Private Nature Reserves (CONAP 2007).
Consejo Nacional de Areas Protegidas (CONAP) - Solola supported a workshop to identify IBAs in June 2006, hosted by Universidad del Valle (Altiplano) in Solola, and the Museum of Natural History Jorge Ibarra, hosted a workshop in Guatemala City in June 2006. Input of unpublished data and suggestions for the delimitation of the IBA were provided during these workshop by representatives of CONAP, Universidad del Valle de Guatemala - Altiplano, Universidad de San Carlos de Guatemala, Fundación para el Ecodesarrollo y la Conservación (FUNDAECO) – Huehuetenango; Ministerio de Agricultura, Ganadería y Alimentación de Guatemala (MAGA) - Solola, Cuerpo de Paz, Municipality of Tecpan, Autoridad para el Manejo Sustentable de la Cuenca del Lago Atitlán y su Entorno (AMSCLAE), and Los Tarrales Nature Reserve, and by Jason Berry of Conservation International – Washington D.C. during personal consultation. This first assessment of IBAs in Guatemala was conducted by Sociedad Guatemalteca de Ornitología and BirdLife International in the Americas.
Recommended citation
BirdLife International (2024) Important Bird Area factsheet: Santiaguito Volcano (Guatemala). Downloaded from
https://datazone.birdlife.org/site/factsheet/santiaguito-volcano-iba-guatemala on 23/12/2024.
