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The site was identified as internationally important for bird conservation in 2002 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 List	Season (year/s of estimate)	Size	IBA criteria
Red-crested Pochard Netta rufina	LC	winter (1996)	450–1,015 unknown	A4i, B1i, C3
Purple Swamphen Porphyrio porphyrio	LC	resident (2001)	2–3 pairs	C6
Common Little Bittern Ixobrychus minutus	LC	breeding (2001)	frequent	C6
Purple Heron Ardea purpurea	LC	breeding (2000)	9–26 pairs	B2, C6
Black-winged Stilt Himantopus himantopus	LC	resident (2001)	10–20 pairs	C6
Little Tern Sternula albifrons	LC	breeding (2002)	1–35 pairs	C6
Western Marsh-harrier Circus aeruginosus	LC	breeding (1999)	1–2 pairs	C6
Western Marsh-harrier Circus aeruginosus	LC	winter (1999)	12–22 birds	C6

Ideally the conservation status of the IBA will have been checked regularly since the site was first identified in 2002. The most recent assessment (2005) is shown below.

Pressure (threats to the trigger species and/or their habitats)
Threat	Timing	Scope	Severity	Result
Transportation and service corridors	happe­ning now	few indivi­duals/small area (<10%)	rapid decline (>30% over 3 gener­ations)	low

Response (conservation actions taken for the trigger species and/or their habitats)
Designation	Planning	Action	Result
Not assessed	Not assessed	Not assessed	not assessed

Year	Protected Area	Designation (management category)	% coverage of IBA
2000	Lagoas de Santo André e da Sancha	Reserva Natural (IV)	83
2000	Reserva Natural das Lagoas de Santo André e Sancha	Natural Reserve (-)	100

Habitat	% of IBA	Habitat detail
Marine Coastal/Supratidal	major (>10)
Marine Intertidal	major (>10)
Artificial/Terrestrial	-	Forestry plantations
Shrubland	-	Sclerophyllous scrub, garrigue and maquis

Land use	% of IBA
agriculture	-
fisheries/aquaculture	-
tourism/recreation	-
urban/industrial/transport	-
water management	-

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Recommended citation
BirdLife International (2024) Important Bird Area factsheet: Santo André and Sancha lagoons (Portugal). Downloaded from https://datazone.birdlife.org/site/factsheet/santo-andré-and-sancha-lagoons-iba-portugal on 24/12/2024.