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The site was identified as internationally important for bird conservation in 2004 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
Kentish Plover Charadrius alexandrinus	LC	passage (2003)	present	A4i
Whimbrel Numenius phaeopus	LC	passage (2003)	present	A4i
Grey-tailed Tattler Tringa brevipes	LC	passage (2003)	present	A4i
Saunders's Gull Saundersilarus saundersi	VU	winter (2003)	present	A1, A4i

Ideally the conservation status of the IBA will have been checked regularly since the site was first identified in 2004. The most recent assessment (2015) is shown below.

State (condition of the key species' habitats)
Habitat	Quantity (% remaining)	Quality (% carrying capacity)	Result
Marine Intertidal	good (>90%)	poor (40–69%)	unfavourable

Pressure (threats to the key species and/or their habitats)
Threat	Timing	Scope	Severity	Result
Transportation and service corridors	likely in long term (beyond 4 years)	few individ­uals/small area (<10%)	slow deteri­oration (1–10% over 3 gener­ations)	low

Response (conservation actions taken for the key species and/or their habitats)
Designation	Planning	Action	Result
Little/none of site covered (<10%)	No manage­ment planning has taken place	Some limited conservation initiatives are in place	very low

Year	Protected Area	Designation (management category)	% coverage of IBA
2003	Common fishery right area(Fukuoka)	共同漁業権区域 (VI)	83

Habitat	% of IBA	Habitat detail
Marine Intertidal	major (>10)
Marine Neritic	major (>10)

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Recommended citation
BirdLife International (2025) Important Bird Area factsheet: Sone tidal flat (Japan). Downloaded from https://datazone.birdlife.org/site/factsheet/sone-tidal-flat-iba-japan on 13/01/2025.