Swain Reefs (Australia) IBA | Details | BirdLife International

Swain Reefs

Current view: Data table and detailed info

IBA Justification

The site was identified as internationally important for bird conservation in 2009 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
Roseate Tern Sterna dougallii	LC	resident (-)	25,000 birds	A4i

IBA Conservation

Ideally the conservation status of the IBA will have been checked regularly since the site was first identified in 2009. The most recent assessment (2018) is shown below.

IBA conservation assessment
Year of assessment	State	Pressure	Response
2018	not assessed	high	not assessed
Whole site assessed?	State assessed by	Accuracy of information
yes	unset	-

Pressure (threats to the trigger species and/or their habitats)
Threat	Timing	Scope	Severity	Result
Climate change and severe weather	likely in long term (>4 years)	whole of population/area (>90%)	moderate decline (10–30% over 3 generations)	high
Human intrusions and disturbance	happening now	some of population/area (10–49%)	no or slight decline (<1% 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

IBA Protection

Year	Protected Area	Designation (management category)	% coverage of IBA
1981	Great Barrier Reef	World Heritage Site (natural or mixed) (UA)	100
2004	Great Barrier Reef	Marine Park (II)	63
2004	Great Barrier Reef Coast	Marine Park (II)	63
2004	Great Barrier Reef	Marine Park (II)	30
2004	Great Barrier Reef Coast	Marine Park (II)	30
2004	Great Barrier Reef	Marine Park (II)	4
2004	Great Barrier Reef Coast	Marine Park (II)	4
2005	Swain Reefs	National Park (II)	100

Habitats

Habitat	% of IBA	Habitat detail
Marine Coastal/Supratidal	100

Land use

Land use	% of IBA
nature conservation and research	100

Land ownership

Australian Federal Government with management the responsibility of GBRMPA.

Recommended citation
BirdLife International (2024) Important Bird Area factsheet: Swain Reefs (Australia). Downloaded from https://datazone.birdlife.org/site/factsheet/swain-reefs-iba-australia on 26/12/2024.