Swain's Atoll (American Samoa) - BirdLife IBA factsheet

Swain's Atoll

Current view: Data table and detailed info

IBA Justification

The site was identified as important in 2012 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
Gygis alba	NR	breeding	1966	3,000 individuals	A4i

1. The current IUCN Red List category. The category at the time of the IBA criteria assessment (2012) may differ.

IBA Conservation

Ideally the conservation status of the IBA will have been checked regularly since the site was first identified in 2012. The most recent assessment (2012) is shown below.

IBA conservation assessment
Year of assessment	State	Pressure	Response
2012	not assessed	medium	negligible
Whole site assessed?	State assessed by	Accuracy of information
yes	population	medium

State (condition of the trigger species' populations)
Species	Reference	Actual	Units	% remaining	Result
Gygis alba	3,000	3,000	individuals	100	not assessed

Pressure (threats to the trigger species and/or their habitats)
Threat	Timing	Scope	Severity	Result
Climate change and severe weather	likely in long term (beyond 4 years)	whole area/population (>90%)	slow but significant deterioration	medium
Invasive and other problematic species and genes	happening now	whole area/population (>90%)	no or imperceptible deterioration	low
Biological resource use	happening now	some of area/population (10-49%)	no or imperceptible deterioration	low

Response (conservation actions taken for the trigger species and/or their habitats)
Protected areas	Management plan	Other action	Result
Little/none of site covered (<10%)	No management planning has taken place	Very little or no conservation action taking place	negligible

IBA Protection

Year	Protected Area	Designation	% overlap with IBA
1986	National Marine Sanctuary of American Samoa	National Marine Sanctuary	9

Habitats

Habitat¹	Habitat detail	% of IBA
Artificial/Terrestrial	Coconut plantations	major (>10)
Forest	Beach and atoll forest	major (>10)
Marine Coastal/Supratidal		major (>10)
Marine Neritic		major (>10)
Marine Intertidal		minor (<10)

1. IUCN Habitat classification.

Land use

Land use	% of IBA
not utilised	major (>10)

Land ownership

The customary owners of Swain's Island were the Tokelauans of Fakaofo. The island came into private ownership in 1856, when the coconut plantations were established, and remains a private estate owned by the Jennings family. The island is a sovereign (flag) possession of the U.S.A. (Volk 1993).

Recommended citation
BirdLife International (2024) Important Bird Area factsheet: Swain's Atoll (American Samoa). Downloaded from https://datazone.birdlife.org/site/factsheet/swains-atoll-iba-american-samoa on 23/11/2024.