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The site was identified as important in 2004 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
Scopoli's Shearwater Calonectris diomedea	LC	breeding	1994	800-1,000 breeding pairs	C2, C6
Yelkouan Shearwater Puffinus yelkouan	VU	breeding	-	150-300 breeding pairs	C2, C6

1. The current IUCN Red List category. The category at the time of the IBA criteria assessment (2004) may differ.

Ideally the conservation status of the IBA will have been checked regularly since the site was first identified in 2004. The most recent assessment (2013) is shown below.

Pressure (threats to the trigger species and/or their habitats)
Threat	Timing	Scope	Severity	Result
Biological resource use	happening now	whole area/population (>90%)	moderate to rapid deterioration	very high
Residential and commercial development	likely in short term (within 4 years)	some of area/population (10-49%)	very rapid to severe deterioration	high
Invasive and other problematic species and genes	happening now	majority/most of area/population (50-90%)	slow but significant deterioration	high
Pollution	happening now	whole area/population (>90%)	slow but significant deterioration	high

Response (conservation actions taken for the trigger species and/or their habitats)
Protected areas	Management plan	Other action	Result
Whole area of site (>90%) covered by appropriate conservation designation	No management plan exists but the management planning process has begun	Very little or no conservation action taking place	low

Year	Protected Area	Designation	% overlap with IBA
1993	Ta'Cenc Cliffs	Nature Reserve	10
1994	L-inħawi fuq l-Għoljiet ta' Ċenċ, Għawdex	Santwarju ta' l-Għasafar	100
2004	Rdumijiet ta' Ghawdex: Ta' Cenc	Special Protection Area (Birds Directive)	100
2005	Ta' Ċenċ (Sannat, Għawdex)	Sit ta' Importanza Xjentifika	71
2007	Rdumijiet ta' Għawdex: Ta' Ċenċ	Żoni ta' Ħarsien Speċjali	100
2008	L-Inħawi ta' Ta' Ċenċ	Żoni Speċjali ta' Konservazzjoni - Importanza Internazzjonali	65
2008	L-Inhawi ta' Ta' Cenc	Site of Community Importance (Habitats Directive)	55
2016	Il-Baħar ta' madwar Għawdex	Żoni ta' Ħarsien Speċjali	6

Habitat1	Habitat detail	% of IBA
Shrubland	Sclerophyllous scrub, garrigue and maquis	100
Marine Coastal/Supratidal		-

1. IUCN Habitat classification.

Land use	% of IBA
not utilised	100

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Recommended citation
BirdLife International (2024) Important Bird Area factsheet: Ta'Cenc cliffs (Malta). Downloaded from https://datazone.birdlife.org/site/factsheet/tacenc-cliffs-iba-malta on 22/11/2024.