Current view: Text account
Site description (2007 baseline):
Site location and context
The proposed IBA is located in the central part of Saipan Island. The area includes the central Mount Topachau, which runs down the center of the island, Lake Susupe and associated wetlands, and the Kagman area and Forbidden Island. Parts of the Kagman area are protected as a Conservation Area and Lake Susupe is a Limited Take area.
The Tapochau-Susupe-Kagman IBA includes a number of areas with habitats important to critical bird species. The Kagman area and adjacent Forbidden Island are home to established populations of Micronesian Megapodes (Marshall pers. comm.), White-throated Ground-Doves, and Mariana Fruit-Doves; as well as the island’s largest population of Golden White-Eyes. Part of the Kagman area is protected by law as the Kagman Wildlife Conservation Area (Schroer, 2007). Lake Susupe, which is also regulated as a Limited Take Zone by CNMI law, is included both for its value as a wetland (and home for Mariana Common Moorhens) and because it is home to large numbers of Nightingale Reed Warblers. Mount Tapochau (surveyed as part of the Garapan area) is home to the bulk of the current population of Mariana Swiftlets, in addition to Saipan’s other critical species.
Pressure/threats to key biodiversity
There have been over 60 confirmed records of the Brown Treesnake on Saipan (Campbell, 2004), which may be already established on the island. Craig (1999) wrote that the Brown Treesnake had successfully been established in Saipan in the 1990s, posing an immediate threat to all Golden White-Eyes on Saipan and “dooming” them to extinction. However, the current status of the Brown Treesnake on Saipan is unclear, although many biologists believe that an initial population is in the initial stages of establishment (Wiles, pers. comm.). Saipan is the administrative and commercial centre for the CNMI, and has been heavily impacted by man. Further introduced species and additional forest degradation or loss may pose additional threats. Rats and monitor lizards are current threats.
Recommended citation
BirdLife International (2024) Important Bird Area factsheet: Topachau-Susupe-Kagman (Northern Mariana Islands (to USA)). Downloaded from
https://datazone.birdlife.org/site/factsheet/topachau-susupe-kagman-iba-northern-mariana-islands-(to-usa) on 23/11/2024.
