Tortoise Islands (Kazakhstan) IBA | Details

KZ117

Tortoise Islands

Current view: Data table and detailed info

IBA Justification

The site was identified as internationally important for bird conservation in 2007 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
Dalmatian Pelican Pelecanus crispus	NT	breeding (2002–2006)	16–18 pairs	A1
Great Cormorant Phalacrocorax carbo	LC	breeding (2002–2003)	1,000–1,200 pairs	A4i

IBA Conservation

Ideally the conservation status of the IBA will have been checked regularly since the site was first identified in 2007. The most recent assessment (2004) is shown below.

IBA conservation assessment
Year of assessment	State	Pressure	Response
2004	moderate	medium	not assessed
Whole site assessed?	State assessed by	Accuracy of information
no	habitat	medium

State (condition of the trigger species' habitats)
Habitat	Quantity (% remaining)	Quality (% carrying capacity)	Result
Grassland	moderate (70–90%)	good (>90%)	moderate
Shrubland	good (>90%)	good (>90%)	good
Wetlands (inland)	good (>90%)	good (>90%)	good
Rocky areas (eg. inland cliffs, mountain peaks)	good (>90%)	good (>90%)	good

Pressure (threats to the trigger species and/or their habitats)
Threat	Timing	Scope	Severity	Result
Biological resource use	happening now	some of population/area (10–49%)	slow decline (1–10% over 3 generations)	medium
Human intrusions and disturbance	happening now	few individuals/small area (<10%)	slow decline (1–10% 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

Habitats

Habitat	% of IBA	Habitat detail
Grassland	90	Steppes & dry calcareous
Wetlands (inland)	7	Standing fresh water; Water-fringe vegetation
Shrubland	2	Low bushes
Rocky areas (eg. inland cliffs, mountain peaks)	1	Scree, boulders & bare rocky areas

Land use

Land use	% of IBA
tourism/recreation	major (>10)

Recommended citation
BirdLife International (2024) Important Bird Area factsheet: Tortoise Islands (Kazakhstan). Downloaded from https://datazone.birdlife.org/site/factsheet/tortoise-islands-iba-kazakhstan on 23/12/2024.