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The site was identified as important in 2006 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
Black Noddy Anous minutus	LC	breeding	2003	28,000 breeding pairs	A4i
A4iii Species group - waterbirds	n/a	-	2003	28,000 breeding pairs	A4iii

1. The current IUCN Red List category. The category at the time of the IBA criteria assessment (2006) may differ.

Ideally the conservation status of the IBA will have been checked regularly since the site was first identified in 2006. The most recent assessment (2019) is shown below.

State (condition of the trigger species' habitats)
Habitat	Quantity (% remaining)	Quality (% carrying capacity)	Result
Forest	very poor (< 40%)	poor (40-69%)	very unfavourable
Marine Intertidal	good (> 90%)	good (> 90%)	favourable
Marine Coastal/Supratidal	good (> 90%)	good (> 90%)	favourable

Pressure (threats to the trigger species and/or their habitats)
Threat	Timing	Scope	Severity	Result
Climate change and severe weather	likely in short term (within 4 years)	whole area/population (>90%)	moderate to rapid deterioration	high
Invasive and other problematic species and genes	past (and unlikely to return) and no longer limiting	whole area/population (>90%)	slow but significant deterioration	low
Human intrusions and disturbance	happening now	small area/few individuals (<10%)	no or imperceptible deterioration	low

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	A comprehensive and appropriate management plan exists that aims to maintain or improve the populations of qualifying bird species	Substantive conservation measures are being implemented but these are not comprehensive and are limited by resources and capacity	not assessed

Year	Protected Area	Designation	% overlap with IBA
1990	Vatu-i-ra	Marine Protected Area - Locally Managed Marine Area (LMMA)	100
2006	Nakorotubu	Locally Managed Marine Area	100

Habitat1	Habitat detail	% of IBA
Forest	Dry evergreen forest (tropical)	major (>10)
Marine Neritic		major (>10)
Marine Coastal/Supratidal		minor (<10)
Marine Intertidal		minor (<10)

1. IUCN Habitat classification.

Land use	% of IBA
fisheries/aquaculture	minor (<10)
tourism/recreation	minor (<10)
not utilised	minor (<10)
nature conservation and research	minor (<10)

The island is uninhabited but is regularly visited by fishers and occasional tourists on dive trips. The island is under the Native Tenure and is owned by the Nagilogilo clan.

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Recommended citation
BirdLife International (2024) Important Bird Area factsheet: Vatu-i-Ra (Fiji). Downloaded from https://datazone.birdlife.org/site/factsheet/vatu-i-ra-iba-fiji on 22/11/2024.