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The site was identified as internationally important for bird conservation in 2001 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
Greater Flamingo Phoenicopterus roseus	LC	winter (-)	600–7,000 birds	A4i
Red-necked Nightjar Caprimulgus ruficollis	NT	breeding (1999)	present	A3
Eurasian Spoonbill Platalea leucorodia	LC	winter (-)	200–1,000 birds	A4i
Eurasian Oystercatcher Haematopus ostralegus	NT	winter (-)	10,000–20,000 birds	A4i
Grey Plover Pluvialis squatarola	VU	winter (-)	1,000–32,500 birds	A4i
Common Ringed Plover Charadrius hiaticula	LC	winter (-)	3,000–10,000 birds	A4i
Kentish Plover Charadrius alexandrinus	LC	winter (1993)	5,000–10,000 birds	A4i
Eurasian Curlew Numenius arquata	NT	winter (-)	800–6,000 birds	A4i
Bar-tailed Godwit Limosa lapponica	NT	winter (-)	2,000–5,000 birds	A4i
Black-tailed Godwit Limosa limosa	NT	winter (-)	2,000–7,000 birds	A4i
Ruddy Turnstone Arenaria interpres	NT	winter (-)	600–4,000 birds	A4i
Curlew Sandpiper Calidris ferruginea	VU	winter (-)	3,000–9,625 birds	A4i
Dunlin Calidris alpina	NT	winter (-)	125,000 birds	A4i
Little Stint Calidris minuta	LC	winter (-)	5,000–8,000 birds	A4i
Common Redshank Tringa totanus	LC	winter (-)	40,000 birds	A4i
Slender-billed Gull Larus genei	LC	winter (-)	1,000–2,500 birds	A4i
Yellow-legged Gull Larus michahellis	LC	winter (-)	600–8,000 birds	A4i
Common Gull-billed Tern Gelochelidon nilotica	LC	breeding (-)	250–400 pairs	A4i
Sandwich Tern Thalasseus sandvicensis	LC	winter (-)	1,000–3,000 birds	A4i
Temminck's Lark Eremophila bilopha	LC	resident (1999)	present	A3
Sardinian Warbler Curruca melanocephala	LC	resident (1999)	present	A3
Spectacled Warbler Curruca conspicillata	LC	resident (1999)	present	A3
Spotless Starling Sturnus unicolor	LC	resident (1999)	present	A3
Black-eared Wheatear Oenanthe hispanica	LC	breeding (1999)	present	A3
Buff-rumped Wheatear Oenanthe moesta	LC	resident (1999)	present	A3
Black Wheatear Oenanthe leucura	LC	resident (1999)	present	A3
A4iii Species group - waterbirds	n/a	winter (-)	100,000-499,999 birds	A4iii

Ideally the conservation status of the IBA will have been checked regularly since the site was first identified in 2001. The most recent assessment (2009) is shown below.

State (condition of the trigger species' populations)
Species	Actual vs Reference (units)	% remaining	Result
Greater Flamingo Phoenicopterus roseus	3,968 / 1,325 (birds)	100	good
Eurasian Spoonbill Platalea leucorodia	185 / 120 (birds)	100	good
Grey Plover Pluvialis squatarola	3,690 / 2,500 (birds)	100	good
Common Ringed Plover Charadrius hiaticula	99 / 730 (birds)	14	very poor
Charadrius alexandrinus	3,168 / 660 (birds)	100	good
Eurasian Curlew Numenius arquata	2,950 / 8,500 (birds)	35	very poor
Bar-tailed Godwit Limosa lapponica	251 / 1,200 (birds)	21	very poor
Ruddy Turnstone Arenaria interpres	368 / 1,500 (birds)	25	very poor
Curlew Sandpiper Calidris ferruginea	4,580 / 10,000 (birds)	46	poor
Dunlin Calidris alpina	50,800 / 13,300 (birds)	100	good
Little Stint Calidris minuta	18,200 / 2,000 (birds)	100	good
Common Redshank Tringa totanus	11,600 / 2,500 (birds)	100	good
Slender-billed Gull Larus genei	982 / 1,700 (birds)	58	poor

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	some of popul­ation/area (10–49%)	slow decline (1–10% over 3 gener­ations)	medium
Energy production and mining	likely in short term (<4 years)	some of popul­ation/area (10–49%)	slow decline (1–10% over 3 gener­ations)	medium
Climate change and severe weather	likely in long term (>4 years)	most of popul­ation/area (50–90%)	slow decline (1–10% over 3 gener­ations)	medium

Response (conservation actions taken for the trigger species and/or their habitats)
Designation	Planning	Action	Result
Whole area (>90%) covered by appropriate conservation designation	A management plan exists, but it is out of date or not compre­hensive	Substantive conservation measures are being implemented, but these are not compre­hensive and are limited by resources and capacity	medium

The Local Conservation Group(s) listed below are working to conserve this IBA.

Name	Year formed
AAO/ Sfax Regional Branch	2000

For more information on BirdLife's work with Local Conservation Groups, please visit Spotlight on local empowerment.

Land use	% of IBA
nature conservation and research	-

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Recommended citation
BirdLife International (2024) Important Bird Area factsheet: Îles Kneiss (Tunisia). Downloaded from https://datazone.birdlife.org/site/factsheet/îles-kneiss-iba-tunisia on 23/12/2024.