Iveragh peninsula (672)
Ireland, Europe
Site overview
KBA status: confirmed
Year of last assessment: 2024
National site name: Iveragh peninsula
Central coordinates: Latitude: 51.9000, Longitude: -10.2433
System: terrestrial, marine
Elevation (m): 0 to 240
Area of KBA (km2): 149.34219
Protected area coverage (%): 29.38
KBA classification: Regional
Legacy site: Yes
Site details
Site description: The Iveragh peninsula is situated in south-west Kerry, south of the Dingle peninsula. The site extends from 5km west of Glenbeigh on the northern side of the peninsula around the coast to Lamb's Head on the southern side, and includes Valentia Island. This linear site comprises sea cliff, grassland and heath habitats. Information on land-use and threats is incomplete.
Rationale for qualifying as KBA: This is an important site for breeding <i>Pyrrhocorax pyrrhocorax</i>. This site is also of significance for breeding Black-legged Kittiwake (Rissa tridactyla). For further details regarding seabird species, please see the project report from Auchincloss and Handley (2024), or the records associated with 'Populations' in BirdLife's WBDB. Existing IBA boundary used for 2024 reassessment. Seabird data was the primary focus when reassessing sites in the 2024 reassessment.<p></p> A 2002 survey of <i>Falco peregrinus</i> reported 5 breeeding pairs in the site.
Manageability of the site: Site identified based on BirdLife International's Important Bird and Biodiversity Areas, under which manageability is strongly recommended but not explicitly documented
Habitats
| IUCN Habitat | Coverage % | Habitat detail |
|---|---|---|
| Shrubland | 10 | |
| Grassland | 40 | |
| Marine Coastal/Supratidal | 50 |
Threats
Summary of threats to biodiversity at KBA: For the survival of <i>Pyrrhocorax pyrrhocorax</i> at this site, it is vital that low-intensity farming on the cliff-tops is maintained.<p></p>
Additional information
References: Auchincloss & Handley, 2024. Ireland: Important Bird and Biodiversity Area identification for seabirds (Report).<br><br>Beal, Martin, Steffen Oppel, Jonathan Handley, Elizabeth J. Pearmain, Virginia Morera-Pujol, Ana P. B. Carneiro, Tammy E. Davies, et al. ‘track2KBA: An R Package for Identifying Important Sites for Biodiversity from Tracking Data’. Methods in Ecology and Evolution 12, no. 12 (December 2021): 2372–78. https://doi.org/10.1111/2041-210X.13713.<br><br>Critchley, Emma Jane, W. James Grecian, Adam Kane, Mark J. Jessopp, and John L. Quinn. ‘Marine Protected Areas Show Low Overlap with Projected Distributions of Seabird Populations in Britain and Ireland’. Biological Conservation 224 (August 2018): 309–17. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.biocon.2018.06.007.<br><br>Giralt Paradell, O., Cañadas, A., Bennison, A., Todd, N., Jessopp, M., Rogan, E. (2024). Aerial surveys of cetaceans and seabirds in Irish waters: Occurrence, distribution and abundance in 2021-2023. Department of the Environment, Climate & Communications and Department of Housing, Local Government & Heritage, Ireland. 260pp<br><br>Handley, Jonathan, Marie-Morgane Rouyer, Elizabeth J. Pearmain, Victoria Warwick-Evans, Katharina Teschke, Jefferson T. Hinke, Heather Lynch, et al. ‘Marine Important Bird and Biodiversity Areas for Penguins in Antarctica, Targets for Conservation Action’. Frontiers in Marine Science 7 (20 January 2021): 602972. https://doi.org/10.3389/fmars.2020.602972.
Contributors: Site identified based on Important Bird and Biodiversity Areas by the BirdLife International Partnership