Parc National des Iles de la Madeleine (6849)
Senegal, Africa
Site overview
KBA status: confirmed
Year of last assessment: 2019
National site name: Parc National des Iles de la Madeleine
Central coordinates: Latitude: 14.6500, Longitude: -17.4667
System: terrestrial, marine
Elevation (m): 0 to 35
Area of KBA (km2): 0.21071
Protected area coverage (%): 99.36
KBA classification: Regional
Legacy site: Yes
Site details
Site description: The park consists of three rocky, volcanic islands lying about 4 km west of the Senegal coast, off the southern end of the Cap Vert peninsula on which Dakar lies, and the areas of sea between the islands. The largest, the ‘Iles aux serpents’, is about 15 ha. The islands are covered in steppe-grassland. Trees include baobabs <I>Adansonia</I>, jujubas <I>Ziziphus</I>, prickly-pear <I>Opuntia</I> and tamarinds <I>Tamarindus</I>.
Rationale for qualifying as KBA: See Box for key species. The 30 or more pairs of <I>Phaethon aethereus</I> are the only breeding birds of this species known from a mainland African country. The islands harbour a varied avifauna including a breeding colony (400 nests) of <I>Phalacrocorax carbo</I> (introduced in the 1980s from the Parc National des Oiseaux du Djoudj, part of site SN001), and breeding <I>Corvus albus</I>, <I>Milvus migrans</I>, <I>Galerida cristata</I> and<I> Euplectes orix.</I> <I>Sterna anaethetus</I> breeds on the islands and there are records of <I>Sula leucogaster</I>, <I>Morus bassanus</I>, <I>Larus cachinnans</I>, <I>L. cirrocephalus</I> and <I>L. fuscus</I>. <I>Alaemon alaudipes</I>, restricted to the Sahara–Sindian (A02) biome, has been recorded from the site.<P>Non-bird biodiversity: The sea-turtle <I>Caretta caretta</I> (EN) has nested on a small beach and the dolphins <I>Steno bredanensis</I> (DD) and <I>Stenella coeruleoalba</I> (LR/cd) have been recorded within the park. The tortoise <I>Geochelone sulcata</I> (VU) has been introduced to the islands.</P>
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
Delineation rationale: Digitised using Google Earth, based on IBA directory description
Threats
Summary of threats to biodiversity at KBA: The uncontrolled development of sport-fishing and other marine sporting activities may pose some threat to the National Park’s integrity and cause disturbance in the region of the park. Casual visitors to the park are not controlled and may cause hazards through lighting fires and disturbance to nesting birds.
Additional information
References: IUCN (1987a), WCMC (1989).
Contributors: Site identified based on Important Bird and Biodiversity Areas by the BirdLife International Partnership