Desolation Sound (11076)
Canada, North America
Site overview
KBA status: confirmed
Global KBA criteria: A1a, A1c, D1a
Year of last assessment: 2008
National site name: Desolation Sound
Central coordinates: Latitude: 50.1597, Longitude: -124.7050
System: marine, terrestrial
Area of KBA (km2): 343.40323
Protected area coverage (%): 42.92
KBA classification: Global
Legacy site: Yes
Site details
Site description: Desolation Sound is situated on the mainland coast of British Columbia at the northeastern end of the Strait of Georgia. The town of Campbell River is about 40 kilometers to the west across the strait. The IBA includes the coastal waters of the sound, from the Gifford Peninsula north to the Redonda islands. There are steeply sloping forested lands surrounding these waters although none of this land is within the IBA. Significant amounts of logging have occurred in the forests.
Rationale for qualifying as KBA: This site qualifies as a Key Biodiversity Area of international significance that meets the thresholds for at least one criterion described in the Global Standard for the Identification of KBAs.
Additional biodiversity: Large numbers of Marbled Murrelets feed on the waters of Desolation Sound in the summer. Between about 4,000 and 5,000 of this nationally threatened bird species are found here at this time of year. This number is a little over 1% of the global population, and about 10% of the estimated Canadian population. Researchers have been surveying the birds of the sound since 1991 in the summer and since 2000 in the winter. The birds are present through the summer, and in the early fall when in moult, but only very small numbers are present in the winter. While some of these breeding season murrelets are certainly coming from forests on the adjacent hillsides, it is not known from how far away these birds are coming. Nor is it known what portion are breeding versus non-breeding birds. Eighty-five murrelet nest locations have been found in the forests and subalpine area in the forests adjacent to the sound and outside the IBA. Birds were radio-collared when on the sea and then nest locations were found using radio-telemetry techniques from a helicopter. Presumably all or most of these birds feed in the sound. Birds seen on the water may also be coming from the Toba River watershed, at the far head of the sound, as this was the watershed on the mainland coast with the largest numbers of murrelets recorded in radar surveys conducted in 2000. Hundreds of Surf Scoters, Barrows Goldeneyes Bonapartes Gulls and Harlequin Ducks are seen in the sound in the fall. Small numbers of Black Oystercatchers, Bald Eagles, and Glaucous-winged Gulls breed along the coastline.
Delineation rationale: 2011-06-06 (BL Secretariat): site area updated from 10000 ha to 34000 ha, following GIS analysis of site polygon by Bird Studies Canada (J. Moore & S. Marquez in litt. 2009). Type 2 marine IBA: non-breeding (coastal) congregations.
Habitats
Land use: fisheries/aquaculture | tourism/recreation
| IUCN Habitat | Coverage % | Habitat detail |
|---|---|---|
| Marine Neritic | 100 |