Duinen en Lage Land Texel (1181)
Netherlands, Europe
Site overview
KBA status: confirmed
Year of last assessment: 2016
National site name: Duinen en Lage Land Texel
Central coordinates: Latitude: 53.1167, Longitude: 4.7833
System: marine, terrestrial
Elevation (m): 0 to 25
Area of KBA (km2): 33.62092
Protected area coverage (%): 100.00
KBA classification: Regional
Legacy site: Yes
Site details
Site description: An extensive area of sand-dunes that stretches along 25 km of the North Sea side of Texel island; the width of the site varies from 200 m (near De Koog village) to 2 km. Important habitats include small lakes and dune-slacks (e.g. De Muy, De Geul), sea inlets with saltmarshes (De Slufter, De Mok), sandflats (De Hors), shifting and fixed dunes, and cord-grass Spartina swards. Parts of the inner dunes are covered by forestry plantations (largely excluded from the site). Hunting is allowed but with restrictions on quarry species. Other land-uses include scattered houses, recreational facilities, and groundwater abstraction. This site, together with site 002, formed part of a single, larger site (former site NL002) in the previous pan-European IBA inventory (Grimmett and Jones 1989).
Rationale for qualifying as KBA: This site qualifies as a Key Biodiversity Area of international significance that was identified using previously established criteria and thresholds for the identification of Important Bird and Biodiversity Areas (IBAs) and for which available data indicate that it does not meet global KBA criteria and thresholds set out in the Global Standard.
Additional biodiversity: The area is important for its two traditional breeding sites of Platalea leucorodia.
Delineation rationale: 9 March 2017: name and area edited. Now equal to the designated Special Protection Area (Birds Directive).
Habitats
Land use: hunting (90%) | nature conservation and research (84%) | tourism/recreation (95%)
| IUCN Habitat | Coverage % | Habitat detail |
|---|---|---|
| Marine Intertidal | 50 | |
| Marine Coastal/Supratidal | 50 |
Threats
Summary of threats to biodiversity at KBA: Threats include military training (De Hors) and increasing tourism, although large areas are closed to the public during the breeding season. The site is largely owned and managed as Nature Reserves by the National Forestry Service. The saltmarsh and mudflats are included in the SPA- and Ramsar-designated Wadden Sea.
| Threat level 1 | Threat level 2 | Threat level 3 | Timing |
|---|---|---|---|
| Human intrusions & disturbance | Recreational activities | Ongoing |