Duinen Vlieland (1182)
Netherlands, Europe
Site overview
KBA status: confirmed
Global KBA criteria: D1a
Year of last assessment: 2016
National site name: Duinen Vlieland
Central coordinates: Latitude: 53.2833, Longitude: 4.9833
System: marine, terrestrial
Elevation (m): 0 to 30
Area of KBA (km2): 13.11077
Protected area coverage (%): 100.00
KBA classification: Global
Legacy site: Yes
Site details
Site description: The site is 17 km long and covers 85% of this barrier island in the Wadden Sea, lying between Texel and Terschelling (the village and the main tourist facilities on the east side have been excluded). The western half of the island (Vliehors) is an extensive sandflat (adjacent to the Wadden Sea, site 001). The eastern part consists of an extensive area of both shifting and fixed sand-dunes (the width of which varies from 300 to 1,700 m), forestry plantations, some embanked brackish lagoons (Kroonpolders) and mudflats (Posthuiswad). The western part of the island (Vliehors) is an air-force training area. Other land-uses include scattered houses, recreational facilities, hunting, and groundwater abstraction.
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: The dunes hold a recently-established breeding colony of Platalea leucorodia. The island also has a large number of Somateria mollissima (2,500 nests) and a large breeding colony of Larus argentatus. The mudflats south of the island are an important feeding area for tens of thousands of waterbirds that have high-tide roosts in the polders and on the Vliehors (count data for this sandflat hardly exist).
Delineation rationale: 9 March 2017: name and area edited. Now equal to the designated Special Protection Area (Birds Directive).
Habitats
Land use: fisheries/aquaculture (7%) | hunting (100%) | military (6%) | nature conservation and research (57%) | tourism/recreation (57%) | urban/industrial/transport (5%)
| IUCN Habitat | Coverage % | Habitat detail |
|---|---|---|
| Marine Intertidal | 31 | |
| Marine Coastal/Supratidal | 63 | |
| Artificial - Terrestrial | 6 |
Threats
Summary of threats to biodiversity at KBA: Threats include shellfish fisheries (Wadden Sea), air-force training on the Vliehors, and increasing tourism (although a large part of the area is closed to the public during the breeding season). The dune area and Kroonpolders are managed as a Nature Reserve by the National Forestry Service. Only the mudflats of the Wadden Sea (of which c.100 ha are included in this site) and the Vliehors have been included in the Ramsar and SPA designations.
| Threat level 1 | Threat level 2 | Threat level 3 | Timing |
|---|---|---|---|
| Agriculture & aquaculture | Marine & freshwater aquaculture | Industrial aquaculture | Ongoing |
| Natural system modifications | Other ecosystem modifications | Only in the future |