Duinen Schiermonnikoog (1188)
Netherlands, Europe
Site overview
KBA status: confirmed
Global KBA criteria: D1a
Year of last assessment: 2016
National site name: Duinen Schiermonnikoog
Central coordinates: Latitude: 53.5000, Longitude: 6.2500
System: marine, terrestrial
Elevation (m): 0 to 15
Area of KBA (km2): 8.32986
Protected area coverage (%): 100.00
KBA classification: Global
Legacy site: Yes
Site details
Site description: The site comprises the main part of the easternmost of the five inhabited barrier islands in the Wadden Sea (adjacent to site 001), but excludes the village and the adjoining part of grassland polder. The total length is 14 km, with a maximum width of 2,500 m. Habitats include beaches, shifting and fixed sand-dunes with herbaceous vegetation or crowberry Empetrum nigrum, humid dune-slacks, cord-grass Spartina swards, saltmarshes, mudflats, freshwater marsh and improved grassland. Land-uses include scattered houses, recreational facilities, dairy farming 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 raised saltmarshes are an important spring feeding area for Branta bernicla and the grassland polder is also a feeding area for Branta leucopsis. The area is an important high-tide roost for tens of thousands of waterbirds that feed in the Wadden Sea. Platalea leucorodia established a breeding colony in 1994.
Delineation rationale: 9 March 2017: name and area edited. Now equal to the designated Special Protection Area (Birds Directive).
Habitats
Land use: agriculture (8%) | fisheries/aquaculture (5%) | hunting (35%) | nature conservation and research (67%) | tourism/recreation (50%) | water management (8%)
| IUCN Habitat | Coverage % | Habitat detail |
|---|---|---|
| Marine Intertidal | 46 | |
| Marine Coastal/Supratidal | 46 | |
| Artificial - Terrestrial | 8 |
Threats
Summary of threats to biodiversity at KBA: Threats include gas extraction and increasing tourism, although part of the dune area is closed to the public during the breeding season. The dune area and saltmarshes are managed as a Nature Reserve by Natuurmonumenten. The saltmarshes and part of the dunes fall within the boundaries of the Ramsar- and SPA-designated Wadden Sea.
| Threat level 1 | Threat level 2 | Threat level 3 | Timing |
|---|---|---|---|
| Agriculture & aquaculture | Livestock farming & ranching | Agro-industry grazing, ranching or farming | Only in the future |
| Invasive & other problematic species, genes & diseases | Problematic native species/diseases | Unspecified species | Ongoing |
| Agriculture & aquaculture | Marine & freshwater aquaculture | Industrial aquaculture | Ongoing |
| Human intrusions & disturbance | Recreational activities | Ongoing | |
| Natural system modifications | Other ecosystem modifications | Ongoing |