Key Biodiversity Areas

Costa da Morte (1646)
Spain, Europe

Site overview


KBA status: confirmed
Global KBA criteria: A1aA1cB1D1a
Year of last assessment: 2011
National site name: Costa da Morte
Central coordinates: Latitude: 43.2333, Longitude: -8.9333
System: marine, terrestrial
Elevation (m): 0 to 291
Area of KBA (km2): 3286.14286
Protected area coverage (%): 98.58
KBA classification: Global
Legacy site: Yes

Site details


Site description: A coastal site including some marine areas. It includes several small islands, cliffs, beaches, sand-dunes, littoral lagoons, estuaries and marshes. The main human activity is fishing.
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: This is an important site for breeding and passage seabirds and waders (Charadriiformes).
Delineation rationale: 2015-04-23 (BL Secretariat): site area adjusted from 9650 ha (IBA2000) to 354340 ha (Arcos et al. 2009).

Habitats


Land use: agriculture (25%) | fisheries/aquaculture (10%) | hunting | tourism/recreation | urban/industrial/transport
IUCN HabitatCoverage %Habitat detail
Marine Neritic80
Marine Coastal/Supratidal5
Artificial - Terrestrial15

Threats


Summary of threats to biodiversity at KBA: The main threats are from fisheries, fires, tourism and illegal hunting.