Austin Strait (18000)
India, Asia
Site overview
KBA status: confirmed
Year of last assessment: 2004
National site name: Austin Strait
Central coordinates: Latitude: 12.9333, Longitude: 92.8667
System: marine, terrestrial
Elevation (m): 272 00
Area of KBA (km2): 30.6139
KBA classification: Global/Regional TBD
Legacy site: Yes
Site details
Site description: Austin Strait is located to the north of Mayabundar, up to Mohanpur. It has extensive creeks, fringed with dense, luxuriant growth of mangroves. The site extends along the Strait, dividing North Andaman from Middle Andaman. The habitat is fairly undisturbed (Gandhi 2000), and is important for its rich mangrove stands, which support a variety of typical mangrove fauna (Andrews and Sankaran 2002). Proximity to the equator and the sea ensures a hot, humid, and uniform climate. The islands receive rainfall from both the southwest and northeast monsoon. Maximum precipitation is between May and December, the driest period being between January and April (Sankaran 1995). The IBA is basically a mangrove area, dominated by Rhizophora apiculata, Bruguiera gymnorrhiza, B. parviflora, Rhizophora mucronata and R. conjugata. Some of the mangrove species grow into tree form.
Rationale for qualifying as KBA: This site qualifies as a Key Biodiversity Area of international significance because it meets one or more previously established criteria and thresholds for identifying sites of biodiversity importance (including Important Bird and Biodiversity Areas, Alliance for Zero Extinction sites, and Key Biodiversity Areas)
Additional biodiversity: AVIFAUNA: Of the 12 Restricted Range bird species identified by BirdLife International from the Endemic Bird Area of Andaman Islands (Stattersfield et al. 1998), nine species are found in this IBA. Most of them are quite common in suitable habitats. Only the Andaman Crake Rallina canningi is listed in the Threatened category, under Data Deficient, while the rest come under the Near Threatened category (BirdLife International 2001). Andaman Teal Anas gibberifrons albogularis has also been reported from this area. This is not listed as Threatened at the global level (BirdLife International 2001) but the subspecies is highly endangered and has shown a marked decline during the last 100 years, with a recently estimated population of 500 to 600 individuals only (Vijayan and Sankaran 2000). OTHER KEY FAUNA: The habitat is relatively undisturbed and supports a variety of typical mangrove fauna such as the Saltwater Crocodile Crocodylus porosus and the typical snakes, crabs, prawns, and fishes of this area. No inventory of the flora and fauna of this IBA has been attempted till now.
Delineation rationale: 2014-03-11 (BL Secretariat): a site area of 3061 ha was calculated by GIS from the site polygon, then rounded to the nearest 10% (3100 ha).
Habitats
Land use: nature conservation and research | tourism/recreation
| IUCN Habitat | Coverage % | Habitat detail |
|---|---|---|
| Marine Coastal/Supratidal | 50 | |
| Forest | 50 |
Threats
Summary of threats to biodiversity at KBA: MAIN THREATS: Illegal fishing; Crocodile poaching by both Islanders as well as people from neighbouring countries. The site deserves special conservation attention for its mangrove diversity and associated fauna. Local people collect crabs, fish and honey for their own consumption as well as for sale (Gandhi 2000). Rodgers and Panwar (1988) have recommended declaration as a mangrove sanctuary from Austin to Kishorinagar. There are many subspecies of birds in Austin Strait that are of conservation value, especially if they are upgraded to species level in the future.
| Threat level 1 | Threat level 2 | Threat level 3 | Timing |
|---|---|---|---|
| Biological resource use | Hunting & collecting terrestrial animals | Intentional use (species being assessed is the target) | Ongoing |
| Biological resource use | Fishing & harvesting aquatic resources | Unintentional effects: subsistence/small scale (species being assessed is not the target) [harvest] | Ongoing |
Additional information
References: Andrews, H. V. and Sankaran, V. (Ed) (2002) Sustainable management of Protected Areas in the Andaman and Nicobar Islands, Andaman and Nicobar Islands Environmental Team, Indian Institute of Public Administration and Fauna and Flora International, New Delhi. BirdLife International (2001) Threatened Birds of Asia: BirdLife International Red Data Book. BirdLife International, Cambridge, U.K. Gandhi, T. (2000) Prioritising sites for conservation in the Andaman and Nicobar Islands: With special reference to Fauna, pp. 82-93. In: Setting Biodiversity Conservation Priorities for India. Ed: Singh, S., Sastry, A.R.K. Mehta, R. and Uppal, V. WWF- India, New Delhi, India. Pp.xxvii + 707. Rodgers, W. A. and Panwar, H. S. (1998) Planning a wildlife protected area network in India. 2 vol. Wildlife Institute of India, Dehra Dun. Sankaran, R. (1995) The Nicobar Megapode and other endemic Avifauna of the Nicobar Islands status and Conservation. SACON- Technical Report 2, Salim Ali Center for Ornithology and Natural History, Coimbatore, India. Stattersfield, A. J., Crosby, M. J., Long, A. J. and Wege, D. C. (1998) Endemic Bird Areas of the World: Priorities for Biodiversity Conservation. BirdLife Conservation Series No. 7. BirdLife International, Cambridge, U.K. Vijayan, L. and Sankaran, R. (2000) A study on the ecology, status and conservation perspective of certain rare endemic avifauna of the Andaman & Nicobar Islands. Final Report. Salim Ali Centre for Ornithology and Natural History, Coimbatore. Pp. 184.