Belize Off-shore and Barrier Islands (20766)
Belize, Central America
Site overview
KBA status: confirmed
Global KBA criteria: A1e, D1a
Year of last assessment: 2018
National site name: Off-shore and Barrier Islands
Central coordinates: Latitude: 16.8987, Longitude: -88.1470
System: marine, terrestrial
Elevation (m): 0 to 5
Area of KBA (km2): 10729.3526
Protected area coverage (%): 31.31
KBA classification: Global
Legacy site: Yes
Site details
Site description: This IBA is comprised of five Marine Reserves: South Water Caye, Gladden Spit, Silk Cayes, Sapodilla Cayes and Glovers Reef. Halfmoon Caye Natural Monument, Laughing Bird Caye National Park and Man of War Caye Bird Sanctuary make up the island areas. There are ten Spawning Aggregations: Northern Glovers Reef, Sandbore, South Point Turneffe, South Point Lighthouse, Rise and Fall Bank, Seal Caye, Dog Flea, Gladden Spit, Nicholas Caye and Caye Glory included in this IBA.
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. Alliance for Zero Extinction (2018): site confirmed as an AZE site during the AZE project (2015-2018). Taxonomy, nomenclature and Red List category follow the IUCN 2016 Red List.
Additional biodiversity: This 1,219,671 ha area has 157 recorded species of which 50 are residents, 42 are known or thought to breed in the area, 116 are species not known to nest in the area and 107 that are considered migrants. These include species that meet the A1, A2, A3, A4i, A4ii trigger criteria.
Delineation rationale: Decimal Degrees X=-88.14706 Y=16.89860 Degrees and minutes 88°8.8236' 16°53.916' Type 1 marine IBA: suitable for the seaward extension approach.
Habitats
| IUCN Habitat | Coverage % | Habitat detail |
|---|---|---|
| Forest | 1 | |
| Marine Intertidal | 1 | |
| Marine Coastal/Supratidal | 2 | |
| Marine Neritic | 95 | |
| Artificial - Terrestrial | 1 |