Bae Caerfyrddin/Carmarthen Bay (2442)
United Kingdom, Europe
Site overview
KBA status: confirmed
Year of last assessment: 2007
National site name: Bae Caerfyrddin/Carmarthen Bay
Central coordinates: Latitude: 51.6697, Longitude: -4.4755
System: marine, terrestrial
Elevation (m): 0 to 56
Area of KBA (km2): 466.91261
Protected area coverage (%): 99.73
KBA classification: Regional
Legacy site: Yes
Site details
Site description: The site comprises three broad estuaries that drain into the Bay (the Taf, Tywi and Gwendraeth) in addition to the Bay itself and part of the coast. A wide range of coastal habitats are represented. The IBA is important for wintering and passage wildfowl and waders, and for breeding wildfowl and waterbirds.
Rationale for qualifying as KBA: This site qualifies as a Key Biodiversity Area of international significance that was identified using previously established criteria and thresholds for the identification of Important Bird and Biodiversity Areas (IBAs) and for which available data indicate that it does not meet global KBA criteria and thresholds set out in the Global Standard.
Delineation rationale: First identified in 1989 as two sites (Carmarthen Bay and St Margaret's Island); sites merged in 1992, with new name Carmarthen Bay; site renamed 2007 and overlap with adjacent site removed. 2000 area, 44582ha. SPA boundary used from JNCC; digitised at 1:10,000 scale.
Habitats
Land use: fisheries/aquaculture | tourism/recreation
| IUCN Habitat | Coverage % | Habitat detail |
|---|---|---|
| Marine Coastal/Supratidal | 5 | |
| Marine Neritic | 43 | |
| Marine Intertidal | 43 | |
| Grassland | 5 | |
| Artificial - Terrestrial | 5 |
Threats
| Threat level 1 | Threat level 2 | Threat level 3 | Timing |
|---|---|---|---|
| Biological resource use | Fishing & harvesting aquatic resources | Unintentional effects: large scale (species being assessed is not the target) [harvest] | Only in the past and unlikely to return |
| Pollution | Industrial & military effluents | Oil spills | Only in the past and unlikely to return |
| Energy production & mining | Oil & gas drilling | Only in the future | |
| Energy production & mining | Mining & quarrying | Only in the future | |
| Energy production & mining | Renewable energy | Only in the future |