Key Biodiversity Areas

Pacific, Eastern Central 13 - Marine (30954)
Kiribati, Oceania

Site overview


KBA status: confirmed
Global KBA criteria: A1bD1a
Year of last assessment: 2012
National site name: Pacific, Eastern Central 13 - Marine
Central coordinates: Latitude: 5.8968, Longitude: -157.3028
System: marine
Area of KBA (km2): 20133.48438
KBA classification: Global
Legacy site: Yes

Site details


Site description: This Marine IBA is identified using tracking data. It falls within the Kiribati Exclusive Economic Zone (EEZ) and the Pacific, Eastern FAO ocean region. The site covers an area of 20133 km2 and is 462 km away from the closet coastline. The depth ranges from 1377 to 4650 m, with a mean annual wind speed of 2.13 m/s, mean annual sea surface temperature falls between 27.64 and 27.86 °C and mean annual chlorophyll-a concentrations found to range between 0.12 and 0.21 mg/m3.
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: 1 species triggers IBA criteria at this Marine IBA. BirdLife analyses of tracking data estimates that 668-859 individuals of Gould's Petrel (VU) from Cabbage Tree Island are present at the site during the Non-breeding (May-Aug) life-history stage.
Delineation rationale: Site identified by analysis of tracking dataset(s) - gop_cbg_nb

Habitats


IUCN HabitatCoverage %Habitat detail
Marine Neritic100

Threats


Threat level 1Threat level 2Threat level 3Timing
PollutionExcess energyLight pollutionOngoing
Climate change & severe weatherHabitat shifting & alterationOnly in the future