Falkland Islands Inshore (49174)
Falkland Islands (Malvinas), South America

Site overview

KBA status: confirmed

Global KBA criteria: A1a, A1b, A1c, A1d, B1, D1a

Year of last assessment: 2024

National site name: Falkland Islands Inshore

Central coordinates: Latitude: -51.6885, Longitude: -59.5116

System: marine

Area of KBA (km²): 27798.896103

KBA classification: Global

Legacy site: No

Site details

Site description: The Falkland Islands are located in the south-west Atlantic, approximately 500 km from the South American mainland. The Falkland Islands Inshore KBA consists entirely of marine shelf habitat surrounding the main islands of East and West Falkland and the stretch of water between them known as Falkland Sound. It includes open neritic habitat and coastal waters including bays, inlets and channels. The site is defined by bathymetry of ≤100 m depth, which extends to approximately 30 km from the coast where the shelf is widest. Much of the habitat within the site is considered to be relatively pristine in nature, with few major anthropogenic impacts at present. If maintained, the Falkland Islands Inshore KBA could therefore be expected to support important populations of marine mammals and seabirds for decades to come. No existing marine protected areas are located with the site.

Rationale for qualifying as KBA: The Falkland Islands Inshore KBA hosts populations of two baleen whale species and nine seabird species of sufficient size to trigger global KBA criteria. The site supports a predictable and long-term seasonal feeding aggregation of sei whales, Balaenoptera borealis (Endangered, EN), which triggers criteria A1a, A1c, D1a and D1b (Weir, 2021). It also hosts a winter breeding aggregation of southern right whales, Eubalaena australis (Least Concern, LC), which triggers criterion D1a (Weir, 2024). Nine seabird species also trigger KBA criteria (Handley et al., 2021), of which eight species trigger criterion D1a: southern rockhopper penguin Eudyptes chrysocome (Vulnerable, VU), sooty shearwater Ardenna grisea (Near Threatened, NT), black-browed albatross Thalassarche melanophris (Least Concern, LC), southern giant petrel Macronectes giganteus (LC), slender-billed prion Pachyptila belcheri (LC), brown skua Catharacta antarctica (LC), dolphin gull Larus scoresbii (LC), and gentoo penguin Pygoscelis papua (LC). The black-browed albatross population additionally triggers criteria A1b and A1d. The Falkland steamer duck Tachyeres brachypterus (LC), triggers criterion B1.

Additional biodiversity: The site hosts populations of two dolphin species, potentially at densities that may be globally-significant; Peale’s dolphin (Lagenorhynchus australis: LC) and Commerson’s dolphin (Cephalorhynchus commersonii: LC). Other cetacean species occur in the site, including killer whales (Orcinus orca: DD), humpback whales (Megaptera novaeangliae: LC) and two species of minke whale. Three species of pinniped breed in the Falklands as well as feeding in the surrounding continental shelf habitat: South American sea lion (Otaria byronia: LC), the South American fur seal (Arctocephalus australis: LC), and the southern elephant seal (Mirounga leonina: LC). Falkland Islands inner shelf waters are recognised as an IUCN Important Marine Mammal Area for supporting a high diversity of marine mammal species, and it is likely that some of these species would be qualifying biodiversity elements if sufficient information became available to assess them against the KBA criteria in future. Aggregations of these higher-level predators are supported by high primary productivity and large swarms of crustaceans that form the basis of the marine food chain. The site also hosts extensive kelp forests, providing important ecological, recreational, and economic functions.

Manageability of the site: The Falkland Islands Government is responsible for managing its territorial waters (12 nautical miles from the coast) and the waters extending to the limits of the exclusive economic zone (200 nautical miles from the coast). This principally consists of controlling industry activities via licensing conditions and currently no fishing is licenced within 3nm of the coast with the exception of experimental crab pot fisheries. However, the licensing of fisheries within the 3 nm limit is not transcribed into legislation and can be removed under the Director of Natural Resources’ discretion; therefore, it cannot be used towards international multilateral agreements. The Falkland Islands Government (FIG) has investigated managing its marine resources through a process of a marine spatial planning, which was initiated in 2014. In 2024, FIG publicly consulted on Marine Managed Areas (MMAs) that consider the inshore environment of the Falkland Islands. The Falkland Islands Inshore KBA overlaps with the proposed MMAs and may influence the development of management actions for species within the MMAs.

Delineation rationale: The boundaries of the Falkland Islands Inshore KBA were initially delineated based on available information on the distribution and habitat use of sei whales which were primarily distributed within the 100 m depth isobath (Weir, 2021). Subsequent mapping of seabird data demonstrated that high density areas for seabirds also largely overlapped with waters of ≤100 m depth (Handley et al., 2021). Therefore, the site was considered to include all waters from the coast to 100 m depth as an ecologically relevant marker, and the boundaries were simplified by linking their outermost points with straight lines. Both sei whales and seabirds are highly mobile marine predators, and are widely distributed across the site depending on season, weather and prey availability. Currently, the area delimited as hosting a globally-important abundance of southern right whales comprises the waters from the coast to 10 km offshore along the north coast of East Falkland only (see Weir, 2024). However, this area falls entirely within the existing Falkland Islands Inshore KBA, and the KBA guidance requires that the southern right whale is added as a qualifying biodiversity element to the existing KBA rather than a new smaller KBA being proposed for that species. It is also important to note that high densities of wintering southern right whales may occur elsewhere around the Falklands, but monitoring to date has only been along the north coast of East Falkland.

Habitats

Land use: N/A

IUCN Habitat	Coverage %	Habitat detail
Marine Neritic	100	Marine Neritic – Pelagic

Threats

Threat level 1	Threat level 2	Threat level 3	Timing
Agriculture & aquaculture	Marine & freshwater aquaculture	Industrial aquaculture	Only in the future
Energy production & mining	Oil & gas drilling		Only in the future
Transportation & service corridors	Shipping lanes		Ongoing
Biological resource use	Fishing & harvesting aquatic resources	Intentional use: large scale (species being assessed is the target) [harvest]	Only in the past and unlikely to return
Biological resource use	Fishing & harvesting aquatic resources	Unintentional effects: subsistence/small scale (species being assessed is not the target) [harvest]	Only in the future
Human intrusions & disturbance	Recreational activities		Ongoing
Pollution	Garbage & solid waste		Ongoing
Pollution	Excess energy	Noise pollution	Ongoing
Climate change & severe weather	Habitat shifting & alteration		Ongoing

Additional information

References: Weir, C.R. (2021). Supporting evidence for the proposal of Falkland Islands Inner Shelf Waters as a KBA for endangered sei whales (Balaenoptera borealis). Falklands Conservation, Stanley, Falkland Islands. 36pp. https://www.ketosecology.co.uk/PDF/Weir(2021)_KBA_TechRep.pdf Handley, J. M., Harte, E., Stanworth, A., Poncet, S., Catry, P., Cleminson, S., Crofts, S., & Dias, M. (2023). Progressing delineations of key biodiversity areas for seabirds, and their application to management of coastal seas. Diversity and Distributions, 29, 123–142. https://doi.org/10.1111/ddi.13651 Weir, C.R. (2024). Supporting evidence for the addition of the southern right whale (Eubalaena australis) to the Falkland Islands Inshore Key Biodiversity Area. Falklands Conservation, Stanley, Falkland Islands. 17pp.