Alftanes-Akrar (506)
Iceland, Europe
Site overview
KBA status: confirmed
Year of last assessment: 2000
National site name: Álftanes-Akrar
Central coordinates: Latitude: 64.5167, Longitude: -22.2500
System: marine, terrestrial
Elevation (m): 0 to 10
0KBA classification: Global/Regional TBD
Legacy site: Yes
Site details
Site description: The area covers the shore and islands from álftanes to Akrar, c.15 km west of Borgarnes town. Habitats comprise extensive intertidal flats (including eel-grass Zostera beds), coastal saltmarshes and numerous islands, lagoons, freshwater marshes and standing pools of brackish and salt water. Land-uses are mainly grazing, eider husbandry (Somateria mollissima) and egg-collecting (`Other' land-use).
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: A rich area for coastal waterbirds. Mýrar is one of the main breeding areas in Iceland for Gavia stellata; also common as breeders are Sterna paradisaea (a few thousand pairs) and Fratercula arctica (the islands of Geldingaey and Lambeyjar hold one of the five largest colonies in Iceland). Calidris alba occurs in notable numbers (1,000) on passage.
Habitats
Land use: agriculture
| IUCN Habitat | Coverage % | Habitat detail |
|---|---|---|
| Marine Intertidal | 25 | |
| Grassland | 5 | |
| Marine Coastal/Supratidal | 25 | |
| Marine Neritic | 45 |
Threats
Summary of threats to biodiversity at KBA: No serious threats are known. The area is on the list of sites of conservation interest in the Nature Conservation Register. The site is an enlarged and re-named version of the IBA `Hjörsey-Straumfjördur', formerly IS025 in the previous international IBA inventory (Grimmett and Jones 1989).