Important Bird Areas Assessments

An important activity of the IBA Programme is to complete IBA assessments on a regular basis. These IBA assessments are prescribed by BirdLife International and is done the same way through-out the world. The data that are collected through this process are entered into an international database hosted by BirdLife International.

Below is some documentation where you can obtain detailed information on how the assessment process works. But in short the IBA assessment consists of reporting on three things:

• The state of habitat and the species of the IBA (for example are the key species declining in numbers or not?)

• The pressure on the IBA in terms of the threats that might impact on the IBA (for example a mining threat)

• The response to the threats that might impact on the IBA (for example a management plan that is implemented in the IBA)

The aim is to do IBA assessments once a year per IBA - but due to limited capacity this will not always be possible.

To read more about the IBA assessment process you can study the IBA Assessment Framework document here.

The IBA assessment form is also available in MS Word format. To download the document click here.