UK Ramsar Sites: Bird Species Counts and Conservation Status

Ramsar sites are wetlands of international importance designated under the Ramsar Convention. This dataset contains details for all qualifying bird species for all designated Ramsar sites within the UK and its Overseas Territories and Crown Dependencies, compiled by the Joint Nature Conservation Committee. The data was last updated on 2026-04-14 and includes species counts, seasonality, and geographic coordinates.

Use Cases

• Analyze population trends of waterfowl based on species counts and season data
• Map wetland conservation sites based on geographic coordinates and site names
• Assess the international importance of sites based on interest status and criteria descriptions
• Study species assemblages based on the 'assemb component' flag

Strengths

• Includes data for all designated Ramsar sites in the UK, its Overseas Territories, and Crown Dependencies
• Contains standardized species codes (NOWAK CODE) for international reporting
• Provides geographic coordinates for site mapping
• Data is sourced from official Ramsar Information Sheets

Limitations

• Row count is unknown, which may limit suitability assessment
• Column-level documentation is absent; field semantics must be inferred after download
• Overseas Territories bird data is noted as excluded from this specific dataset

Provenance

Source

Joint Nature Conservation Committee

Collection Method

Compiled from official Ramsar Information Sheets for designated sites

Time Range

Count periods are indicated by YEAR column, but overall temporal coverage is unspecified

Freshness

Last updated 2026-04-14 09:45:38.803651; freshness should be verified

Geography

United Kingdom, its Overseas Territories, and Crown Dependencies