The Cuilcagh Mountain Ramsar site (wetlands of international importance designated under the Ramsar Convention), is 2744.45 hectares in area, at latitude 54 13 26 N and longitude 07 48 17 W. It was designated a Ramsar site on 31 December 1998. The site qualified under Criterion 1 of the Ramsar Convention because is a large and relatively intact example of a blanket bog and one of the best examples of this habitat in the United Kingdom. It also contains a comparatively high-altitude example of an oligotrophic lake, Lough Atona. The site also qualified under Criterion 2 because it supports numbers of rare, vulnerable or endangered species. It is one of the most important upland breeding sites in Northern Ireland for Eurasian golden plover, an Irish Red Data Book species. The merlin, which is also an Irish Red Data Book species, occurs on the site too. The bog is also occasionally used for feeding by greater white-fronted geese.