IBA conservation status | |||
---|---|---|---|
Year of assessment (most recent) | State (condition) | Pressure (threat) | Response (action) |
2010 | very unfavourable | high | high |
For more information about IBA monitoring, please click here |
Site description (2000 baseline)
Siikalahti Bay, one of the most famous wetlands in Finland, is a sheltered, shallow bay of Simpele lake. It is heavily vegetated with Phragmites, Typha and floating plants like Nymphaea, with open water constituting no more than 25% of the lake area. Eutrophication is mostly due to the input of large amounts of nutrient run-off from adjacent farmlands and sewage disposal from nearby settlements. Sammallampi lake, connected to Siikalahti Bay via the Simpele lake water system, is a small eutrophic lake surrounded by farmlands and forests. The vegetation is similar to Siikalahti, but overgrowth does not pose a significant threat in the near future.
Key biodiversity
Very important for wetland breeding birds. Species of global conservation concern that do not meet IBA criteria: Anser erythropus (max. 1, passage), Crex crex (1 pair, breeding).
Recommended citation
BirdLife International (2023) Important Bird Area factsheet: Siikalahti bay and Sammallampi lake. Downloaded from
http://datazone.birdlife.org/site/factsheet/siikalahti-bay-and-sammallampi-lake-iba-finland on 29/11/2023.