Data Zone
Country/territory: Syria
IBA Criteria met: A1, A2, B2, B3 (1994)
For more information about IBA criteria please click here
Area: 10,000 ha
| Most recent IBA monitoring assessment | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Year of assessment | Threat score (pressure) | Condition score (state) | Action score (response) |
| 2014 | high | not assessed | negligible |
| For more information about IBA monitoring please click here | |||
Site description
An upland area at the southern end of the Jibal al-Sharqi (Anti-Lebanon) range, 50 km by road from Damascus, and centred on Abu Zad, a small village with small orchards and very small fields lying at 1,500 m above the resort village of Bludan. The nearby village of Halbun is at 1,700 m. To the west, vertical cliffs fall to Zabadani far below, and mountains to the north-east rise steeply to 2,462 m within c.10 km. The land above the village is open, with sparse grassland, scattered scrub and bare rock, and is snow-covered in winter.
Key biodiversity
See box for key species. A diverse assemblage of breeding species characteristic of upland Mediterranean habitats which are rare and local in the Middle East. Other confirmed or probable breeding species include Circaetus gallicus, Buteo rufinus, Aquila chrysaetos, Alectoris chukar, Hirundo rupestris, Melanocorypha bimaculata, Lullula arborea, Eremophila alpestris, Monticola saxatilis, Sylvia hortensis, Lanius collurio, Pyrrhocorax graculus (seen in winter 1938/39), Rhodopechys githaginea and Emberiza melanocephala. Winter visitors include Prunella collaris.
Non-bird biodiversity: No information.
Acknowledgements
Data-sheet compiled by M. I. Evans.
Recommended citation
BirdLife International (2023) Important Bird Areas factsheet: Abu Zad. Downloaded from
http://www.birdlife.org on 28/01/2023.
