Data Zone
Country/territory: Saudi Arabia
IBA criteria met: B1i (1994)
For more information about IBA criteria, please click here
Area: 2,500 ha
| IBA conservation status | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Year of assessment (most recent) | Threat (pressure) | Condition (state) | Action (response) |
| 2013 | low | not assessed | medium |
| For more information about IBA monitoring, please click here | |||
Site description (baseline)
This site, on the north-east side of Dawmat al-Jandl town, is one of the very few remaining wetland habitats in the northern desert. Until 1983-1984 it was a medium-sized natural lake surrounded by a large marsh of reeds and sedges (900 ha overall), but this has now been drained and converted to agricultural smallholdings; the water is pumped to an elevated basin in the hills overlooking the former marsh, forming a reservoir (150 ha). From here water flows through a number of irrigation channels back to the agricultural areas, where there are some very small, scattered remains of marshland. The reservoir is used for recreation in summer, and fish Tilapia have been introduced.
Key biodiversity
See box for key species. There is little detailed information at present, although a January 1993 count found 2,294 waterbirds including 1,346 Fulica atra, and up to 10,000 F. atra were present in the colder winter of 1991-1992, when some unidentified Cygnus sp. were also present. Flocks of over 1,000 Chlidonias leucopterus have occurred in late April.
Non-bird biodiversity: Mammals: Vulpes rueppelli (K).
Acknowledgements
Data-sheet compiled by P. Symens.
Recommended citation
BirdLife International (2023) Important Bird Area factsheet: Dawmat al-Jandl wetland. Downloaded from
http://datazone.birdlife.org/site/factsheet/8254 on 03/06/2023.
