FI070
Siikalahti bay and Sammallampi lake


Country/territory: Finland

IBA criteria met: B1i, B2, B3, C2, C6 (2000)
For more information about IBA criteria, please click here

Area: 519 ha

BirdLife SUOMI-FINLAND
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 (2024) Important Bird Area factsheet: Siikalahti bay and Sammallampi lake. Downloaded from https://datazone.birdlife.org/site/factsheet/siikalahti-bay-and-sammallampi-lake-iba-finland on 19/03/2024.