Data Zone
Country/territory: Latvia
IBA criteria met: C6 (2004)
For more information about IBA criteria, please click here
Area: 14,147 hectares (141.47 km2)
Site description (2004 baseline)
The site consists of the unregulated stretch of the Abava river valley from Kandava to the Venta river. It is covered by a vast chain of meanders and oxbows, with plenty of sand, sandstone and dolomite erosion banks. Slow stream stretches are interspersed with shallow stony rapids. Open farmland dominates in the upstream part, including natural flood-plain with meadows below Kandava, with a gradual change to mosaic landscape in the middle part and predominantly forested lower reaches. New IBA, listed for the first time here under the IBA C criteria. Almost fully protected: there is a 98.9% overlap with Abava valley nature park, a candidate SPA.
Recommended citation
BirdLife International (2024) Important Bird Area factsheet: Abava valley (Latvia). Downloaded from
https://datazone.birdlife.org/site/factsheet/abava-valley-iba-latvia on 27/12/2024.