Data Zone
Country/territory: Morocco
IBA criteria met: A4i (2001)
For more information about IBA criteria, please click here
Area: 400 ha
Site description (2001 baseline)
A small freshwater lake in the Middle Atlas, 40 km from Azrou on the road to Midelt, about 9 km south of the village of Timahdit, situated at 1,910 m in a mountain bowl whose surrounding slopes extend upwards to 2,020 m. The wetland itself is composed of three parts: a deep, permanent lake occupying a small crater; a larger but shallower spring-fed lake located to the south, often muddy and marshy; and a large marshy zone, often dry for large parts of the year and used by livestock. The site is heavily overgrazed and vegetation is only luxuriant in the wetter areas, which consist of Phragmites and Typha beds. In addition to livestock, the site is also used by fishermen.
Key biodiversity
See Box for key species. Several wildfowl species winter at the site, but only Tadorna ferruginea and Anas platyrhynchos have been recorded in any numbers (500 of the latter in 1993).
Non-bird biodiversity: None known to BirdLife International.
Recommended citation
BirdLife International (2024) Important Bird Area factsheet: Aguelmane n'Tifounassine (Morocco). Downloaded from
https://datazone.birdlife.org/site/factsheet/aguelmane-ntifounassine-iba-morocco on 22/11/2024.