Aktau cliff faces (Kazakhstan) IBA | Details

KZ013

Aktau cliff faces

Current view: Details

IBA Justification

The site was identified as internationally important for bird conservation in 2004 because it was regularly supporting significant populations of the species listed below, meeting IBA criteria.

Populations meeting IBA criteria ('key species') at the site:

Species	Red List	Season (year/s of estimate)	Size	IBA criteria
Egyptian Vulture Neophron percnopterus	EN	breeding (2004)	10 breeding pairs	A1
Lesser Kestrel Falco naumanni	LC	breeding (2004)	120 breeding pairs	A1
Saker Falcon Falco cherrug	EN	breeding (2004)	138 breeding pairs	A1, A4ii

IBA Conservation

Ideally the conservation status of the IBA will have been checked regularly since the site was first identified in 2004. The most recent assessment (2013) is shown below.

IBA conservation status
Year of assessment	State	Pressure	Response
2013	favourable	high	very low
Whole site assessed?	State assessed by	Accuracy of information
yes	habitat	poor

State (condition of the key species' habitats)
Habitat	Quantity (% remaining)	Quality (% carrying capacity)	Result
Desert	good (>90%)	good (>90%)	favourable
Rocky areas (eg. inland cliffs, mountain peaks)	good (>90%)	good (>90%)	favourable

Pressure (threats to the key species and/or their habitats)
Threat	Timing	Scope	Severity	Result
Transportation and service corridors	happening now	some of population/area (10–49%)	moderate deterioration (10–30% in 3 generations)	high
Human intrusions and disturbance	happening now	some of population/area (10–49%)	moderate deterioration (10–30% in 3 generations)	high

Response (conservation actions taken for the key species and/or their habitats)
Designation	Planning	Action	Result
Unknown	Unknown	Unknown	very low

IBA Protection

Year	Protected Area	Designation (management category)	% coverage of IBA
1978	Northen Part of Caspian Sea	State Reservation (-)	6
1982	Aktay-Buzachinskiy	Zakaznik (IV)	26

Habitats

Habitat	% of IBA	Habitat detail
Desert	55	Desert & semi-desert - stony; Desert & semi-desert - salty; Desert & semi-desert - clay
Rocky areas (eg. inland cliffs, mountain peaks)	35	Inland cliffs
Wetlands (inland)	10	Standing brackish & salt water

Land use

Land use	% of IBA
nature conservation and research	15
rangeland/pastureland	minor (<10)
energy production and mining	minor (<10)

Recommended citation
BirdLife International (2025) Important Bird Area factsheet: Aktau cliff faces (Kazakhstan). Downloaded from https://datazone.birdlife.org/site/factsheet/aktau-cliff-faces-iba-kazakhstan on 26/01/2025.