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• Reference and further resources

The site was identified as internationally important for bird conservation in 1994 because it was regularly supporting significant populations of the species listed below, meeting ('triggering') IBA criteria.

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

Species	Red List	Season (year/s of estimate)	Size	IBA criteria
Black Francolin Francolinus francolinus	LC	resident (1993)	rare	B2
Ferruginous Duck Aythya nyroca	NT	breeding (1983)	10 pairs	B2
Eurasian Bittern Botaurus stellaris	LC	winter (1993)	present	B2
Black-winged Stilt Himantopus himantopus	LC	winter (1983)	1,900 birds	B1i
A4iii Species group - waterbirds	n/a	winter (1993)	20,000 birds	A4iii

Ideally the conservation status of the IBA will have been checked regularly since the site was first identified in 1994. The most recent assessment (2013) is shown below.

Pressure (threats to the trigger species and/or their habitats)
Threat	Timing	Scope	Severity	Result
Human intrusions and disturbance	happe­ning now	some of popul­ation/area (10–49%)	slow decline (1–10% over 3 gener­ations)	medium

Response (conservation actions taken for the trigger species and/or their habitats)
Designation	Planning	Action	Result
Little/none of area covered (<10%)	No management planning has taken place	Not assessed	very low

Habitat	% of IBA	Habitat detail
Artificial/Aquatic & Marine	major (>10)
Desert	major (>10)

Land use	% of IBA
hunting	major (>10)
tourism/recreation	major (>10)
water management	major (>10)

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Recommended citation
BirdLife International (2024) Important Bird Area factsheet: Al-Hasa lagoons (Saudi Arabia). Downloaded from https://datazone.birdlife.org/site/factsheet/al-hasa-lagoons-iba-saudi-arabia on 22/12/2024.