TR081
Amanos Mountains


Site description (2000 baseline):

Site location and context
A high mountain ridge that forms the boundary between Mediterranean Turkey and the Syrian plateau. Wet areas at low altitude are clothed with dense deciduous forest; Pinus forest dominates the lower serpentine slopes. Extensive Quercus scrub occurs on the drier landward slopes, with dry grasslands and Cedrus at higher elevations. Human use of the area is limited to sheep-grazing and forestry. This area was treated in the previous international IBA inventory (Grimmett and Jones 1989) as Belen Geçidi (Belen pass) (former site TR059).



Key biodiversity
The majority of birds passing through site 005 (Bosphorus) during autumn and spring cross the Nur mountains, along with Turkish breeders. The only comprehensive autumn count was undertaken at the Belen pass over five weeks in 1976; few spring records are available. 6,203 Pelecanus onocrotalus, 3,303 Ciconia nigra, 82,887 C. ciconia and 26,756 raptors (mainly Pernis apivorus, Accipiter brevipes and Aquila pomarina) were counted. 9,950 Ciconia ciconia were counted over the Belen Pass on one day in spring 1992.



Pressure/threats to key biodiversity
No serious threats are known at the site.



Protected areas
National Partial International NoneSouthern part of IBA covered by Permanent Wildlife Reserve (Nur Daðlarý, 120,000 ha).




Recommended citation
BirdLife International (2024) Important Bird Area factsheet: Amanos Mountains (Türkiye). Downloaded from https://datazone.birdlife.org/site/factsheet/amanos-mountains-iba-türkiye on 22/11/2024.