Current view: Text account
Site description (2007 baseline):
Site location and context
A scenic area close to Dili with numerous steep low hills covered in Eucalyptus alba savanna woodland. It includes a limited coastal embayment including extensive shallow mudflats and sea-grass beds, limited mangrove, rock platforms and beaches. Small stands of tropical dry forest are developing in gullies and on ridge tops. This area is part of a network of coastal wetlands that includes the Tibar, Tasitolu, Hera and Metinaro areas, which are characterised by extensive mudflat and mangrove habitats.
Nine restricted-range species have been recorded in this IBA; the Critically Endangered Christmas Island Frigatebird Fregata andrewsi has also occurred but only as a vagrant (Trainor 2004b).
A scenic area close to Dili with numerous steep low hills covered in Eucalyptus alba savanna woodland. It includes a limited coastal embayment including extensive shallow mudflats and sea-grass beds, limited mangrove, rock platforms and beaches. Small stands of tropical dry forest are developing in gullies and on ridge tops. This area is part of a network of coastal wetlands that includes the Tibar, Tasitolu, Hera and Metinaro areas, which are characterised by extensive mudflat and mangrove habitats.
Pressure/threats to key biodiversity
Threats to this IBA include intensive collection of Eucalyptus alba trees for fuel wood, subsistence and trade, disposal of household rubbish and illegal extraction of sand behind the beaches. The beach area is increasingly being used for recreational purposes by the large expatriate community, and recreation and tourism hotel developments pose a potentially significant threat in the future.
The Areia Branca beach and the hinterland hills and ridges were recognised as a Protected Wild Area (erroneously named “Cristo Rei beach”) by UNTAET (2000) under Regulation Number 2000/19.
Recommended citation
BirdLife International (2024) Important Bird Area factsheet: Areia Branca no Dolok Oan (Timor-Leste). Downloaded from
https://datazone.birdlife.org/site/factsheet/areia-branca-no-dolok-oan-iba-timor-leste on 23/11/2024.
