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Site description (2014 baseline):
Site location and context
This area is made up of two sub-areas, Barzan and Gali Balnda (on Barzan’s western side). Three sub-sites were visited during the survey efforts for these areas. Barzan consists of mountains and valleys covered by oak woodland that is, and has traditionally been, protected by the Barzan tribe. The most important rivers within the Barzan Area are the Rezan River and the Greater (Big) Zab River. The Rezan is fairly large (approx. 20-30 m wide) and fast flowing. It flows from Turkey through Musaka village, eventually joining the Greater Zab. The Barzan area also includes Shirin Mountain, which is important for montane species.
Additional Important Bird Observations: During the surveys, a total of 91 species were observed (in the sub-area, Gali Balnda, a total 35 species were observed). In addition to those listed in the table above, European Roller Coracias garrulus (Near Threatened) was recorded breeding but at sub-IBA threshold numbers; the site also held a breeding population of Yellow-billed Chough Pyrrhocorax graculus a Eurasian High-Montane biome-restricted species. Eastern Cinereous Bunting Emberiza semenowi is Near Threatened.
Other Important Fauna: Data were collected from 2007 through 2010, with some additional work focused on Wild Goats (Vulnerable) in 2011. This species is thriving in Barzan, which has been a tribal protected site for many decades. The forestry police of Mergasur thought that the population of Wild Goats is around 1000, with some estimates much higher than this. In August 2010 and in 2011, an outbreak of goat plague or peste des petits ruminants (PPR) led to the death of over 200 animals. In 2012 a local from Barzan succesfully photographed a Eurasian Lynx Lynx lynx and in the same year another local photographed a Roe Deer Capreolus capreolus. The globally Endangered Persian Leopard Panthera pardus saxicolor was also reported by locals who have seen and heard the animal in and around the Rezan River valley. Two Otters (likely Eurasian Otter Lutra lutra; Near Threatened), were sighted with flashlights at night in the summer of 2011. In the Zrara area, the team camera trapped Brown Bear Ursus arctos, Golden Jackal Canis aureus, Indian Creasted Porcupine Hystrix indica and Red Fox Vulpes vulpes. Zagrosian Lizard Timon princeps kurdistanicus was observed. Many locusts were seen near the river in summer 2010, consuming large quantities of plant material.
Fish: Information was collected from 2007 through 2009 and eight species were observed. Significant species, as defined by Coad (2010) were: Alburnoides sp., Alburnus mossulensis, Cyprinion macrostomum, Garra rufa, Hypophthalmichthys molitrix, Luciobarbus esocinus and Paracobitis sp. Barbus lacerta and Mastacembelus mastacembelus were also observed and though of no economic importance their conservation status in Iraq is unknown. During a 2012 survey with Jörg Freyhof from the Leibniz Institute of Freshwater Ecology and Inland Fisheries, Germany Oxynoemacheilus bergianus, a new species for Iraq, was observed.
Additional Plant & Habitat Information: This site contains a good population of Pistacia eurycarpa, P. khinjuk, and Crataegus azarolus, which are important economically and culturally. Also there is a vineyard of Vitis vinifera, which is important as a genetic resource.
The main habitat types are mountain forest vegetation (primarily oak forests) and mountain riverine forest. The geology is sedimentary limestone and the soil type is sandy clay.
This area has often been proposed as a national park (it is one of the few places in Kurdistan, northern Iraq, where it is relatively easy to see Wild Goats thanks to a long-standing hunting prohibition from the Barzan tribe) and is a popular place for picnickers. A bridge crosses the Rezan river near the access to the main survey area (close to the village of Zrara) and there are remains of a much older bridge downstream. Though the regularly visited survey site is relatively small, the site extends north to the Turkish border and south across the Greater Zab River. Also included within the area is the ancient Shanidar Cave, first excavated by Drs Ralph and Rose Solecki in 1971, which contained Neanderthal burial sites. Currently, the cave has been developed for tourism. It is located in a rocky gorge, with high cliffs and oak forets. A stream beneath carries seasonal winter flows to the Greater Zab River.
Gali Balnda is comprised of a valley surrounded by mountains with the Deraluk River, entering from Turkey, passing through and flowing to the Greater Zab River. The main habitat types are mountain forest vegetation (primarily oak forests) and mountain riverine forest. The site is located in the Zagros mountain range, where the geology is sandstone, clay and gravel stones, and the soil type is sandy clay. There is an iron bridge (Shiladza) at the southern edge of the area that crosses the Deraluk River about 2 km from its confluence with the the Greater Zab near a town of the same name that dumps sewage into the Greater Zab. The land is used for farming (mainly crops, orchards and some vineyards). There are minefields, especially near Badan and Biav.
Pressure/threats to key biodiversity
The primary environmental threat is energy production (oil) listed as a very high threat; agriculture, construction and development, tourism and pollution all constitute additional threats. In 2010 there was an attempt to build an earthen dam or dike at the mouth of the Rezan River where it meets the Greater Zab. According to a local, the purpose was to create a recreation area here, where a major restaurant and tea shop stop are located along the road. Winter rains washed this dam away but by the summer of 2012, a permanent structure, the Rezan River Weir Project, was under construction at the same location. Natural systems modification overall received a high threat score and such activities should be assessed for their environmental consequences. Overgrazing and other agricultural impacts are evident. Tourism has led to accumulation of garbage and easy access to the river has allowed car-washing to become a common practice in at least the main survey area.
This site is highly affected by human intrusion and improper use of sewage water for irrigation, which is a very significant health threat. Other important threats are livestock grazing and agriculture, which directly affect the presence and distribution of many plants. Road construction was considered a medium threat, although there was no construction of new roads during the time of our visit. Hunting was considered a medium threat.
Although this area is managed traditionally as a protected area by the local tribe there may be some pressures to remove or roll back some of the protection the site recieves
Recommended citation
BirdLife International (2024) Important Bird Area factsheet: Barzan Area and Gali Balnda (Iraq). Downloaded from
https://datazone.birdlife.org/site/factsheet/barzan-area-and-gali-balnda-iba-iraq on 22/12/2024.
