Current view: Text account
Site description (2002 baseline):
Site location and context
The Portuguese side of the Guadiana estuary, at the country's south-east corner. There is an extensive area of saltpans and of claimed land (used for cattle and sheep-grazing) that was formerly saltmarsh.
Important numbers of breeding, wintering and migrating waterbirds use this site, as do some steppic species such as
Tetrax tetrax,
Burhinus oedicnemus,
Glareola prantincola and
Melanocorypha calandra. This is the only portuguese site where
Calandrella rufescens breeds. Untill 1999
Falco naumanni bred at this site.
Pressure/threats to key biodiversity
There is a proposal of management plan for Natural Reserve but it was not disccussed in public. Like other litoral sites in the area, Castro Marim suffers high disturbance from tourism and urbanization. Two SPEA conservation projects were fisnished in 2002. One aboutwintering waders population in the saltmarshes, and other about secondary saltmarshes populations. These projects deffined management measures for bird conservation in the area.
National Nature Reserve Sapal de Castro Marim e de Vila Real de Santo António; Special Protection Area Sapal de Castro Marim; SCI proposal Ria Formosa/Castro Marim
International Special Protection Area Sapal de Castro Marim; Ramsar Wetland Site (7PT010)
Recommended citation
BirdLife International (2024) Important Bird Area factsheet: Castro Marim (Portugal). Downloaded from
https://datazone.birdlife.org/site/factsheet/castro-marim-iba-portugal on 23/11/2024.
