Data Zone
Country/territory: India
IBA criteria met: A1, A4iii (2004)
For more information about IBA criteria, please click here
Area: 8,200 ha
| IBA conservation status | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Year of assessment (most recent) | State (condition) | Pressure (threat) | Response (action) |
| 2003 | not assessed | high | not assessed |
| For more information about IBA monitoring, please click here | |||
Site description (2004 baseline)
Charakla Saltworks is located near Okhamandal in Jamnagar district. The area is bound by the Gulf of Kutch coast on the north and spreads to the Arabian sea coast down south. Sea water is pumped in form the Gulf of Kutch and allowed to flow through a series of shallow ponds to enable the process of evaporation for the production of salt. These salt pans attracts tens of thousands of waterbirds. The area features four types of habitats: the saltpans, mangroves, thorny scrub in the surrounding area, and saline wastelands.
Key biodiversity
AVIFAUNA: About 120 species of birds have been identified in this IBA (Vivek Talwar and Satish H. Trivedi pers. comm. 2003). There are reports of more than 300 Black-necked Grebe Podiceps nigricollis seen in some winters, perhaps the largest known population in India. The Great Crested Grebe Podiceps cristatus is known to breed in the area - another confirmed site where this bird breeds is Khijadiya Bird Sanctuary in the same district. Sometimes large flocks consisting of up to 300 to 400 individuals of Rosy Pelican Pelecanus onocrotalus, and Dalmatian Pelican P. crispus are seen. Both species of flamingos – the Greater Phoenicopterus ruber and the Lesser P. minor - are seen in thousands. Despite the presence of these large spectacular birds, the site is famous for its multitude flocks of smaller waders such as stints, sandpipers, plovers, curlews and godwits. Some species occur in much greater numbers than their 1% population threshold determined by Wetlands International (2002). Thirty species of small waders are reported from this area – the list is too long to include here. Among gulls, Herring Larus argentatus, Lesser Black-backed L. fuscus, Great Black-headed L. ichthyaetus, Brown-headed L. brunnicephalus, Black-headed L. ridibundus and Slender-billed L. genei are found. Terns are represented by Sandwich Sterna sandvicensis, Large Crested S. bergii, Little S. albifrons, Blackshafted Sterna saundersi, Gull-billed Gelochelidon nilotica and Caspian Hydroprogne caspia. The Caspian Tern breeds in this area (Sudershan Rodriquez pers. comm. 2004). This site is selected on the basis of A1 (Threatened Species), A4i (= 1% of biogeographic populations of many species) and A4iii (presence of = 20,000 waterbirds).
OTHER KEY FAUNA: Not available.
Acknowledgements
Key contributors: Vivek Talwar, Satish H. Trivedi and Satish Pradhan.
Recommended citation
BirdLife International (2024) Important Bird Area factsheet: Charakla Saltworks (India). Downloaded from
https://datazone.birdlife.org/site/factsheet/charakla-saltworks-iba-india on 22/11/2024.