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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.

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.

MAIN THREATS: Fishing by local community in the area; Stray incidents of poaching; Mortality of flamingos due to collision with the power lines.

The Okhamandal region is one of the most drought prone regions of our country. Almost every alternate year is a drought year resulting in fodder scarcity. The locals indulge in collection of mangrove foliage for feeding their cattle. Camel grazing in the mangrove zone is also rampant. These anthropogenic pressures including collection of fuel wood have resulted in the degradation of the mangrove vegetation and added to the pressures on the nesting of the local birds.

Key contributors: Vivek Talwar, Satish H. Trivedi and Satish Pradhan.

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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 23/11/2024.