Current view: Text account
Site description (1994 baseline):
Site location and context
A shallow, relatively well-sheltered bay, part of the larger Kuwait Bay system, with extensive intertidal mudflats (c.890 ha). The site is important for economically valuable shrimp nurseries, and supports both recreational and traditional fishing with fixed traps (hadra). A close season operates for shrimp catching.
The site is important for coastal waterfowl during winter and on passage, including
Ardea cinerea (62, January) and
Recurvirostra avosetta (70, January). Mixed-species flocks of several thousand waterfowl occur during migration seasons but accurate counts of species and individuals have not been made. At least 66 species have been recorded.
Non-bird biodiversity: Invertebrates: the crab Cleistostoma kuwaitense (endemic).
Pressure/threats to key biodiversity
There are no serious threats at present: some local oil pollution occurs from power stations on Doha peninsula, and toxic outflow from Jahra Pool destroyed extensive stands of
Salicornia in early 1980s. The site has been inaccessible since the 1990–1991 Iraqi occupation because of unexploded ordnance, which gives some
de facto protection from human disturbance.
Data-sheet compiled by Prof. C. W. T. Pilcher.
Recommended citation
BirdLife International (2024) Important Bird Area factsheet: Dawhat Kazima (Kuwait). Downloaded from
https://datazone.birdlife.org/site/factsheet/dawhat-kazima-iba-kuwait on 26/12/2024.
