Current view: Text account
Site description (2014 baseline):
Site location and context
This site is a valley where several streams flow east through a range of mountains that lies to the west. Safin Mountain extends along its eastern side
Additional Important Bird Observations: A total of 69 species was observed. In addition to those listed in the table, the site also held one Sahara-Sindian Desert biome-restricted species. The Eastern Cinereous Bunting Emberiza semenowi and European Roller Coracias garrulus (both Near Threatened) were obseved in the breeding season.
Other Important Fauna: Mammal data were collected at this site only in 2010. A local claimed that he had seen a brown bear Ursus arctos in 2009. He also claimed that the Endangered Persian Leopard Panthera pardus saxicolor was present before the beginning of the civil war in 1994. Reptile observed was Urmia Rock Lizard Apathya cappadocica urmiana. No fish survey was made because the streams were not large enough.
Additional Plant & Habitat Information: This site contains a good population of pistachio (Pistacia eurycarpa, and P. khinjuk), a plant that is important both economically and for the local heritage. Also Gundelia tournefortii, which is important as a traditional food and Hordeum bulbosum and Vitis vinifera, which are important genetic resources.
Mountain forest vegetation with dense oak woodlands (also Prunus sp. and Pistatia sp. And many species of herbs) is the main habitat and it contains agricultural fields. It is located in the Zagros mountain range, where the geology is limestone and the soil type is sandy clay.
The villages of Tawska, Gorasheri Sarw, Gorasheri Khwarw and Qalasnji Khwarw are nearby. A new road was under construction during the 2010 survey. Land use in this area is in the form of crop (wheat and barley) farms and vineyards as well as some orchards especially in the valley. Housing construction was seen at the survey site. Two sub-sites were visited during the survey effort.
Pressure/threats to key biodiversity
Although livestock production/grazing, tourism and changes to nearby land use as a result of agricultural expansion and housing construction remain high threats, the ecological condition of this area was only moderately disturbed, with high vegetation cover and many important plant species (endemic and rare). This makes this site one of the most important plant areas in Iraqi Kurdistan.
Recommended citation
BirdLife International (2024) Important Bird Area factsheet: Doli Smaquli and Ashab (Iraq). Downloaded from
https://datazone.birdlife.org/site/factsheet/doli-smaquli-and-ashab-iba-iraq on 22/12/2024.
