Data Zone
Country/territory: Cuba
IBA criteria met: A1, A4i, A4iii, B4i (2008)
For more information about IBA criteria, please click here
Area: 66,691 ha
Site description (2008 baseline)
Humedal Sur de Pinar del Río IBA includes the coastal zone
between the municipalities of Los Palacios and Consolación
del Sur, in the south of Pinar del Río province. It comprises a
fringe of natural coastal wetlands associated with rice
cultivation and cattle farming. The coastal wetlands, which
include several lagoons such as Maspotón and Casa Media,
are bordered by mangroves. More than 90% of the IBA
consists of wetland habitat, 30% of it is natural (mangroves,
coastal lagoons, salt marshes, intertidal mudflats) and the rest
is artificial (i.e. seasonal rice paddies).
Key biodiversity
This IBA supports more than 101 bird species and holds
significant numbers of resident and migratory waterbirds,
particularly shorebirds and ducks. More than 10,000 dowitchers
Limnodromus spp. have been observed. Other common
waterbirds include Little Blue Heron Egretta caerulea, Glossy
Ibis Plegadis falcinellus, West Indian Whistling-duck
Dendrocygna arborea (Vulnerable), Blue-winged Teal Anas
discors, and Brown Pelican Pelecanus occidentalis. The largest
concentration of American White Pelican Pelecanus
erythrorhynchos recorded in the Caribbean (c.400 individuals)
was in this IBA where it is a common winter resident.
Non-bird biodiversity: The coastal lagoons support populations of the Vulnerable American crocodile Crocodylus acutus and the hutia Capromys pilorides .
Acknowledgements
Authors: LOURDES MUGICA, MARTÍN ACOSTA
Recommended citation
BirdLife International (2024) Important Bird Area factsheet: Humedal Sur de Pinar del Río (Cuba). Downloaded from
https://datazone.birdlife.org/site/factsheet/humedal-sur-de-pinar-del-río-iba-cuba on 22/11/2024.