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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).

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 .

Humedal Sur de Pinar del Río IBA has no legal protection status, but conservation projects and environmental education campaigns are being implemented in the area. The coastal strip is managed by the Empresa para la Protección de la Flora y la Fauna (EPFF), and the rice paddies by Los Palacios Agroindustrial Complex. Although this area has traditionally been used for hunting, it has valuable coastal wetland remnants that are critical for sustaining waterbird populations. These wetlands are partly affected by residents from Los Palacios, la Cubana, Paso Real de San Diego, Alonso de Rojas, and Consolación del Sur, who use them to gain access to the rice paddies. Despite the agricultural uses of the IBA, the application of fertilisers has decreased by 50% in the last 15 years, due to the economic crisis in Cuba.

Authors: LOURDES MUGICA, MARTÍN ACOSTA

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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 23/12/2024.