Current view: Text account
Site description (1994 baseline):
Site location and context
Lowland flood-plains of the Amu Darya (Oxus) river in northern Afghanistan, c.60 km north of Kunduz, at c.500 m. Extensive swamp woodland formerly dominated this region: vast tracts of reeds
Phragmites interspersed with thickets of
Tamarix and
Salix trees and quite large stands of
Elaeagnus woodland. However in recent years no doubt much has been destroyed and turned into cultivation as it has been on the north side of the river in Tajikistan and elsewhere on the river.
Virtually unstudied ornithologically but, together with Darqad (site 001) further east along the river, the site was known in the 1970s to harbour the last remnants of
Phasianus colchicus bianchii in Afghanistan. Other (probable) breeding species include
Marmaronetta angustirostris (not proven but likely),
Vanellus leucurus,
Acrocephalus concinens,
A. melanopogon,
Panurus biarmicus and
Riparia paludicola. Large numbers of unspecified wildfowl utilize the area on migration.
Non-bird biodiversity: Mammals: in the 1960s the area was extremely important for the last remnants of the threatened subspecies Cervus elaphus bactrianus.
Pressure/threats to key biodiversity
Although formerly declared a Royal Hunting Preserve in the early part of the century, with restrictions on settlement, access, conversion to agriculture and hunting, it was never gazetted as such. No conservation measures have been formally proposed. Habitat destruction is a very great threat which may already have reached dramatic proportions: the swamp woodland was being destroyed and turned into cultivation by settlers in the late 1970s, following the overthrow of the monarchy, and the area is currently a war zone. The lack of protected areas severely compromises the survival of any remaining significant areas of woodland. Both
Cervus elaphus bactrianus and
Phasianus colchicus bianchii were hunted extensively and without control in the 1970s, and their survival is in doubt unless surveys are carried out and hunting regulated. In the future, the potential damming of the Amu Darya river upstream in Tajikistan is also a threat to the integrity of the site, of unknown magnitude.
Recommended citation
BirdLife International (2024) Important Bird Area factsheet: Imam Sahib (Afghanistan). Downloaded from
https://datazone.birdlife.org/site/factsheet/imam-sahib-iba-afghanistan on 23/11/2024.
