SY015
Jabal al-Bilas


Country/territory: Syria

IBA criteria met: B2, B3 (1994)
For more information about IBA criteria, please click here

Area: 40,000 ha

The Syrian Society for the Conservation of Wildlife
IBA conservation status
Year of assessment (most recent) State (condition) Pressure (threat) Response (action)
2014 not assessed high low
For more information about IBA monitoring, please click here


Site description (1994 baseline)
An isolated mountain (up to 1,105 m) lying c.70 km north-west of Tadmur (Palmyra). The landscape is eroded and the scant vegetation includes scattered trees/bushes of Pistacia, Prunus and Rhamnus, and shrubs of Artemisia, Atriplex, Salsola and Anabasis. There is some unspecified waterfowl habitat, presumably caused by winter flooding of depressions.

Key biodiversity
See box for key species. Other breeding species include Buteo rufinus and Pterocles alchata, and wintering waterfowl include c.500 Anser albifrons and c.400 ducks.

Non-bird biodiversity: Mammals: Canis lupus (V) and Gazella subgutturosa (rare). Flora: many endemics are confined to the isolated mountains in the Syrian Desert.

Acknowledgements
Data-sheets compiled by: Dr Ibrahim Hanna and Dr Amer Majid Agha (translated by S. Zaiane); Dr Marco Masseti.


Recommended citation
BirdLife International (2024) Important Bird Area factsheet: Jabal al-Bilas (Syria). Downloaded from https://datazone.birdlife.org/site/factsheet/jabal-al-bilas-iba-syria on 23/11/2024.