Data Zone
Country/territory: Sudan
IBA criteria met: A1, A3 (2001)
For more information about IBA criteria, please click here
Area: 150,000 hectares (1,500.00 km2)
Site description (2001 baseline)
Jebel Marra is an extinct volcano which rises out of the plains of Darfur between the town of El Fasher and the international frontier with Chad. The lower slopes have some tree cover while in the centre of the crater lie two lakes surrounded by rolling hills covered with grass and bushes. The site is surrounded by rocky desert and sparse scrub dissected by a series of wadis.
Key biodiversity
See Box and Table 2 for key species. In addition to Falco naumanni, which occurs in significant numbers, Circus macrourus and Aythya nyroca have also been recorded on passage. Five species of the Sudan–Guinea Savanna biome (A04) have also been recorded (see Table 2).
Non-bird biodiversity: The site is known to support an endemic flora. The tree Olea chrysophylla occurs, one of only two sites in Sudan from which it is known.
Recommended citation
BirdLife International (2024) Important Bird Area factsheet: Jebel Marra (Sudan). Downloaded from
https://datazone.birdlife.org/site/factsheet/jebel-marra-iba-sudan on 23/12/2024.