• Summary
• Text account
• Data table and detailed info
• Map
• Reference and further resources

Site description (1999 baseline)
It is the oldest residential location in the world which is age estimated to ten thousands of years, it contains Roman and Byzantium ruins and Arabic, Islamic ruins till this day. It is a developing residential region and not a protection area. Jerico is located in the south part of the depression, and it is of high population density, it is and agricultural region (density agricultural by all the year except in the summer time at which the temperature is so high), it contains tens of vegetables species that are consumed fastly by the people, the pesticides and the organic fertilizers are needed to the agriculture in this region. The agriculture occurs in all the year time because the high temperature characterizes this area during the winter. The water reaches this area from the springs that come from the western part of the city (Jerusalem wilderness). There are high mountain in Jerico like the mount of temptation that contains the Lesser Kestrel during his journey, and the other raptors, in addition to This area rich of biodiversity because of the location of the Jordan Valley in the east Part of it, the river is far from Jerico about 1-2 km. There are tens of bird species emigrants and resident and which are important locally and regionally. The region of Jordan Valley is a border region, which is under the control of the Israeli military, so it is considered as one of the indirect protection areas for all of its contents except the use of the wealth of the Dead Sea currently.

Key biodiversity
There are tens of birds species that nest on the mountains that are located in the western northern part of the city like the Lesser Kestrel, and the Honey Buzzerd that exists in a large amount in this region during the emigration, the White Stork passes the region in a large amount also, the Black Stork passes the region during the winter. There is also some species of Sand Partrige that breed in this area, the Tawny Owl is a resident bird in the center of Jerico city, the Lapwing also residents in Jerico, also that is registered in the eastern southern part of Jerico city, in addition to the Barbary Falcon.

Non-bird biodiversity: Caracal, lynx, mongoose, the wolf, and the hystrix can be founded in this region.

Attributes
Raptors MOU - IBA listed under Table 3 of the Memorandum of Understanding on the Conservation of Migratory Birds of Prey in Africa and Eurasia

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Recommended citation
BirdLife International (2024) Important Bird Area factsheet: Jericho (Palestine). Downloaded from https://datazone.birdlife.org/site/factsheet/jericho-iba-palestine on 25/11/2024.