Current view: Text account
Site description (1994 baseline):
Site location and context
A limestone plateau with sandy depressions, sand/gravel plains, karst, sand-dunes, hills and escarpments, ranging from 20 to 200 m elevation. There are occasional trees and bushes of
Acacia ehrenbergiana,
Acacia tortilis and
Prosopis cineraria, but the vegetation consists mainly of sparse, low shrubs and ephemeral grasses. The area is relatively well-vegetated, given the low average annual rainfall, due to regular condensation of fog moisture blowing in off the sea. Al Huqf is a low, discontinuous escarpment marking the boundary between the Jiddat al Harasis and the depression of sabkha and low hills which continues eastward to the coast; water seepages occur along it. Al Huqf is an important refuge for animals, permitting the penetration far northward of some species otherwise limited to Dhofar. The main land-use is nomadic pastoralism. There are major oilfields south-west of the area.
See box for key species. A diverse assemblage of desert breeding birds, including
Aquila chrysaetos,
Chlamydotis undulata,
Burhinus capensis,
Pterocles coronatus,
P. exustus,
Tyto alba,
Athene noctua,
Eremopterix nigriceps,
Eremalauda dunni,
Ammomanes cincturus and
Alaemon alaudipes.
Non-bird biodiversity: Mammals: Canis lupus (V), Caracal caracal (rare), Capra nubiana (I), Gazella gazella (V), G. subgutturosa (rare) and Oryx leucoryx (re-introduced). Reptiles: the endemic lizard Uromastyx thomasi occurs. Flora: several plants endemic to Oman are virtually restricted to this site.
Pressure/threats to key biodiversity
The White Oryx Project, based at Jaaluni since 1979, is operated by the Office of the Adviser for Conservation of the Environment of the Diwan of Royal Court.
Oryx leucoryx has been successfully reintroduced at this site and is now breeding freely in the wild; the oryx are guarded by patrols of rangers recruited from the local people, which gives protection to bird populations. The area is a proposed National Nature Reserve and is part of the proposed natural World Heritage Site (see also sites 021 and 023).
Data-sheet compiled by Simon Albrecht.
Recommended citation
BirdLife International (2024) Important Bird Area factsheet: Jiddat al Harasis (Oman). Downloaded from
https://datazone.birdlife.org/site/factsheet/jiddat-al-harasis-iba-oman on 24/12/2024.
