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

Site description (1994 baseline)
A 55-km stretch of the Karkheh river and adjacent marshy plains (3,500 ha of wetlands), c.35-90 km north-north-west of Ahwaz. The river flows in a deep channel with steep earth banks. Dense riverine forest of Tamarix and Populus euphraticus, up to several hundred metres wide, lines the river banks. The adjacent plains, largely cultivated with wheat, are dotted with shallow marshy depressions and meandering creeks which flood in winter.

Key biodiversity
See box for key species. The riverine forest supports a typical Mesopotamian bird fauna including large breeding populations of Hypocolius ampelinus and Passer moabiticus. The river and adjacent flood-plain are of some importance for wintering Pelecanus crispus and surface-feeding ducks. Other notable species are Ceryle rudis, Halcyon smyrnensis and Petronia xanthocollis.

Non-bird biodiversity: Mammals: a tiny population of Dama mesopotamica (E) still survived along the Karkheh river until the early 1970s, but apparently became extinct in the mid- or late 1970s, leaving the population along the Dez river to the east as the only one known in the wild. Other species include Gazella subgutturosa (rare).

Acknowledgements
Data-sheet compiled by Dr D. A. Scott, reviewed by Dept of Environment.

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Recommended citation
BirdLife International (2024) Important Bird Area factsheet: Karkheh river marshes (Iran, Islamic Republic of). Downloaded from https://datazone.birdlife.org/site/factsheet/karkheh-river-marshes-iba-iran-islamic-republic-of on 22/11/2024.