Current view: Text account
Site description (2001 baseline):
Site location and context
Kazan Lake is situated in west-central Saskatchewan, 30 km south of the town of Buffalo Narrows, and 100 km east of the Alberta border. The lake is 16 km long and 10 km wide. The Kazan River connects to Peter Pond Lake, which is a large body of water located about 15 km to the north. The shores of Kazan Lake are predominantly forested with some portions supporting emergent vegetation. Dominant trees are typical of the boreal forest region, with Black Spruce being abundant. A group of islands lie at the shallow northern end of the lake.
Kazan Lake supports a large colony of American White Pelicans and Double-crested Cormorants. Between 1976 and 1991 this colony supported an average of 1,048 American White Pelican nests, and 1,770 Double-crested Cormorant nests (a total of six surveys were completed during this period). This average number of nests represents about 2% of the Canadian population of American White Pelican, and just over 1% of the world's population. Other noteworthy species that breed on the Kazan Lake islands include Great Blue Heron and Osprey. An average of 53 heron nests were observed during two surveys in 1970 and 1976, while a pair of Ospreys has also been recorded at the site. A wide variety of boreal-forest birds also nest on the islands and in the surrounding area.
Conservation responses/actions for key biodiversity
Kazan Lake is provincially-owned crown land. In the early 1970s, a portion of the lake was identified as a candidate area under the International Biological Programme (IBP-CT 70-13; 121 ha). Although no special regulatory measures exist with the IBP designation, it does serve to emphasize the ecological importance of the area. Gatehouse Island has been designated as a Provincial Wildlife Refuge.
Recommended citation
BirdLife International (2024) Important Bird Area factsheet: Kazan Lake (Canada). Downloaded from
https://datazone.birdlife.org/site/factsheet/kazan-lake-iba-canada on 22/12/2024.
