Current view: Text account
Site description (2001 baseline):
Site location and context
Kokoro wetland lies 150 km north-west of Niamey and 30 km north-east of Téra, next to the village of Kokoro and 10 km west of Namga wetland (site NE004). It is a large, shallow (0.5–1.0 m), wetland occupying part of an ancient valley surrounded by sand-dunes, some granite outcrops of Precambrian age and flat-topped hills carved from Tertiary sediments. It is a semi-permanent wetland, containing water 7–12 months of the year. At its greatest extent it is 13 km long and occupies 2,100 ha. Between 1961–1990 annual rainfall at Kokoro averaged approximately 380 mm. However, total rainfall at Kokoro varies enormously from year to year, which affects the size of the wetland (700–1,800 ha at the times of the waterbird censuses). Historically, the valley probably fed into the Niger river, from which it is now blocked at its eastern end by sand-dunes. The water of the wetland is brackish and of neutral pH, with low levels of nitrogen and high levels of phosphorus in the very sandy sediment. The substrate at the southern end contains a lot of clay and is vegetated mostly with
Ludwigia adscendens. There is also some
Typha sp. in the south-east. The northern end is quite sandy and covered by e.g.
Echinochloa obtusifolia and
Cyperus distans. The relatively small amounts of deeper, open water contain water-lilies
Nymphaea lotus and
N. caerulea. At the western end there is a tree-covered flood-plain several kilometres in length, where
Acacia nilotica is the most common species. Smaller areas of flood-plain with trees are also found at the eastern end and fringing the southern margin.
See Box for key species. Waterbird counts made in January–February 1994–1998 and April 1997 are the only known ornithological data. Coverage was usually only partial, except when the water-level was very low. In total, 44 species of waterbird have been recorded. In January 1999 the total count was 50,191. In addition to those listed below, other notable counts include 1,000
Dendrocygna bicolor in February 1996, 2,500
Dendrocygna viduata in February 1995, 889
Plectropterus gambensis in February 1997, 251
Plegadis falcinellis in February 1995, and up to 440
Sarkidiornis melanotos and 257
Himantopus himantopus in February 1996. In addition, two
Circus macrourus were seen in February 1997.
Non-bird biodiversity: None known to BirdLife International
Pressure/threats to key biodiversity
In 2001, Kokoro wetland was designated as a Ramsar Site. The wetland is owned by the government, but may be used by the local population under supervision. Towards the end of the dry season the wetland virtually becomes a flooded meadow, used heavily by cattle. Livestock increase the nutrient loading of the wetland and the phosphorus content of the sediments is relatively high. There is little doubt that this increases the primary and secondary production of the wetland, but whether this is leading to eutrophication is not clear. Livestock also affect the vegetation through grazing or overgrazing and trampling. The wetland is also fished using cast nets and fixed lines. The lake was stocked with fish in 1986, but only
Protopterus annectens remains. Expansion of agricultural activities along the borders may be a future threat, but there is, at present, little sign of this. Similarly, the limited amount of collection of natural products does not appear to be having much impact. Sand-dunes threaten the wetland at its northern border and have been the target of a dune-fixation programme. Hunting could become a problem although, as at many wetlands, the local population discourages hunting by outsiders. Kokoro and Namga (site NE004) wetlands will be the subject of an integrated wetland management and development project, as part of a GEF-financed migratory waterbird project for the African-Eurasian flyway.
Recommended citation
BirdLife International (2024) Important Bird Area factsheet: Kokoro wetland (Niger). Downloaded from
https://datazone.birdlife.org/site/factsheet/kokoro-wetland-iba-niger on 23/11/2024.
