Current view: Text account
Site description (2001 baseline):
Site location and context
The site lies just to the north-west of Lac Oubeïra (site DZ001), and consists of a small saltwater lagoon fringed by mudbanks and saltmarsh, one of the wetlands making up the El Kala complex. The lagoon is formed from an old river valley invaded by the sea and is connected to the sea at the northern end by an artificially deepened channel c.1 km long. The maximum depth of the lake is 6 m. The lagoon receives fresh water from two inflowing oueds at the southern end (especially in winter), but it is predominantly saline (increasing in salinity towards the northern end), as indicated by the vegetation (e.g.
Zostera sp.) and the presence of beds of
Mytilus edulis. Emergent vegetation in the lake includes
Potamogeton pectinatus,
Ruppia cirrhosa and
Juncus maritimus (all at the southern end) and large beds of
Zostera noltii, although this habitat has been subject to ecological perturbations in recent years (see below). The surrounding area consists of wooded dunes and evergreen scrub. There is a commercial fishery, taking mainly
Mugil sp., with smaller catches of other fish and
Anguilla anguilla. Some hunting occurs, but the use of boats on the water is restricted.
In previous years, the primary importance of the site has been for wintering waterbird populations. Several thousand
Aythya nyroca were said to winter here and on site DZ001 in the 1960s, but the only recent record for this site is of 13 birds in 1989. More than 20,000 waterfowl have been recorded (maximum 50,800 in 1973), with individual totals, also in the 1970s, for
Aythya ferina (6,000),
A. fuligula (12,300)
and
Fulica atra (32,500), all close to IBA species thresholds. More recently, the total numbers recorded each year have declined (to 5,000 in the early 1980s and 1,300 in 1986) and
A. ferina and
A. fuligula may have disappeared entirely. Marine fish-feeding and scavenging birds such as
Phalacrocorax carbo,
Larus cachinnans and
L. ridibundus have increased in abundance following dredging of the sea channel (see below). The site was, in the past, considered to form part of the integrated wetland complex within the Parc National d’El Kala, linked in particular to site DZ001 by movements of
A. fuligula between the two sites. There are breeding records for
Egretta garzetta,
Ardea cinerea,
A. purpurea,
Bubulcus ibis,
Circus aeruginosus,
Pandion haliaetus and
Falco peregrinus. Other species recorded on the site include
Tachybaptus ruficollis,
Podiceps cristatus (100 in 1995) and
Podiceps nigricollis (300 in 1995).
Non-bird biodiversity: None known to BirdLife International.
Pressure/threats to key biodiversity
In recent years, the local authorities have dredged and enlarged the sea channel, resulting in considerable ecological change (including invasion by exotic plant species), that has probably caused the declines in wintering waterfowl numbers. The importance of the site for birds has decreased dramatically. However, the site lies within the Parc National d’El Kala and the El Kala Biosphere Reserve and, at least in the past, has formed an important part of the linked complex of wetlands used by certain species, notably
Aythya fuligula. On this basis it has been listed as an IBA, in the hope that its reinstatement could be incorporated as part of management plans for the National Park.
Recommended citation
BirdLife International (2024) Important Bird Area factsheet: Lac Melah (Algeria). Downloaded from
https://datazone.birdlife.org/site/factsheet/lac-melah-iba-algeria on 26/12/2024.
