Lake Turkana and Omo delta (Ethiopia) - BirdLife IBA factsheet

ET069

Lake Turkana and Omo delta

Current view: Data table and detailed info

IBA Justification

The site was identified as important in 1996 because it was regularly supporting significant populations of the species listed below, meeting ('triggering') IBA criteria.

Populations meeting IBA criteria ('trigger species') at the site:

Species	Red List¹	Season	Year(s)	Size	IBA criteria
African Skimmer Rynchops flavirostris	LC	non-breeding	1975	1,000 individuals	A4i
A4iii Species group - waterbirds	n/a	non-breeding	1996	20,000 individuals	A4iii

1. The current IUCN Red List category. The category at the time of the IBA criteria assessment (1996) may differ.

IBA Conservation

Ideally the conservation status of the IBA will have been checked regularly since the site was first identified in 1996. The most recent assessment (1996) is shown below.

IBA conservation assessment
Year of assessment	State	Pressure	Response
1996	favourable	medium	negligible
Whole site assessed?	State assessed by	Accuracy of information
no	habitat	poor

State (condition of the trigger species' populations)
Species	Reference	Actual	Units	% remaining	Result
African Skimmer Rynchops flavirostris	1,000	1,000	individuals	100	not assessed

State (condition of the trigger species' habitats)
Habitat	Quantity (% remaining)	Quality (% carrying capacity)	Result
Wetlands (inland)	good (> 90%)	good (> 90%)	favourable

Pressure (threats to the trigger species and/or their habitats)
Threat	Timing	Scope	Severity	Result
Pollution	likely in long term (beyond 4 years)	some of area/population (10-49%)	slow but significant deterioration	medium
Agricultural expansion and intensification	likely in long term (beyond 4 years)	small area/few individuals (<10%)	moderate to rapid deterioration	low

Response (conservation actions taken for the trigger species and/or their habitats)
Protected areas	Management plan	Other action	Result
Little/none of site covered (<10%)	No management planning has taken place	Very little or no conservation action taking place	negligible

IBA Protection

Year	Protected Area	Designation	% overlap with IBA
1973	Murle	Controlled Hunting Area	23
1973	Omo West	Controlled Hunting Area	6

Habitats

Habitat¹	Habitat detail	% of IBA
Savanna	Bushland & thicket - deciduous, Bushland & thicket - evergreen, Wooded grassland	57
Grassland	Grassland - edaphic, dry, Grassland - Semi-desert	25
Wetlands (inland)	Freshwater lakes and pools, Permanent herbaceous swamps and bogs, Rivers & streams	17

1. IUCN Habitat classification.

Land use

Land use	% of IBA
agriculture	-
fisheries/aquaculture	-

Recommended citation
BirdLife International (2024) Important Bird Area factsheet: Lake Turkana and Omo delta (Ethiopia). Downloaded from https://datazone.birdlife.org/site/factsheet/lake-turkana-and-omo-delta-iba-ethiopia on 23/11/2024.