Data Zone
Country/territory: Iceland
IBA criteria met: B1i, B2 (2000)
For more information about IBA criteria, please click here
Area: 4,500 ha
Site description (2000 baseline)
Apavatn and Laugarvatn lakes and their surrounding marshes/mires lie about 20 km east of Lake Thingvallavatn, in the north-west part of the southern lowlands of Iceland. Marshes are dominated by sedges (Carex, Eriophorum). There is a wetland with hot-springs at Hjálmstadaengjar. Holiday-homes are present.
Key biodiversity
Notable numbers of Bucephala clangula (some tens) and Mergus merganser (18 in 1988, 46 in 1989) also occur in winter. A wide variety of waterbirds breed, including Histrionicus histrionicus, and hundreds of staging Aythya marila, A. fuligula and Mergus serrator use the area on passage.
Recommended citation
BirdLife International (2024) Important Bird Area factsheet: Laugarvatn - Apavatn - Bruara (Iceland). Downloaded from
https://datazone.birdlife.org/site/factsheet/laugarvatn--apavatn--bruara-iba-iceland on 05/12/2024.