Current view: Text account
Site description (1994 baseline):
Site location and context
Three nearby areas of mangrove
Avicennia marina (the densest on the northern Red Sea coast of Saudi Arabia) covering c.11 km of coast on the 'delta' of Wadi Farrah, in the midst of a port and harbour complex serving the new industrial city of Madinat Yanbu al-Sinaiyah (25 km south of Yanbu al-Bahr). There are associated coral flats, sand beaches, saltmarsh, sabkhah, and an offshore islet.
See box for key species. The site has a representative mangrove avifauna. Other breeding species include
Ixobrychus minutus (probable),
Nycticorax nycticorax (possible),
Butorides striatus (min. 2 pairs),
Egretta gularis (two colonies),
Ardea cinerea (possible),
A. purpurea (max. 3 pairs),
Pandion haliaetus (3 pairs),
Acrocephalus baeticatus (c.45 pairs) and
A. stentoreus (c.10 pairs).
Non-bird biodiversity: None known to BirdLife International.
Pressure/threats to key biodiversity
The three areas have been established as, and are managed as, Conservation Areas by the Royal Commission for Jubail and Yanbu, and will be retained in their natural state and protected from disturbance. There are plans for an environmental awareness centre with a marine laboratory.
Data-sheet compiled by B. Meadows.
Recommended citation
BirdLife International (2024) Important Bird Area factsheet: Madinat Yanbu al-Sinaiyah (Saudi Arabia). Downloaded from
https://datazone.birdlife.org/site/factsheet/madinat-yanbu-al-sinaiyah-iba-saudi-arabia on 23/11/2024.
