Current view: Text account
Site description (2000 baseline):
Site location and context
A large wetland complex in eastern Estonia, comprising lakes, rivers, fens, transition mires, bogs, forest and flood-plain meadows. Major land-uses are fishing and forestry.
The area supports a good diversity of breeding waterbirds, including several species of global conservation concern, and is an important staging area for migratory wildfowl. Breeding species of global conservation concern that do not meet IBA criteria:
Crex crex (min. 10 pairs),
Gallinago media (10 pairs). Significant proportion (³1%) of national population breeding at site:
Porzana porzana (min. 75 pairs),
Grus grus (min. 10 pairs).
Pressure/threats to key biodiversity
The main threats come from fishing and unsustainable hunting, and the overgrowth of coastal meadows with reed
Phragmites as a result of undergrazing and reduced mowing intensity. Research involves monitoring of migrating waterbirds.
National Partial
International High21,030 ha of IBA covered by Protected Landscape (Emajõe Suursoo Mire, 21,030 ha). 672 ha of IBA covered by Protected Landscape (Piirissaare, 672 ha). 31,980 ha of IBA covered by Ramsar Site (Emajõe-Suursoo Mire and Piirissaar Island, 32,600 ha).
Recommended citation
BirdLife International (2024) Important Bird Area factsheet: Mouth of the Emajõgi river and Piirissaar island (Estonia). Downloaded from
https://datazone.birdlife.org/site/factsheet/mouth-of-the-emajõgi-river-and-piirissaar-island-iba-estonia on 23/11/2024.
