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Site description (2007 baseline):

The IBA is situated on the border between Turkmenistan and Uzbekistan 25 km to the north-east of Boldumsaz and 50 km from Dashoguz. The site is a small tugai forest "Muskinata" (901 ha) on the left bank of the Amudarya river. There is also tugai forest on the right bank of the Amudarya but this lies within Uzbekistan. An insignificant part of area is under agriculture (cotton, wheat).

The avifauna includes more than 200 species: resident - 16, nesting - 63, wintering - 30, passage - 113. The dominant groups are passerines, birds of prey, anseriformes and charadrii. Resident, passage and wintering species included in the International (IUCN) and National Red Data Books (Turkmenistan, 1999) are: Platelea leucorodia, Pandion haliaetus, Circaetus gallicus, Falco naumanni, Burhinus oedicnemus, Bubo bubo and Coracias garrulus.

Non-bird biodiversity: About 80 species of spiders have been recorded. Among insects, bugs and butterflies are the most studied. The tugai forest is most important for ants and carabid beetles. In the crowns of trees weevils are numerous. Amphibians are green toad and lake frog. More than 20 species of Reptiles have been noted, mostly found on the fringes of the forest. The most numerous are Agrionemys horsfieldi, Trapelus sanguinolentus, Phrynocephalus interscapularis, Eremias grammica and Psammophis lineolatus. Mammals - 40 species: insectivores - 4, chiropterans - 5, Lagomorpha - 1, rodents - 17, predators - 12 and ungulates - 1. The majority of the IBA are floodplain ecosystems. More than 80 species of plant have been recorded in the tugai forest, with 12 species being common. Two species of poplar – Populus pruinosa and P. euphratica - plus Elaeagnus turcomanica, Salix songarica, Tamarix, Halimodendron halodendron, Glycyrrhiza glabra, Phragmites australis, Erianthus ravennae, Trachomitum scabrum and Aeluropus littoralis. Woody-shrubby and high-grass vegetation creates a dense understorey in the tugai forest.

The area is mainly used for grazing. The border part of the site is occupied by agricultural fields and connected with them by an irrigation system.

Not protected.

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Recommended citation
BirdLife International (2024) Important Bird Area factsheet: Muskinata (Turkmenistan). Downloaded from https://datazone.birdlife.org/site/factsheet/muskinata-iba-turkmenistan on 23/12/2024.