Northern Arava valley (Israel) - BirdLife IBA factsheet

IL016

Northern Arava valley

Current view: Data table and detailed info

IBA Justification

The site was identified as important in 1994 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
Sand Partridge Ammoperdix heyi	LC	resident	1991	present	B3
Garganey Spatula querquedula	LC	passage	1991	2,000 individuals	A4i, B1i
Common Crane Grus grus	LC	passage	1991	2,600 individuals	A4i, B1i
Black Stork Ciconia nigra	LC	passage	1991	350-1,000 individuals	A4i, B1i
White Stork Ciconia ciconia	LC	passage	1991	12,000-18,000 individuals	A4i, B1i
Eurasian Spoonbill Platalea leucorodia	LC	passage	1991	143 individuals	A4i, B1i
Eurasian Bittern Botaurus stellaris	LC	winter	1991	1 individuals	B2
Black-winged Stilt Himantopus himantopus	LC	passage	1991	300 individuals	B1i
Desert Tawny Owl Strix hadorami	LC	resident	1991	1-2 breeding pairs	B3
Lappet-faced Vulture Torgos tracheliotos	EN	non-breeding	1991	present	B2
Levant Sparrowhawk Accipiter brevipes	LC	passage	1991	15,000 individuals	B2
Sooty Falcon Falco concolor	VU	breeding	1991	1 breeding pairs	B2
Arabian Warbler Curruca leucomelaena	LC	resident	1991	20-40 breeding pairs	B3
Arabian Babbler Argya squamiceps	LC	resident	1991	200 breeding pairs	B3
Tristram's Starling Onychognathus tristramii	LC	resident	1991	present	B3
Hooded Wheatear Oenanthe monacha	LC	resident	1991	2-15 breeding pairs	B3
Dead Sea Sparrow Passer moabiticus	LC	breeding	1991	15-35 breeding pairs	B3
A4iv Species group - soaring birds/cranes	n/a	passage	1991	29,950-36,600 individuals	A4iv, B1iv

1. The current IUCN Red List category. The category at the time of the IBA criteria assessment (1994) may differ.

IBA Conservation

Ideally the conservation status of the IBA will have been checked regularly since the site was first identified in 1994. The most recent assessment (2013) is shown below.

IBA conservation assessment
Year of assessment	State	Pressure	Response
2013	not assessed	high	low
Whole site assessed?	State assessed by	Accuracy of information
yes	unset	unknown

Pressure (threats to the trigger species and/or their habitats)
Threat	Timing	Scope	Severity	Result
Agricultural expansion and intensification	happening now	some of area/population (10-49%)	moderate to rapid deterioration	high

Response (conservation actions taken for the trigger species and/or their habitats)
Protected areas	Management plan	Other action	Result
Some of site covered (10-49%)	A management plan exists but it is out of date or not comprehensive	Some limited conservation initiatives are in place	low

IBA Protection

Year	Protected Area	Designation	% overlap with IBA
1994	Makhteshim En Yahav	Nature Reserve	18
2003	Midbar Yehuda	Nature Reserve	19
2009	Nahal Shezaf	Nature Reserve	12

Habitats

Habitat¹	Habitat detail	% of IBA
Desert		major (>10)
Artificial/Terrestrial		minor (<10)
Rocky areas (eg. inland cliffs, mountain peaks)		minor (<10)
Savanna		minor (<10)
Shrubland		minor (<10)

1. IUCN Habitat classification.

Land use

Land use	% of IBA
nature conservation and research	14
rangeland/pastureland	major (>10)
agriculture	minor (<10)
tourism/recreation	minor (<10)

Recommended citation
BirdLife International (2024) Important Bird Area factsheet: Northern Arava valley (Israel). Downloaded from https://datazone.birdlife.org/site/factsheet/northern-arava-valley-iba-israel on 23/11/2024.