Current view: Text account
Site description (2000 baseline):
Site location and context
A complex of freshwater rivers, streams, pools and extensive riparian marshes/mires, c.7 km south of the town of Hella. The area extends from Langanes on the east side of the Eystri-Rangá river (including Lambhagavatn lake and surrounding marshes), along the Eystri-Rangá, Thverá and Ytri-Rangá rivers, to Selalækur farm. The marshes are dominated by sedges (
Carex,
Eriophorum). The main land-use is non-intensive grazing.
The area is particularly important for waterbirds staging in spring, including
Pluvialis apricaria (hundreds) and
Limosa limosa (730 in 1990). A wide variety of wildfowl, waders and other waterbirds breed in the area.
Pressure/threats to key biodiversity
Hunting causes disturbance to birds, drainage ditches carry silt into Lake Lambhagavatn, and horse-grazing and fish-farming also have detrimental effects. The northern part of the Oddaflód area is not protected but is included in the IBA, and a northern part of the IBA has been drained.
National Partial
International None540 ha of IBA covered by Nature Reserve (Oddaflód, 540 ha).
Recommended citation
BirdLife International (2024) Important Bird Area factsheet: Oddaflod-Lambhagavatn (Iceland). Downloaded from
https://datazone.birdlife.org/site/factsheet/oddaflod-lambhagavatn-iba-iceland on 26/12/2024.
