• Summary
• Text account
• Data table and detailed info
• Map
• Reference and further resources

Site description (2001 baseline)
Located on the Atlantic coast, 24 km south of El Jadida, the southern part of this 400 ha site consists of consolidated sandstone cliffs up to 56 m high, whilst the northern part is comprised of a rocky plateau up to 300 m wide, intercut by creeks and sand- and pebble-beaches. The surface of this plateau contains many shallow hollowed-out basins 1–4 m deep, filled with marshy vegetation. The sparse terrestrial vegetation of the site consists mainly of scattered bushes of Lycium intricatum. However, seaweeds (Laminariaceae) grow in profusion at the foot of the cliffs, including Chorda filum, Alaria sp., Agarum oibrosum, Laminarium digitata and Laminaria agardhii. The abundant invertebrate fauna includes polychaetes such as Marphysa sanguinea, Clymenella sp. and Amphitrite sp., oligochaetes and bivalve molluscs such as Mytilus edulis and Modiolus modiolus. The site is bordered inland by uncultivated fields and a tarmac road, and to the north by the village of Moulay Abdellah.

Key biodiversity
See Box for key species. The site is an important wintering and migratory staging-post, offering as it does abundant food-sources for waders and other waterbirds. At least 38 species have been recorded, including (in 1993) a single Numenius tenuirostris. Arenaria interpres is regularly present in large numbers, while Larus audouinii is often present in small numbers. An important nesting population of Apus pallidus breeds in the cliffs, but has never been censused/studied.

Non-bird biodiversity: The site has a high diversity of reptiles and amphibians—16 species have been recorded, of which four are endemic.

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Recommended citation
BirdLife International (2024) Important Bird Area factsheet: Région Jorf Lasfar (Morocco). Downloaded from https://datazone.birdlife.org/site/factsheet/région-jorf-lasfar-iba-morocco on 24/11/2024.