Current view: Text account
Site description (1994 baseline):
Site location and context
A large, shallow salt-lake in a closed basin of c.37,500 ha, lying just south of Jabbul village, 35 km east-south-east of Halab (Aleppo). In the 1970s the lake was filled entirely by local run-off of winter/spring rainfall and its extent was highly variable from year to year, reaching a maximum of c.3,000 ha and with at least a little standing water at most times of the year. A levée built on the east side by the 1970s prevented flooding of the majority of the salt-flat in the east of the basin. However, in 1988 large, new irrigation projects on the nearby steppe started discharging surplus water into the lake on a substantial scale; it is not known how saline the inflow is nor whether it is seasonal or perennial. This appears to have led to a higher and more stable water level than in the past, since the lake currently measures up to 20 km long and 5 km wide (c.10,000 ha), and although in the 1970s the flat and sandy banks had little or no marginal vegetation, they are now locally lined by extensive
Phragmites reedbeds, on the southern and south-eastern shores at least. At least two large islands are created at times of high flooding. Around the lake shore there is turf, close-cropped by sheep. The surrounding steppe has a sparse shrubland of
Haloxylon and
Artemisia. Primary uses of the area are salt extraction, wildfowl hunting, and livestock grazing on the surrounding steppe by nomadic pastoralists; in the 1970s the sabkhah to the east was an artillery firing range.
An important wetland for wintering, migrating and breeding waterbirds. See box for key species. Other confirmed or probable breeding species include
Alectoris chukar,
Himantopus himantopus,
Recurvirostra avosetta,
Cursorius cursor,
Charadrius leschenaultii,
Sterna nilotica,
S. caspia,
S. albifrons,
Pterocles alchata and
Rhodopechys obsoleta. According to local people
Phoenicopterus ruber sometimes breeds; 700+ were present in April 1993. In the 1970s the number of wintering waterfowl depended on the water level (maximum recorded was 'tens of thousands'), numbers of
Phoenicopterus ruber having varied from none to c.8,000. Currently the higher and apparently more stable water level is probably supporting even larger waterfowl numbers than in the 1970s. Other wintering species include
Pelecanus onocrotalus,
Ciconia nigra,
Cygnus olor,
Anser albifrons (2,030, December 1972),
A. anser,
Anas crecca (thousands),
A. acuta (1,000+),
Fulica atra (10,000),
Grus grus (155, December 1972),
Calidris minuta (many hundreds) and
Ceryle rudis (200). Other migrating species in spring (April) include
Podiceps nigricollis (100)
Platalea leucorodia (70),
Tadorna tadorna (300),
Himantopus himantopus (200),
Philomachus pugnax (thousands) and
Larus genei (100). The site was listed as a wetland of international importance by Carp (1980).
Non-bird biodiversity: Mammals: Canis lupus (V), Gazella subgutturosa (rare).
Pressure/threats to key biodiversity
The long-term impact of the changes to the lake's hydrology on its value for waterfowl and other wildlife is unclear. Wildfowl shooting is relatively intense throughout the winter, and bag limits and hunting seasons are not enforced; however the large size and openness of the lake give some natural protection.
Data-sheets compiled by: Dr Ibrahim Hanna and Dr Amer Majid Agha (translated by S. Zaiane); Dr Riad Sabbagh and Dr M. A. Kabbani; Mohamed Taha Abassi (translated by S. Zaiane).
Recommended citation
BirdLife International (2024) Important Bird Area factsheet: Sabkhat al-Jabboul (Syria). Downloaded from
https://datazone.birdlife.org/site/factsheet/sabkhat-al-jabboul-iba-syria on 23/12/2024.
