Sarykamysh lake and surrounding Ustyurt Plateau (Uzbekistan)

Uz050

Sarykamysh lake and surrounding Ustyurt Plateau

Current view: Data table and detailed info

IBA Justification

The site was identified as important in 2011 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
White-headed Duck Oxyura leucocephala	EN	passage	2010	2 individuals	A1
Common Goldeneye Bucephala clangula	LC	passage	2010	95-595 individuals	A4i
Egyptian Vulture Neophron percnopterus	EN	breeding	2010	2 breeding pairs	A1

1. The current IUCN Red List category. The category at the time of the IBA criteria assessment (2011) may differ.

IBA Conservation

Ideally the conservation status of the IBA will have been checked regularly since the site was first identified in 2011. The most recent assessment (2011) is shown below.

IBA conservation assessment
Year of assessment	State	Pressure	Response
2011	not assessed	high	negligible
Whole site assessed?	State assessed by	Accuracy of information
yes	unset	medium

Pressure (threats to the trigger species and/or their habitats)
Threat	Timing	Scope	Severity	Result
Natural system modifications	happening now	some of area/population (10-49%)	moderate to rapid deterioration	high
Biological resource use	happening now	some of area/population (10-49%)	slow but significant deterioration	medium
Pollution	happening now	some of area/population (10-49%)	slow but significant deterioration	medium
Climate change and severe weather	past (and unlikely to return) and no longer limiting	some of area/population (10-49%)	moderate to rapid deterioration	low

Response (conservation actions taken for the trigger species and/or their habitats)
Protected areas	Management plan	Other action	Result
Little/none of site covered (<10%)	No management planning has taken place	Very little or no conservation action taking place	negligible

Habitats

Habitat¹	Habitat detail	% of IBA
Desert	Desert & semi-desert - clay, Desert & semi-desert - sandy, Desert & semi-desert - salty	55
Wetlands (inland)	Standing brackish & salt water	22
Shrubland	Scrub	10
Rocky areas (eg. inland cliffs, mountain peaks)	Inland cliffs	8
Forest	Wooded desert & semi-desert	5

1. IUCN Habitat classification.

Land use

Land use	% of IBA
fisheries/aquaculture	22

Land ownership

7 fisheries enterprises hold Sarykamysh lake under lease.

Recommended citation
BirdLife International (2024) Important Bird Area factsheet: Sarykamysh lake and surrounding Ustyurt Plateau (Uzbekistan). Downloaded from https://datazone.birdlife.org/site/factsheet/sarykamysh-lake-and-surrounding-ustyurt-plateau-iba-uzbekistan on 22/11/2024.