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The site was identified as internationally important for bird conservation in 2011 because it was regularly supporting significant populations of the species listed below, meeting IBA criteria.

Populations meeting IBA criteria ('key species') at the site:

Species	Red List	Season (year/s of estimate)	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

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.

Pressure (threats to the key species and/or their habitats)
Threat	Timing	Scope	Severity	Result
Natural system modifications	happen­ing now	some of popul­ation/area (10–49%)	moderate deteri­oration (10–30% in 3 gener­ations)	high
Biological resource use	happen­ing now	some of popul­ation/area (10–49%)	slow deteri­oration (1–10% over 3 gener­ations)	medium
Pollution	happen­ing now	some of popul­ation/area (10–49%)	slow deteri­oration (1–10% over 3 gener­ations)	medium
Climate change and severe weather	past (and unlikely to return) and no longer limiting	some of popul­ation/area (10–49%)	moderate deteri­oration (10–30% in 3 gener­ations)	low

Response (conservation actions taken for the key species and/or their habitats)
Designation	Planning	Action	Result
Little/none of site covered (<10%)	No manage­ment planning has taken place	Very little or no conservation action taking place	very low

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

Land use	% of IBA
fisheries/aquaculture	22

7 fisheries enterprises hold Sarykamysh lake under lease.

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Recommended citation
BirdLife International (2025) 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 07/01/2025.