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• Reference and further resources

The site was identified as important in 2014 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
Marbled Duck Marmaronetta angustirostris	NT	winter	2010	140 individuals	A1
Asian Houbara Chlamydotis macqueenii	VU	winter	2010	frequent	A1

1. The current IUCN Red List category. The category at the time of the IBA criteria assessment (2014) may differ.

Ideally the conservation status of the IBA will have been checked regularly since the site was first identified in 2014. The most recent assessment (2014) is shown below.

Pressure (threats to the trigger species and/or their habitats)
Threat	Timing	Scope	Severity	Result
Human intrusions and disturbance	happening now	majority/most of area/population (50-90%)	very rapid to severe deterioration	very high

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	Not assessed	negligible

Year	Protected Area	Designation	% overlap with IBA
2014	Sawa Lake	Ramsar Site, Wetland of International Importance	2

Habitat1	Habitat detail	% of IBA
Artificial/Aquatic & Marine		major (>10)
Desert		major (>10)
Shrubland		minor (<10)

1. IUCN Habitat classification.

Land use	% of IBA
urban/industrial/transport	major (>10)
hunting	major (>10)
fisheries/aquaculture	major (>10)

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Recommended citation
BirdLife International (2024) Important Bird Area factsheet: Sawa Lake and Area (Iraq). Downloaded from https://datazone.birdlife.org/site/factsheet/sawa-lake-and-area-iba-iraq on 23/11/2024.