Site description (2001 baseline)
The moist, fertile Shire lowlands are in the Western Zone. They are in the lower reaches of the wide Tekeze valley (at 600 m) between Enda Selassie at 1,900 m on the northern rim of the Tekeze gorge, Sheraro to the north-west and Birkuta to the west, near the border with Eritrea. Enda Selassie is c.200 km north of Gondar and 50 km west of Axum. The Shire lowlands are relatively under-populated compared to the rest of Tigray Region. They represent the easternmost extension of the Sudano–Sahelian zone. The higher, eastern section of Shire is on the western extension of the plateau where the terrain is flat to undulating. Towards the Tekeze and its larger tributaries, fairly deep valleys break the land, and several have cut through thick layers of red fossil soils which are almost sterile and support little or no vegetation. The lower western Shire lowlands, towards the border with Eritrea, comprise flatter plains, but with some higher hills such as Tsada Emba (White mountain).
Key biodiversity
See Box and Table 3 for key species. The avifauna at this site is poorly known. A survey in 1992 recorded 152 species, including several species of the Somali–Masai biome, such as Uraeginthus cyanocephalus and Vidua fischeri. Other interesting birds include Falco ardosiaceus, Ptilopachus petrosus, Pluvianus aegyptius, Merops orientalis, Phoeniculus purpureus and Laniarius erythrogaster.
Non-bird biodiversity: A record of the snake Naja haje represents the first for Ethiopia. The forests and woodlands in the area support the endemic tree Albizia malacophylla malacophylla and the threatened African blackwood Dalbergia melanoxylon.
Recommended citation
BirdLife International (2024) Important Bird Area factsheet: Shire lowlands in the Tekeze valley (Ethiopia). Downloaded from
https://datazone.birdlife.org/site/factsheet/shire-lowlands-in-the-tekeze-valley-iba-ethiopia on 23/12/2024.