Tadmur desert and mountains (Syria) - BirdLife IBA factsheet

SY018

Tadmur desert and mountains

Current view: Data table and detailed info

IBA Justification

The site was identified as important in 2007 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
Asian Houbara Chlamydotis macqueenii	VU	breeding	1948-1950	1 individuals	B2
Northern Bald Ibis Geronticus eremita	EN	breeding	2002-2007	1-3 breeding pairs	A1, A4i
Egyptian Vulture Neophron percnopterus	EN	breeding	1991	4 individuals	B2
Cinereous Vulture Aegypius monachus	NT	winter	1981	1 individuals	B2
Lesser Kestrel Falco naumanni	LC	breeding	1980	1 breeding pairs	A1
Lanner Falcon Falco biarmicus	LC	resident	1976	21 individuals	B2

1. The current IUCN Red List category. The category at the time of the IBA criteria assessment (2007) may differ.

IBA Conservation

Ideally the conservation status of the IBA will have been checked regularly since the site was first identified in 2007. The most recent assessment (2018) is shown below.

IBA conservation assessment
Year of assessment	State	Pressure	Response
2018	very unfavourable	high	negligible
Whole site assessed?	State assessed by	Accuracy of information
no	habitat	good

State (condition of the trigger species' habitats)
Habitat	Quantity (% remaining)	Quality (% carrying capacity)	Result
Desert	poor (40-69%)	poor (40-69%)	very unfavourable

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%)	moderate to rapid deterioration	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	Very little or no conservation action taking place	negligible

IBA Protection

Year	Protected Area	Designation	% overlap with IBA
1991	Talila	Protected Area	12
2002	Jabal Abou Rojmen	Not Reported	24
2004	Ibis	Protected Area	9

Habitats

Habitat¹	Habitat detail	% of IBA
Desert	Temperate	major (>10)
Artificial/Aquatic & Marine	Irrigated land, Water-storage areas	minor (<10)
Artificial/Terrestrial	Plantations, Urban areas	minor (<10)
Rocky areas (eg. inland cliffs, mountain peaks)		minor (<10)
Wetlands (inland)	Freshwater springs & oases, Seasonal/intermitt salt/brackish/alkali lake/flats	minor (<10)

1. IUCN Habitat classification.

Land use

Land use	% of IBA
rangeland/pastureland	100
hunting	100
tourism/recreation	minor (<10)
urban/industrial/transport	minor (<10)
agriculture	minor (<10)

Land ownership

The land is state-owned since the 1960s (although traditionally used by Amur and other Bedouin tribes).

Recommended citation
BirdLife International (2024) Important Bird Area factsheet: Tadmur desert and mountains (Syria). Downloaded from https://datazone.birdlife.org/site/factsheet/tadmur-desert-and-mountains-iba-syria on 23/11/2024.