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Site description (2000 baseline):
Site location and context
Two major streams, groundwater, and surface water feed the second largest lake in Turkey (max. 190,000 ha, max. spring depth 1.5 m). Brackish marshes have formed where channels and streams enter the lake. Tuz lake is extremely saline and almost completely dries up during the summer. The lake is surrounded by arable fields, except in the south and south-west where extensive seasonally-flooded salt-steppe occurs. Economic activities include salt extraction.
The main Turkish breeding colony of
Phoenicopterus ruber is present on a group of islands in the southern part of the lake.
Falco naumanni is a common breeder in surrounding villages.
Pressure/threats to key biodiversity
Industrial, agricultural and untreated urban waste enters the lake via the main Konya channel. The effects of the pollution are made worse by reduced inputs of fresh water following the construction of two reservoirs on the main inflows. Large tracts of salt-steppe have been converted to arable land. Plans exist to triple the size of the saltpans, increasing output to three million tons per annum.
National Partial
International None190,000 ha of IBA covered by SÝT (Tuz Gölü, 190,000 ha).
Recommended citation
BirdLife International (2024) Important Bird Area factsheet: Tuz Lake (Türkiye). Downloaded from
https://datazone.birdlife.org/site/factsheet/tuz-lake-iba-türkiye on 22/11/2024.
