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The site was identified as internationally important for bird conservation in 1994 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
Sand Partridge Ammoperdix heyi	LC	resident (1993)	present	B3
Asian Houbara Chlamydotis macqueenii	VU	resident (1993)	present	B2

Ideally the conservation status of the IBA will have been checked regularly since the site was first identified in 1994. The most recent assessment (2014) is shown below.

Pressure (threats to the key species and/or their habitats)
Threat	Timing	Scope	Severity	Result
Biological resource use	happen­ing now	some of popul­ation/area (10–49%)	moderate deteri­oration (10–30% in 3 gener­ations)	high
Human intrusions and disturbance	happen­ing now	some of popul­ation/area (10–49%)	moderate deteri­oration (10–30% in 3 gener­ations)	high

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	Some limited conservation initiatives are in place	very low

Habitat	% of IBA	Habitat detail
Desert	major (>10)
Artificial/Terrestrial	minor (<10)
Grassland	minor (<10)
Wetlands (inland)	minor (<10)

Land use	% of IBA
nature conservation and research	83
rangeland/pastureland	major (>10)
agriculture	minor (<10)
urban/industrial/transport	minor (<10)
hunting	minor (<10)

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Recommended citation
BirdLife International (2025) Important Bird Area factsheet: Wadi al-Azib (Syria). Downloaded from https://datazone.birdlife.org/site/factsheet/wadi-al-azib-iba-syria on 07/01/2025.