Current view: Text account
Site description (1994 baseline):
Site location and context
An extensive 'wilderness' area of desert sand-dunes, gravel outwash plains and mudflats, c.160 km long by up to 25 km wide (widest between Jabal Fidan and Umm Muthla). There is some open bushland of
Acacia tortilis,
A. raddiana and
Ziziphus;
Tamarix and
Phragmites occur locally in the lowest areas. Main land-use is nomadic pastoralism, with a minor but increasing amount of irrigated cultivation. Large areas are military zones.
See box for key species.
Eremalauda dunni breeds in large numbers after good rains.
Neophron percnopterus,
Gyps fulvus,
Onychognathus tristramii and
Carpodacus synoicus breed in the hills bordering the wadi, adjoining this site.
Non-bird biodiversity: Mammals: Canis lupus (V), Felis margarita (rare), Caracal caracal (rare) and Gazella dorcas (V). Reptiles: Varanus griseus (rare).
Pressure/threats to key biodiversity
About 10,000 ha of the Wadi Dana Wildlife Reserve (see site 013) is in Wadi Araba, and is included in that site. Public access to large areas of the wadi is restricted by military zones, thus providing some indirect protection. Overgrazing and over-browsing of the vegetation is a major problem. More local problems are agricultural intensification, salinization of soil due to intensive water-pumping, and tree-cutting.
Data-sheet compiled by Ali Sutari (per Adnan Budieri).
Recommended citation
BirdLife International (2024) Important Bird Area factsheet: Wadi Araba (Jordan). Downloaded from
https://datazone.birdlife.org/site/factsheet/wadi-araba-iba-jordan on 23/11/2024.
