Current view: Text account
Site description (1994 baseline):
Site location and context
The Yarmuk river runs along part of the Syria–Jordan frontier, at the southern end of the Golan Heights, and is joined by other streams in this region, e.g. near Heite by the Nahr al-Allan running from the north and by Wadi al-Thahab from the east. The watercourses lie in steep, narrow wadis cutting through a plateau with well-watered farmland (cereals), and though the sides of the valleys are barren the bottoms are full of lush vegetation including
Phragmites reedbeds and oleander
Nerium. The lower valleys are below sea-level. There are a few houses by the river below Heite. Lake Muzayrib (32°42'N 36°01'E, 2 ha) lies in a shallow depression on the plateau (Wadi al-Thahab), just west of Al-Muzayrib village and c.12 km north-west of Dar'a: a natural, spring-fed, mesotrophic lake of 2.5 m mean depth, with banks of grazed turf and at least one reedbed
Phragmites. The lake is much used for irrigation, fishing, fish-farming and recreation (picnicing, etc.), and is surrounded by agriculture and many houses.
See box for key species. The avifauna resembles that of the Jordan Valley more than does that of any other region in Syria. Breeding species (presumed) include
Halcyon smyrnensis,
Anthus similis,
Cercomela melanura,
Acrocephalus melanopogon,
A. stentoreus,
A. arundinaceus,
Cisticola juncidis and
Nectarinia osea.
Remiz pendulinus and
Passer hispaniolensis have been recorded in winter.
Non-bird biodiversity: Fish: Tilapia gallilae (endemic).
Pressure/threats to key biodiversity
No conservation measures are known to have been taken. There is some bird shooting locally. There are plans for a large-scale, joint Jordanian-Syrian dam across the Yarmuk river (Wahda or Unity Dam), which would potentially be a critical threat. Fish (
Cyprinus carpio and
Tilapia) have been introduced into Lake Muzayrib, where intensification of fish production was cited as a problem or potential threat in the late 1960s. Lake Muzayrib was proposed as a Project Aqua conservation site by the Ministry of Agriculture and Agrarian Reform in the late 1960s.
Data-sheet compiled by M. I. Evans.
Recommended citation
BirdLife International (2024) Important Bird Area factsheet: Yarmuk valley (Syria). Downloaded from
https://datazone.birdlife.org/site/factsheet/yarmuk-valley-iba-syria on 23/11/2024.
