Current view: Text account
Site description (2000 baseline):
Site location and context
An area of saltmarshes and mudflats (a remnant of a former estuary) with a dune system and polders with halophile creeks and grasslands, several reedbeds and canals fringes with reed. The dune and saltmarsh area extends across the border into the Netherlands.
The site supports internationally important numbers of wintering geese. Significant numbers of gulls, terns and meadow birds also breed and the dunes are an important staging site for migrating passerines.
Pressure/threats to key biodiversity
Breeding and wintering birds are monitored throughout the site, with the most important areas censused annually. 500 ha of IBA covered by proposed Site of Community Importance (IJzermonding and Zwin, 2,891 ha). 45 ha of IBA covered by proposed Site of Community Importance (Zilte poldergraslanden, 884 ha).
National Low
International High125 ha of IBA covered by Nature Reserve (Het Zwin, 125 ha). 1,820 ha of IBA covered by Special Protection Area (Het Zwin, 1,820 ha). 530 ha of IBA covered by Ramsar Site (Zwin, 530 ha).
Recommended citation
BirdLife International (2024) Important Bird Area factsheet: Zwin (Belgium). Downloaded from
https://datazone.birdlife.org/site/factsheet/zwin-iba-belgium on 23/11/2024.
