Siniyah and Khor Al Beidah islands (100118)
United Arab Emirates, Middle East
Site overview
KBA status: confirmed
Global KBA criteria: A1b, B1
Year of last assessment: 2023
National site name: Siniyah and Khor Al Beidah islands
Central coordinates: Latitude: 25.2162, Longitude: 55.4497
System: marine, terrestrial
Elevation (m): 0 to 5
Area of KBA (km2): 121.40914
KBA classification: Global
Legacy site: No
Site details
Site description: The site is a coastal lagoon with a cluster of islands, mainly composed of low sand-dunes, saltflats and some shallow hollows, with sparse salt-tolerant scrub. Siniya island is the longest and largest island that provides shelter to this coastal lagoon. Khor Beidah lies opposite to Siniya Island and includes an interconnected mosaic of different intertidal and subtidal habitats that support the permanent and seasonal presence of worldwide threatened birds and marine species. The area hosts a seascape with 70km2 of blue carbon habitats (24km2 of mudflats, 10km2 of Avicenia marina mangroves, 9km2 of seagrass beds) and other critical habitats such as oyster beds, corals, saltmarshes and coastal sabkha. These habitats host Critically Endangered (CR) species such as the endemic Halavi guitarfish and the Whitespotted wedgefish. This site is also critical for the life cycle of threatened species hosting an important foraging ground for Endangered (EN) green turtles, the largest breeding area for Socotra cormorant (VU) in the region, and being a nursery for elasmobranchs with a potential black tip reef shark aggregation. In this multi-site, eleven elasmobranch species have been recorded, 2 of sea turtles, 1 of shark and 250 of birds. The site is used for small-scale fishing, and for recreation.
Rationale for qualifying as KBA: The site is one of the major global breeding locations for the globally threatened Socotra Cormorant Phalacrocorax nigrogularis. Although there are huge fluctuations in the number of breeding individuals on the island, the numbers are considered of global significance
Additional biodiversity: Halavi guitarfish Glaucostegus halavi (CR), Whitespotted wedgefish Rhynchobatus djiddensis (CR), Green turtle Chelonia mydas (EN)
Manageability of the site: The government of Umm Alquwain manages the site and they are aware about the importance of the site, where in case of any threats action will be taken.
Supersedes another site: Siniyah and Khor Al Beidah Islands
Other site values: No
Delineation rationale: The KBA covers all the breeding range of the trigger species on the island along with the adjacent coastline waters and merge 2 existing KBA sites, Siniyah island and Khor Al Beidah island.
Habitats
Land use: The area is not officially declared as a protected area but is privately-owned and access to the site is not permitted without the owner's approval