Saskatchewan River Delta (11148)
Canada, North America
Site overview
KBA status: confirmed
Year of last assessment: 2008
National site name: Saskatchewan River Delta
Central coordinates: Latitude: 53.8410, Longitude: -101.4805
System: freshwater, terrestrial
Area of KBA (km2): 7264.96211
Protected area coverage (%): 1.71
KBA classification: Regional
Legacy site: Yes
Site details
Site description: This site, which encompasses the town of The Pas and a large surrounding area, is situated northwest of Lake Winnipegosis and encompasses all the land between the Saskatchewan-Manitoba border and Cedar Lake. It is a massive area of land dominated by the Saskatchewan River Delta and contains both the mouth of the Saskatchewan River at Cedar Lake and the upper reaches of the river itself. Included in this site are both the Tom Lamb (2,083 km2) and the Saskeram (958 km2) Wildlife Management Areas (WMAs), which lie on either side of The Pas. Much of this site consists of flat, low-lying and very extensive wetlands, including huge stretches of marshes, tamarack bogs and meadows. These areas support high concentrations of moose and are also tremendously important for spawning fish, including the sturgeon. This latter species is of great value to the local aboriginal community, and the government of Manitoba has given the species special attention. At higher elevations there are deciduous and coniferous boreal forest habitats, and clustered around The Pas and Highway 10 are cultivated lands and improved grasslands. In the Tom Lamb WMA, ridge forests are composed of aspen, Jack Pine, and Black Spruce, while Balsam Poplar, willows, Manitoba Maple and Green Ash grow on the levees.
Rationale for qualifying as KBA: This site qualifies as a Key Biodiversity Area of international significance that was identified using previously established criteria and thresholds for the identification of Important Bird and Biodiversity Areas (IBAs) and for which available data indicate that it does not meet global KBA criteria and thresholds set out in the Global Standard.
Additional biodiversity: The area surrounding The Pas is considered by some biologists to be the most important wetland in the province, in particular for breeding waterfowl. The area is such a maze of channels and dense vegetation that it is extremely difficult to estimate the number of some breeding species. But for some, such as the Red-necked Grebe, it is almost certainly the most valuable breeding area in the province. This area also supports hundreds of thousands of ducks, geese and swans on fall migration. Sandhill Cranes, Bald Eagles and Osprey nest in the area, along with colonial birds such as Eared Grebes, Common and Black terns, and Franklins Gulls. Several extralimital breeding records of American Avocet have been documented here too. Greater White-fronted Geese formerly concentrated here in large numbers during fall migration, but are rarely seen now due to the artificial flooding of the gravel bars and islands that they used to stage on. This IBA also holds a wide variety of southern boreal region breeding birds.
Delineation rationale: 2011-06-06 (BL Secretariat): site area updated from 304100 ha to 710000 ha, following GIS analysis of site polygon by Bird Studies Canada (J. Moore & S. Marquez in litt. 2009).
Habitats
Land use: agriculture | fisheries/aquaculture | hunting | nature conservation and research | rangeland/pastureland | tourism/recreation
| IUCN Habitat | Coverage % | Habitat detail |
|---|---|---|
| Wetlands(Inland) | 33 | |
| Artificial - Terrestrial | 33 | |
| Forest | 33 |