Lauwersmeer (1193)
Netherlands, Europe
Site overview
KBA status: confirmed
Global KBA criteria: D1a
Year of last assessment: 2016
National site name: Lauwersmeer
Central coordinates: Latitude: 53.3667, Longitude: 6.2167
System: marine, terrestrial
Elevation (m): -13 to -2
Area of KBA (km2): 57.54052
Protected area coverage (%): 100.00
KBA classification: Global
Legacy site: Yes
Site details
Site description: A dammed estuary, formerly part of the Wadden Sea (closed off in 1969), which has become freshwater, though the estuary structure remains. The surrounding area is mainly open grassland and arable land with scattered farms. The site is adjacent to the Wadden Sea (site 001) in the north, the Frisian Wadden Sea coast (014) in the west and the Groningen Wadden Sea coast (016) in the east. Hunting is allowed but with restrictions on quarry species (and will be terminated in the near future).
Rationale for qualifying as KBA: This site qualifies as a Key Biodiversity Area of international significance that meets the thresholds for at least one criterion described in the Global Standard for the Identification of KBAs.
Additional biodiversity: The saltmarshes and polders form an important high-tide roost for waterbirds that feed in the Wadden Sea and are an important feeding area for Branta bernicla and B. leucopsis. This is the second most important breeding site for Recurvirostra avosetta in the Netherlands.
Delineation rationale: 9 March 2017: area edited. Now equal to the designated Special Protection Area (Birds Directive).
Habitats
Land use: agriculture (10%) | fisheries/aquaculture (25%) | hunting (10%) | military (35%) | nature conservation and research (73%) | tourism/recreation (65%) | urban/industrial/transport (26%) | water management (100%)
| IUCN Habitat | Coverage % | Habitat detail |
|---|---|---|
| Marine Coastal/Supratidal | 44 | |
| Artificial - Terrestrial | 51 | |
| Unknown | 5 |