Agrakhanski Bay (North Agrakhan) (1492)
Russia (Central Asian), Central Asia
Site overview
KBA status: confirmed
Global KBA criteria: D1a
Year of last assessment: 2008
National site name: Agrakhanski Zaliv (Severnyi Agrakhan)
Central coordinates: Latitude: 43.7386, Longitude: 47.4917
System: freshwater, terrestrial
Elevation (m): -27 to -24
Area of KBA (km2): 211.05064
Protected area coverage (%): 57.55
KBA classification: Global
Legacy site: Yes
Site details
Site description: Area includes Agrakhansky bay and coastal lakes on the western shore of the Caspian Sea, north of Makhachkala. A long peninsula, jutting into the Caspian Sea, borders the Bay.
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: About 300000 ducks winter here and many other migrating species stopover. It is a particularly important site for waders, with tens of thousands stoping and feeding here on passage, especially C.alpina, C.alba and T.totanus, but no detailed counts have been made to date. The data on waders was compiled from single observations between 1983 and 1986.
Delineation rationale: 2014-08-12 (BL Secretariat): centroid coords adjusted to 43°44'19'N 47°29'30'E and site area changed to (or confirmed as) 21100 ha (rounded), on basis of refined polygon downloaded from Spatial Database on Important Bird Areas of Russia 2014 (© Russian Bird Conservation Union, © Transparent World).
Habitats
Summary of habitats in KBA: Increasing water levels of the Caspian Sea can improve habitat conditions for waders. However, in 1972 a channel was built, which resulted in the flooding and destruction of a main dike and a drop in the level of Agrakhansky Bay (in previous yers the level of the bay was above sea level). Today, all that remains is a small lake of open water in the southern part of Agrakhansky bay. Sand beaches and meadows also provide good feeding habitat for migrating waders.
Land use: fisheries/aquaculture (55%) | hunting (30%) | nature conservation and research (55%) | rangeland/pastureland (10%) | urban/industrial/transport (1%)
| IUCN Habitat | Coverage % | Habitat detail |
|---|---|---|
| Wetlands(Inland) | 100 |
Threats
| Threat level 1 | Threat level 2 | Threat level 3 | Timing |
|---|---|---|---|
| Agriculture & aquaculture | Livestock farming & ranching | Nomadic grazing | Ongoing |
| Pollution | Agricultural & forestry effluents | Type Unknown/Unrecorded | Ongoing |
| Biological resource use | Fishing & harvesting aquatic resources | Unintentional effects: large scale (species being assessed is not the target) [harvest] | Ongoing |
| Biological resource use | Hunting & collecting terrestrial animals | Intentional use (species being assessed is the target) | Ongoing |
| Human intrusions & disturbance | Work & other activities | Ongoing |
Additional information
References: E.V.Vilkov, G.S.Dzhamirzoev, V.S.Bogatov, A.O.Choubine
Contributors: The map polygon is provided courtesy of the Spatial Database on Important Bird Areas of Russia 2014 (© Russian Bird Conservation Union, © Transparent World).