Ao Pattani (15191)
Thailand, Asia
Site overview
KBA status: confirmed
Year of last assessment: 2012
National site name: Ao Pattani
Central coordinates: Latitude: 6.9167, Longitude: 101.2667
System: freshwater, marine, terrestrial
Elevation (m): 0 to 1
Area of KBA (km2): 10.3186
KBA classification: Global/Regional TBD
Legacy site: Yes
Site details
Site description: The IBA comprises the whole of Pattani bay, a c.30 km stretch of shallow gradient coastline along the Gulf of Thailand. Natural habitats at the site comprise mangroves and intertidal mudflats, which are bisected by a series of rivers. The least degraded mangroves remaining at the site occur in Yaring district. The site is surrounded by fishing communities, and Pattani town lies on the western side of the bay.
Rationale for qualifying as KBA: This site qualifies as a Key Biodiversity Area of international significance because it meets one or more previously established criteria and thresholds for identifying sites of biodiversity importance (including Important Bird and Biodiversity Areas, Alliance for Zero Extinction sites, and Key Biodiversity Areas) The site has been reviewed and re-confirmed as a KBA in the process of compiling the revised 2011 CEPF Ecosystem Profile for the Indo-Burma Hotspot.
Additional biodiversity: Ao Pattani is an important site for migratory shorebirds, and regularly supports greater than 20,000 congregatory waterbirds. A number of globally threatened waterbird species have been recorded at the site, although none is thought to regularly occur in significant numbers. There are recent records of the globally endangered Nordmann's Greenshank Tringa guttifer and Black-faced Spoonbill Platalea minor, as well as historical records of the globally vulnerable Spoon-billed Sandpiper Calidris pygmeus, including the highest count of this species to date in Thailand: 13 birds in 1984. Non-bird biodiversity: Mammals Smooth-coated Otter Lutrogale perspicillata (VU)
Habitats
Summary of habitats in KBA: The IBA comprises the whole of Pattani bay, a c.30 km stretch of shallow gradient coastline along the Gulf of Thailand. Natural habitats at the site comprise mangroves and intertidal mudflats, which are bisected by a series of rivers. The least degraded mangroves remaining at the site occur in Yaring district. The site is surrounded by fishing communities, and Pattani town lies on the western side of the bay.
| IUCN Habitat | Coverage % | Habitat detail |
|---|---|---|
| Marine Intertidal | 67 | |
| Forest | 33 |
Threats
Summary of threats to biodiversity at KBA: Hunting of shorebirds is a major threat to biodiversity at the site. In 1986, for example, c.8,000 birds of at least 22 species were caught. Other threats to biodiversity include conversion of mangroves and intertidal mudflats into aquacultural ponds and salt pans, and pollution.
Additional information
References: BirdLife International (1998) Proceedings of the Thailand IBA workshop, Bangkok, November 1998. Unpublished report. BirdLife International (2001) Threatened birds of Asia: the BirdLife International Red Data Book. Cambridge, UK: BirdLife International. Office of Environmental Policy and Planning (1999) Directory of internationally important wetlands in Thailand. Bangkok: Ministry of Science, Technology and Environment. (In Thai.) Plathong, J. and Sitthirach, N. (1997) Traditional and current uses of mangrove forest in southern Thailand. Bangkok: Wetlands International-Thailand Programme.