Liepaja lake (310)
Latvia, Europe
Site overview
KBA status: confirmed
Year of last assessment: 2004
National site name: Liepajas ezers
Central coordinates: Latitude: 56.4500, Longitude: 21.0500
System: marine, terrestrial
Elevation (m): 0 to 2
Area of KBA (km2): 48.18789
Protected area coverage (%): 94.94
KBA classification: Global/Regional TBD
Legacy site: Yes
Site details
Site description: A shallow eutrophic coastal lake with extensive areas of emergent vegetation (Phragmites, Typha, Scirpus, Sparganium), surrounded by seasonally flooded meadows and arable land. Polders and dams enclose most of the wetland area. The lake was included in the first European IBA inventory [3] and listed in all subsequent international and national site lists [4, 5, 1]. High protection level: there is a 93.1% overlap with Liepaja lake restricted nature reserve, a candidate SPA.
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)
Habitats
Land use: agriculture | fisheries/aquaculture | hunting | tourism/recreation
| IUCN Habitat | Coverage % | Habitat detail |
|---|---|---|
| Shrubland | 2 | |
| Marine Coastal/Supratidal | 73 | |
| Artificial - Terrestrial | 1 | |
| Forest | 1 | |
| Grassland | 23 |