Key Biodiversity Areas

Uzava lowland (337)
Latvia, Europe

Site overview


KBA status: confirmed
Year of last assessment: 2004
National site name: Uzavas lejtece
Central coordinates: Latitude: 57.1500, Longitude: 21.5167
System: marine, terrestrial
Elevation (m): 1 to 6
Area of KBA (km2): 14.34824
Protected area coverage (%): 98.89
KBA classification: Regional
Legacy site: Yes

Site details


Site description: Modified part of Uzava river flood-plain, encompassing an old polder system with dykes and drained fields established in the 1960s over a vast area of natural fen and flooded meadows. The areas consists of abandoned fields with grasslands among shrub-lined ditches and a few remaining oxbow lakes. The area gets flooded irregularly. Listed as an IBA since 2000 [3, 1], under the former international site name 'Uzava lower reaches'. Fully protected: there is a 100% overlap with the newly designated Uzavas lejtece nature park, a candidate SPA.
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.

Habitats


Land use: agriculture
IUCN HabitatCoverage %Habitat detail
Shrubland3
Grassland85
Artificial - Terrestrial6
Forest6