Béni Abbès (6182)
Algeria, Africa

Site overview

KBA status: confirmed

Year of last assessment: 2001

National site name: Béni Abbès

Central coordinates: Latitude: 30.1333, Longitude: -2.1667

System: terrestrial

Elevation (m): 600 to 600

KBA classification: Global/Regional TBD

Legacy site: Yes

Site details

Site description: The site lies in the vast sand desert known as the ‘Grand Erg Occidental’, c.160 km due south of the town of Béchar, which itself lies just south of the Moroccan border at this point. The town of Béni Abbès lies in the valley of the Oued Saoura, a continuation of the Oued Guir that flows out of the Moroccan Atlas, south-east into Algeria and is perennial in its upper reaches. The Oued Saoura flows 500–700 km into the desert, becoming increasingly salty due to evaporation, and ends in a series of pans further south, near Adrar and Reggane. Along the length of the Oued Saoura the encroaching sands result in a string of moist sand pools (‘gueltas’) and pans adjacent to and within the riverbed. At Béni Abbès the mean annual precipitation is 50 mm, although this is highly variable and higher levels can lead to some flooding. Most floods result from rainfall in the Moroccan Atlas and can occur several times a year. Due to the variable water-levels, emergent macrophytes are generally absent from the riverbed, but occur along irrigation channels and around oases, with Phragmites australis usually the dominant species, together with Typha capensis, Cynodon dactylon, Juncus maritimus, Scirpus holoschoenus and Sonchus maritimus, all of which are salt-tolerant. On the banks of the oued there are stands of Hyphaene spp. palms and some stunted Ficus sycomorus, with thickets of Nerium oleander and Tamarix spp. occurring more locally. Phoenix dactylifera has been planted widely and is the commonest tree in the valley. The whole valley is an ancient caravan route, along which towns such as Béni Abbès have grown up in areas with freely available water, used for drinking, irrigation and watering livestock—probably since Neolithic times. The coordinates given are those for the town of Béni Abbès itself. There is no designated protected area in the region and more survey work will be required to define the boundaries of an IBA, but records from around the town of Béni Abbès suggest that a biome-restricted IBA should be located in this general area.

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)

Additional biodiversity: See Box and Table 2 for key species. The biome-restricted species include the ‘very common’ Pterocles senegallus (said to co-occur at this site with P. coronatus) and one of only two Algerian IBA site records for Scotocerca inquieta. There is a large thermal spring just downstream of the town (which is used to irrigate gardens) and also attracts large numbers of migrating warblers and wintering passerines. Non-bird biodiversity: The waters of the Oued Saoura are said to contain a dense (but not species-rich) invertebrate fauna, typical Atlas fish species in the fresh headwaters, which move downstream with the floods, and euryhaline fish species, Aphanius fasciatus and A. iberus, downstream. Amphibia—Bufo mauritanicus, Discoglossus pictus and Rana ridibunda—are recorded from the middle valley and carnivores include Felis margarita.

Habitats

Land use: tourism/recreation

Threats

Summary of threats to biodiversity at KBA: The site is unprotected. The valley is quite densely populated and tourism in the area is becoming increasingly popular. The Oued Guir has been dammed to the north (upstream of Abadla), resulting in increasing salinity of the underground waters around Béni Abbès and there are some problems of pollution where untreated or partly treated sewage is discharged directly into the oued.

Additional information