Lake Idku (6193)
Egypt, Africa

Site overview

KBA status: confirmed

Year of last assessment: 2016

National site name: Lake Idku

Central coordinates: Latitude: 31.2492, Longitude: 30.2130

Elevation (m): 0 to 10

Area of KBA (km²): 18.23324

KBA classification: Regional

Legacy site: Yes

Site details

Site description: A shallow coastal wetland located west of the Rosetta Nile branch. Three main drains discharge into the lake, while Bughaz El Maadia provides a connection with the sea. The water in the lake is mainly fresh, but increases in salinity towards the Bughaz and during the summer. Most of the lake margins are covered with dense growths of Typha and Phragmites, which cover about 50% of the lake’s area. Saltmarshes, salinas and high dunes, as well as some orchards, are found on the sandbar separating the lake from the Mediterranean. Lake Idku supports a fishery of moderate importance.

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. KBA identified in the CEPF Ecosystem Profile of the Mediterranean Hotspot (2017). Taxonomy, nomenclature and global threat category follow the 2016 IUCN Red List.

Additional biodiversity: See Box for key species. Lake Idku is of moderate importance for both wintering and breeding waterbirds. In winter 1989/90, a total of 22,549 waterbirds was counted. The lake probably also supports important numbers of breeding birds associated with reed-swamps, such as Porphyrio porphyrio, Ixobrychus minutus and Centropus senegalensis.

Habitats

Land use: fisheries/aquaculture | water management

Threats

Summary of threats to biodiversity at KBA: Lake Idku suffers from the same ailments that affect other delta wetlands: drainage and land-claim, pollution, disturbance, waterbird-catching, etc. Habitat loss through land-claim is certainly the most serious of these threats. Lake Idku has been reduced to less than half its original size.

Additional information