Western Plain: Barka river (6221)
Eritrea, Africa

Site overview

KBA status: confirmed

Year of last assessment: 2001

National site name: Western Plain: Barka river

Central coordinates: Latitude: 15.7500, Longitude: 37.4500

System: terrestrial

Elevation (m): 300 to 600

Area of KBA (km²): 4892.12662

KBA classification: Global/Regional TBD

Legacy site: Yes

Site details

Site description: The site lies some 20 km north-east of Keru, in the valley of the Barka river which flows west and north out of the Central Plateau. It is not possible using existing information to locate an exact site, but the combination of records from ‘North-east of Keru’ and the ‘Barka river valley’, at the correct altitude and in the kinds of habitats described for this region by Smith, indicate that a site within this area will qualify as an IBA. The whole river valley area, especially north towards the Sudan border, is drier than more southerly parts of the Western Plain, with stony steppes and Acacia sp. thorn-bush. The Barka river flows north and is joined just before the border with Sudan by the Anseba. The sandy valley of the Barka drops to less than 300 m, forming the lowest part of the Western Plain. The area is semi-desert apart from the riparian woodland along the rivers which can be several hundred metres wide and includes taxa such as Hyphaene, Tamarindus, Tamarix, Adansonia, Ficus, Acacia>, Zizyphus,Salvadora, Leptadenia, Calotropis and occasionally, Kigelia spp. During the summer rains there are also belts of cultivation along the rivers and extensive rank grass and scrub.

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. For both this site and the other ‘Western Plain’ site (Gash–Setit, ER010), many of the records are inferred (i.e. the species are reported generally from ‘the Western Plain’ or ‘the Barka river valley’ in habitats and at altitudes known to occur within the site) rather than any more specific mention of a particular location. This site, together with Western Plain: Gash–Setit (ER010) are the only two known sites in the country for the Sahel biome species Anthoscopus punctifrons and the Sudan–Guinea Savanna biome species Turdoides leucocephalus. There are also records of a single Sahara–Sindian (A02) species and seven Somali–Masai (A08) species, including Rhodophoneus cruentus recorded specifically from the Barka river valley (although at Karkabat, to the north of the area of the proposed IBA); see Table 2. Non-bird biodiversity: The mammal Gazella dorcas (VU) were observed (10–60 km east of Keru) and ‘hartebeest’ reported (c.15 km north of Keru) during a brief visit by Butynski in 1995, between Halcota, Keru and Agordat.

Delineation rationale: 2010-02-02 (BL Secretariat): site area was not defined in the original IBA publication/inventory; here, it has been derived by GIS from the draft polygon.

Habitats

Land use: agriculture

IUCN Habitat	Coverage %	Habitat detail
Grassland	11
Rocky Areas(e.g., inland cliffs, mountain peaks)	86
Desert	2

Threats

Summary of threats to biodiversity at KBA: Although there are quite high human and livestock densities in the area, according to Butynski, the area between Halcota and Keru did not look too degraded during a brief visit in 1995. There are proposals for riverine forest near Kerkeb to be protected as a Biodiversity Conservation Area.

Additional information