Mareb escarpment (6232)
Eritrea, Africa

Site overview

KBA status: confirmed

Year of last assessment: 2011

National site name: Mareb escarpment

Central coordinates: Latitude: 14.8690, Longitude: 39.0980

System: terrestrial

Elevation (m): 1500 to 1800

Area of KBA (km²): 55.08959

KBA classification: Global/Regional TBD

Legacy site: Yes

Site details

Site description: This site lies at the southern end of the Central Plateau on the edge of the escarpment, where it falls down steeply to the valley of the Mareb river. In places there are sheer cliffs, dropping as much as 600 m to the river. The site is about 40 km north-west of Senafe (ER013). Bird records from the general area of ‘Mareb escarpment’ and Mai Aini, show that the area merits definition as an IBA. Further survey work will be needed to define the boundaries of a site in this general area. The cliffs and hills are covered in dry upland scrub and grassland (Olea, Euphorbia, Dodonaea, Opuntia, Barleria and sparse Acacia spp., together with Rumex nervosus, Rosa abyssinica, Ocimum menthaefolium and Aloe abyssinica). On flatter ground adjoining the Mareb, at c.1,500 m and above, are doum palm, Hyphaene thebaica, other trees, rank undergrowth and some areas of cultivation and grassland.

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) KBA identified in the process of compiling the CEPF Ecosystem Profile of the East Afromontane Hotspot. Species taxonomy and threat category was based on IUCN Red List 2010-4.

Additional biodiversity: See Box and Table 2 for key species. There are old records (from the 1950s) of Emberiza cineracea occurring ‘on the Mareb’, but no information is given about altitude or location. This is one of only two IBAs in which the Sudan–Guinea Savanna biome species Myrmecocichla albifrons occurs. It is the only IBA in Eritrea within which the Somali–Masai biome species Cercomela scotocerca is recorded and the area was said to be the ‘main haunt, with flocks of 20 and more’ for another Somali–Masai species, Tockus hemprichii, in the 1950s. In addition, there are records for three Sahel biome species and four Afrotropical Highlands biome species; see Table 2. Non-bird biodiversity: None known to BirdLife International.

Delineation rationale: 2011-12-06 (BL Secretariat): boundary created and site extent defined as 5500 ha, based on GIS polygon (rounded to nearest 10%), as part of CEPF East Afromontane Ecosystem Profiling process.

Habitats

Land use: agriculture

IUCN Habitat	Coverage %	Habitat detail
Grassland	16
Artificial - Terrestrial	83

Threats

Summary of threats to biodiversity at KBA: This site is similar to Senafe (ER013), in that it is close to the Ethiopian border and is likely to have been severely affected by the recent years of war. Most of the bird information dates from the 1940s, 1950s and earlier and the effects of the subsequent years of war on biodiversity in the area are unknown.

Additional information