Loza Bay wetlands (6541)
Madagascar, Africa

Site overview

KBA status: confirmed

Year of last assessment: 2014

National site name: Zone humide de la Baie de Loza

Central coordinates: Latitude: -14.6960, Longitude: 47.9380

System: freshwater, marine, terrestrial

Elevation (m): 0 to 34

Area of KBA (km²): 577.33635

KBA classification: Global/Regional TBD

Legacy site: Yes

Site details

Site description: Loza Bay lies between Analalava and Antsohihy and consists of a narrow 10-km-long estuary. The bay is 700–1,500 m wide and less than 10 m deep, except at its mouth where it can be 30 m deep at low tide. Towards the mouth, mangrove is weakly developed and sparse, growing on shingle-beaches in patches of c.10 ha each. Mangrove is most developed (10 m high or more) where tributaries flow into the Bay. Rather large areas of intertidal mudflat fringe the mangrove. The banks are covered by dense, dry deciduous forest, mostly degraded, with savanna on those parts of the neighbouring hills which have not been eroded bare.

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 CEPF Ecosystem Profile of the Madagascar and Indian Ocean Islands Hotspot (2014). Taxonomy, nomenclature and threat status follow the 2013 IUCN Red List.

Additional biodiversity: See Box and Table 3 for key species. Twenty species are known from the site, of which one is endemic to Madagascar. Several pairs of Haliaeetus vociferoides are known. Non-bird biodiversity: Cetacean: Tursiops truncatus (VU).

Habitats

Land use: fisheries/aquaculture

Threats

Summary of threats to biodiversity at KBA: Traditional fishing in the bay and deforestation in the neighbourhood can disturb waterbirds, in particular Haliaeetus vociferoides, since deforestation also reduces the number of available nest-trees.

Additional information