Kediet ej Jill (6626)
Mauritania, Africa
Site overview
KBA status: confirmed
Year of last assessment: 2001
National site name: Kediet ej Jill
Central coordinates: Latitude: 22.6667, Longitude: -12.6000
System: terrestrial
Elevation (m): 250 to 915
Area of KBA (km2): 1031.776101
KBA classification: Global/Regional TBD’
Legacy site: Yes
Site details
Site description: Kediet ej Jill is a steeply sloping rocky escarpment, 20 km by 5 km, which lies to the east of the town of Fdérik in north-central Mauritania. The escarpment is oriented east–west and rises to 915 m, the highest point in Mauritania. A number of ephemeral watercourses drain from the escarpment to the surrounding desert, and flow westwards into the adjacent Sebkhet ej Jill, just to the west of Fdérik. The site includes both the sebkhet and the escarpment. The vegetation of the area includes Phoenix dactylifera, Adiantum capillus veneris, Hyoscyamus muticus, Tamarix sp., Acacia raddiana, Rhus tripartitus, Capparis decidua, Leptadenia pyrotechnica, Maerua crassifolia, Salvadora persica, Balanites aegyptiaca and Panicum turgidum.
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. Three species of the Sahel biome have also been recorded; see Table 2. Non-bird biodiversity: None known to BirdLife International.
Threats
Summary of threats to biodiversity at KBA: No information, but lying so close to a centre of human population it is likely that pressures are great.
Additional information
References: Lamarche (1988).