Joal-Fadiouth (6851)
Senegal, Africa
Site overview
KBA status: confirmed
Year of last assessment: 2001
National site name: Joal-Fadiouth
Central coordinates: Latitude: 14.1333, Longitude: -16.8167
System: marine, terrestrial
Elevation (m): 0 to 40
Area of KBA (km2): 53.2985
Protected area coverage (%): 46.33
KBA classification: Regional
Legacy site: Yes
Site details
Site description: The site lies just west and south of the town of Joal-Fadiouth and incorporates a length (c.5 km) of sandy coastline and a fairly large estuary with mangroves, mudbanks and small islands. The estuary consists of expanses of mud and mangroves intersected by creeks, which become at least partially inundated at high tide. At low tide, the mudbanks are important feeding areas, especially for waders. Inland, the eastern end of the estuary includes areas of dryer land and salt steppe that are not inundated. The site lies about 10 km south of the southern boundary of La Petite Côte (site SN011) and just north (c.4 km) of the northern boundary of Delta du Saloum (SN013).
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.
Additional biodiversity: See Box for key species. The site is particularly important for wintering waders and terns. Over 6,300 waders of 20 species were recorded in 1998. Larus audouinii is a regular wintering species, with frequent observations of numbers in the hundreds on the site, including a maximum count of 350 individuals in the estuary just south of the town of Joal-Fadiouth in 1991. In addition to the species in the Box, there are records of 1,200 wintering Recurvirostra avosetta, while Charadrius hiaticula and Calidris canutus have also been recorded in numbers exceeding 1,000 birds. Breeding birds include mixed heronries in trees in villages inland of the estuary, e.g. Mesophoyx intermedia with nests of Egretta alba, Ardea melanocephala and Phalacrocorax africanus at N’Dianda near Joal. There is considerable interchange and movement of birds between this site and sites SN011 and SN013, and all three sites are of very high importance for wintering, passage and resident waterbirds and seabirds. Non-bird biodiversity: None known to BirdLife International.
Delineation rationale: Type 2 marine IBA: non-breeding (coastal) congregations.
Habitats
| IUCN Habitat | Coverage % | Habitat detail |
|---|---|---|
| Artificial - Terrestrial | 60 | |
| Marine Intertidal | 13 | |
| Marine Coastal/Supratidal | 13 | |
| Marine Neritic | 13 |
Threats
Summary of threats to biodiversity at KBA: In terms of use by waterbirds and seabirds, the site is closely linked to Delta du Saloum (site SN013) to the south and La Petite Côte (SN011) to the north. It is, however, a discrete site in its own right, which has been surveyed separately since 1997 as part of the African Waterbird Census. It is not included in the Delta du Saloum Biosphere Reserve and has no designated status, but Peeters et al. (1998) suggest that it merits classification as a Ramsar Site (and IBA) on the basis of waterbirds regularly occurring in high numbers.
Additional information
References: del Nevo et al. (1994), Peeters et al. (1998), Schepers et al. (1998).