Sebkhet Sidi Mansour (6950)
Tunisia, Africa

Site overview

KBA status: confirmed

Year of last assessment: 2016

National site name: Sebkhet Sidi Mansour

Central coordinates: Latitude: 34.2360, Longitude: 9.4732

Elevation (m): 40 to 40

Area of KBA (km²): 41.71261

Protected area coverage (%): 48.71

KBA classification: Global

Legacy site: Yes

Site details

Site description: This site is called a sebkhet, or salt-lake, though parts of it have the character of a garaet or freshwater marsh. It is the lowest point of a major plain between Gafsa and Gabès, between the Djebel Orbata and the Djebel Hachichina, where steppe meets desert. In many winters it remains dry, but after wet winters it collects fresh water, like the other smaller depressions of the region (Bled Es-Segui), such as Garaet Fatnassa and Garaet Zougrata. Much of the lake floor is without a salt-crust and can be cultivated when rainfall permits. In many ways it resembles a southern version of Ichkeul or Kelbia, and has not as yet been affected by dam-building. The surrounding steppe is dominated by Arthrophytum species and Astragalus armatus. The shores of the sebkha support a halophytic vegetation in which Arthrocnemum indicum and Salicornia arabica are conspicuous elements.

Rationale for qualifying as KBA: This site qualifies as a Key Biodiversity Area of international significance that meets the thresholds for at least one criterion described in the Global Standard for the Identification of KBAs. KBA identified in the CEPF Ecosystem Profile of the Mediterranean Hotspot (2017). Taxonomy, nomenclature and global threat category follow the 2016 IUCN Red List.

Additional biodiversity: See Box and Table 2 for key species. Populations of wintering and breeding waterbirds vary from year to year with precipitation. In wet winters, there are good numbers of Palearctic ducks (and even geese), including Oxyura leucocephala (40–80), and Grus grus, while in wet springs many waterbirds nest; there was a large colony of nesting Phoenicopterus ruber in the last wet summer, 1990, when large numbers of Marmaronetta angustirostris also nested. Non-bird biodiversity: The mammal Gazella dorcas (VU) occurs but is rare.

Habitats

Land use: agriculture | hunting

IUCN Habitat	Coverage %	Habitat detail
Wetlands(Inland)	100

Threats

Summary of threats to biodiversity at KBA: Overgrazing and hunting of wildfowl are the main threats. Unlike most other flood-plain wetlands in Tunisia, this site has not been affected by dam-building. The site is unprotected, and it would be desirable to afford it some protected-area status as an outstanding example of a desert-edge wetland.

Threat level 1	Threat level 2	Threat level 3	Timing
Agriculture & aquaculture	Livestock farming & ranching	Small-holder grazing, ranching or farming	Ongoing
Biological resource use	Hunting & collecting terrestrial animals	Intentional use (species being assessed is the target)	Ongoing

Additional information