Ghara Gheshlaq No-Hunting Area (8071)
Iran, Islamic Republic of, Middle East
Site overview
KBA status: confirmed
Global KBA criteria: D1a
Year of last assessment: 1994
National site name: Ghara Gheshlaq No-Hunting Area
Central coordinates: Latitude: 37.1667, Longitude: 45.8333
System: freshwater, terrestrial
Elevation (m): 1290 to 1290
Area of KBA (km2): 11.36887
KBA classification: Global
Legacy site: Yes
Site details
Site description: The site comprises c.400 ha of permanent freshwater marshes on the plains 12 km south of Lake Uromiyeh, c.20 km north of Mahabad. The marshes are usually frozen and under snow in winter. There are extensive Phragmites beds and little open water, surrounded by a belt of seasonally flooded sedge and grassland. Peripheral areas of the wetland have been drained and converted to agricultural land. There is livestock grazing. Land ownership is public.
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.
Additional biodiversity: See box for key species. The marshes are important for breeding waterfowl, notably Plegadis falcinellus and Marmaronetta angustirostris; other breeding species include Buteo rufinus, Circus aeruginosus and Falco tinnunculus. Pelecanus onocrotalus visits to feed in summer from colonies at Lake Uromiyeh. Large numbers of ducks occur during the migration seasons, as well as Circus pygargus, Pandion haliaetus and Limosa limosa. In most winters, the wetland is frozen and devoid of birds, but in mild years it may support large numbers geese and ducks, as well as Aquila chrysaetos, Circus cyaneus and Accipiter nisus. Non-bird biodiversity: None known to BirdLife International.
Delineation rationale: 2009-11-30 (BL Secretariat): area of site should be 400 ha (see e.g. YEKOM Consulting Engineers 2002), not 40,000 ha as was mistakenly published in Evans (1994).
Habitats
Land use: agriculture | nature conservation and research (100%) | rangeland/pastureland
| IUCN Habitat | Coverage % | Habitat detail |
|---|---|---|
| Wetlands(Inland) | 99 | |
| Artificial - Terrestrial | 1 |
Threats
Summary of threats to biodiversity at KBA: The marshes have recently been designated a No-hunting Area, and are likely to be given Protected Area status by about 1998. The Department of the Environment has proposed that the area be designated a Ramsar Site. Large portions of the marsh were drained by the Mahabad Multipurpose Drainage and Irrigation Project in the 1970s. Since the early 1980s, several large-scale die-offs of waterfowl have occurred during the breeding and migration seasons; up to 100,000 waterfowl are believed to have died in a single year, possibly from botulism.
Additional information
References: Cornwallis (1976), Scott (1976a,c).