Palm Islands Nature Reserve (8211)
Lebanon, Middle East

Site overview

KBA status: confirmed

Year of last assessment: 2016

National site name: Palm Islands Nature Reserve

Central coordinates: Latitude: 34.4900, Longitude: 35.7708

Elevation (m): 0 to 6

Area of KBA (km²): 16.50132

Protected area coverage (%): 25.29

KBA classification: Regional

Legacy site: Yes

Site details

Site description: A group of three flat, rocky islands of eroded limestone pavement (rising to 6 m), c.13 km offshore and north-west of Tripoli, together with their surrounding seas. Palm Island (Jazirat al-Nakhl or Ile du Palmier) is the largest (20 ha), and has a sand beach on its north and east sides, and a central depression where rainwater accumulates in winter. Parts of the islands are flooded with seawater during storms. There is some very stunted maquis-type vegetation in clefts in the limestone but the islands are otherwise relatively bare, except in spring when carpeted in wildflowers. On Palm Island there are also some small ponds, boggy areas and stands of reed Phragmites. The islands are commonly visited by picnicers, tourists, hunters, school parties and fishermen. There is a freshwater well on Palm Island, as well as some half-built concrete buildings and some ruins from antiquity. There is a lighthouse on Ramkin Island. The third island is called Sanani.

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. 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 for key species. The islands were formerly an important seabird breeding site, known as the 'Bird Islands' in the last century. Larus audouinii (see below), L. cachinnans, Sterna bengalensis, S. hirundo and S. albifrons were all breeding on Palm Island at the end of the 19th century at least, but currently no species breed, apart from L. cachinnans possibly, due to high levels of disturbance. L. cachinnans has been declining for a long time (80–90 pairs in 1956, 50 birds in 1973, at least 15 pairs in 1975, no birds present in April 1993) and may be extinct. The site would make an excellent observatory for monitoring the large, visible migration of waterbirds along the coast (egrets, ducks, waders, gulls etc.) and for observation and ringing of passerine migrants; over 300 species of migrants had been recorded by 1974, including vagrants such as Haliaeetus albicilla, Falco eleonorae, F. pelegrinoides and Vanellus gregarius. The site was listed as a wetland of international importance by Carp (1980). Non-bird biodiversity: Mammals: old records of Monachus monachus (E), perhaps up until the 1960s. Reptiles: old records of sea-turtles Chelonia mydas (E) and Caretta caretta (E) nesting on the sand beaches. Flora: some wildflower species are nationally endangered or extinct along the mainland coast, or otherwise unusual, e.g. Euphorbia pithyusa, Cressa cretica.

Delineation rationale: Type 2 marine IBA: non-breeding (coastal) congregations.

Habitats

Land use: hunting | tourism/recreation

IUCN Habitat	Coverage %	Habitat detail
Marine Neritic	48
Marine Coastal/Supratidal	48
Marine Intertidal	5

Threats

Summary of threats to biodiversity at KBA: Although declared a Marine Reserve on 9 March 1992 (Law 121), the law is not enforced. The reserve was recently also designated as a Mediterranean Specially Protected Area. Critical problems presently are extreme disturbance of birds by all visitors, the large numbers of illegal hunters, deliberate persecution of birds, and over-collection of eggs and young of nesting seabirds in the past. Dynamite fishing has been frequent offshore in the last decade, and oil and garbage pollution from Tripoli are problems. Introduction of non-indigenous fauna/flora has occurred. Some half-built buildings occur on Palm Island; before 1975-1976 there were proposals to develop the islands for tourism, potentially a critical threat.

Threat level 1	Threat level 2	Threat level 3	Timing
Pollution	Industrial & military effluents	Oil spills	Ongoing

Additional information

References: Carp (1980), Haber et al. (no date), Tohmé (1973), Tohmé and Neuschwander (1974).