Shara'awh island (8250)
Qatar, Middle East

Site overview

KBA status: confirmed

Year of last assessment: 1994

National site name: Shara'awh island

Central coordinates: Latitude: 25.0333, Longitude: 52.2500

System: marine, terrestrial

Elevation (m): 0 to 10

Area of KBA (km²): 0.21555

KBA classification: Global/Regional TBD

Legacy site: Yes

Site details

Site description: An island 65 km due east of the mainland of Qatar, just less than 1-km long and c.500 m wide. A hill with crags, slopes and undulating sand with a good cover of salt-tolerant bushes.

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 for key species. Details of only two visits are known; breeding species in October 1973 included Phalacrocorax nigrogularis (old nests and mummified chicks found), Pandion haliaetus, Sterna bengalensis (traces of nesting) and Sterna repressa (traces of nesting). Phaethon aethereus may nest. Non-bird biodiversity: Reptiles: Eretmochelys imbricata (E) nests, but numbers are reported to be very low.

Delineation rationale: 2010-02-03 (BL Secretariat): site area was not defined in the original IBA publication/inventory; here, it has been derived by GIS from the draft polygon.

Habitats

Land use: not utilised

IUCN Habitat	Coverage %	Habitat detail
Marine Neritic	5
Desert	90
Marine Coastal/Supratidal	5

Threats

Summary of threats to biodiversity at KBA: The current status of the seabird breeding colonies is unknown.

Threat level 1	Threat level 2	Threat level 3	Timing
Invasive & other problematic species, genes & diseases	Invasive non-native/alien species/diseases	Unspecified species	Only in the future

Additional information