Sites - Important Bird Areas (IBAs)

Ornithological information Numbers are based on aerial counts which tend to underestimate species with a scattered occurrence (e.g. Chlidonias niger). This is the main feeding area of the Phalacrocorax carbo that breed at Lepelaarsplassen (067) and Naardermeer (074), and is an important moulting area for (subadult) Cygnus olor, Aythya fuligula and Aythya ferina.

Site description A stagnant freshwater lake, separated from Lake IJsselmeer (034) by the closing of the Houtribdijk in 1975, and bordered to the east by the polders Oostelijk and Zuidelijk Flevoland (reclaimed in 1957 and 1968). The lake is connected to Lake Gooimeer (044) in the south-east, and is also adjacent to Oostvaardersplassen (066) and Lepelaarsplassen (067) in the east, via the Zuidelijk Flevoland polder. The lake has been locally deepened to more than 30 m by sand extraction. This site, together with site 034, formed part of a single, larger site (former site NL030) in the previous international IBA inventory (Grimmett and Jones 1989).

Populations of IBA trigger species

Protected areas

Protected area	Designation	Area (ha)	Relationship with IBA	Overlap with IBA (ha)
De Drost, Hooft, Warenar	Nature Reserve	15	protected area contained by site	15
Gouwzee en kustzone Muiden - NL2003017	Habitats Directive	1,110	protected area overlaps with site	864
Ijdoorn	Nature Reserve with Management Subsidy	50	protected area contained by site	67
IJmeer	Wetlands of International Importance (Ramsar)	7,400	protected area overlaps with site	7,400
Kogen	Nature Reserve	110	protected area contained by site	110
Kustzone Muiden	Natural Monument	110	protected area contained by site	110
Markermeer	Wetlands of International Importance (Ramsar)	61,000	protected area overlaps with site	61,000
Markermeer & IJmeer - NL9803029	Birds Directive	68,508	protected area overlaps with site	69,684
Uiterdijken	Nature Reserve	19	protected area contained by site	19

Habitats

Land use

Management considerations The main problems are over-fishing, water management (the water-level is deliberately kept high during summer), land reclamation for building IJburg (660 ha will be reclaimed near Amsterdam), pollution by nutrients and by trace pollutants such as cadmium, mercury and DDT (`Other' threat, above), entanglement in fishing nets, and disturbance caused by wildfowl hunting and recreation (leisure navigation). A small part of the area lies in the `Eemmeer, Gooimeer en IJmeer' SPA (as part of the IJmeer).

Protection status National Low International Low110 ha of IBA covered by Natural Monument (Kustzone Muiden, 110 ha). 15 ha of IBA covered by Nature Reserve (De Drost, Hooft, Warenar, 15 ha). 67 ha of IBA covered by Nature Reserve (IJdoorn, 67 ha). 110 ha of IBA covered by Nature Reserve (Kogen, 110 ha). 19 ha of IBA covered by Nature Reserve (Uiterdijken, 19 ha). 110 ha of IBA covered by Special Protection Area (Eemmeer, Gooimeer en IJmeer, 1,800 ha).

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Recommended citation  BirdLife International (2013) Important Bird Areas factsheet: Lake Markermeer. Downloaded from http://www.birdlife.org on 23/05/2013

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