Sites - Important Bird Areas (IBAs)

Ornithological information The avifauna of the Nargyz IBA includes 247 species (45.9% of the avifauna of Central Asia), of these 105 species breed. The IBA is situated on a major migratory flyway. Passerines are most numerous (102 species), birds of prey (28), Anatidae (23), waders (21). In total 81 species of waterbird have been recorded. Resident, passage or wintering species listed on the IUCN Red List and the Red Data Book of Turkmenistan are: Pelecanus onocrotalus and Pelecanus crispus, Platelea leucorodia, Ciconia nigra, Marmaronetta angustirostris, Aythya nyroca, Pandion haliaetus, Haliaeetus leucoryphus, Aquila heliaca, Aquila chrysaetos, Aegypius monachus, Circaetus gallicus, Circus macrourus, Falco naumanni, Falco cherrug, Falco peregrinus, Porphyrio porphyrio, Grus virgo, Tetrax tetrax, Chlamydotis undulata, Otis tarda, Burhinus oedicnemus, Bubo bubo, Coracias garrulus and Anser cygnoides. The number of Haliaeetus leucoryphus recorded is below the threshold for criterion A1 and many of the other globally threatened species have either not been recorded in recent years or are very rare. For criterion A3 species, there is not enough data to estimate their numbers on the IBA. Criterion A4i applies for several species, and the site is also important for the migration of waterfowl and water birds, birds of prey and passerines.

Site description The IBA is located on the right bank of the Amudarya river and includes the adjoining desert (to the south) and lakes of the Farab collector.

Populations of IBA trigger species

Protected areas

Protected area	Designation	Area (ha)	Relationship with IBA	Overlap with IBA (ha)
Amu-Darya	State Nature Reserve	49,484	protected area overlaps with site	49,484

Habitats

Land use

Other biodiversity The majority of the IBA consists of plain-desert ecosystems, with some smaller wetland ecosystems. In the IBA 227 species of higher vascular plants have been recorded. The flora of the tugai is relatively poor, with 86 species of plants of which 15 species are dominant - Populus pruinosa and P. euphratica, Elaeagnus turcomanica, Salix songarica, Tamarix, Halimodendron halodendron, Glycyrrhiza glabra, Phragmites australis, Erianthus ravennae, Trachomitum scabrum, and Aeluropus littoralis. There are specific varieties of Poaceae, Asteraceae and Tamarix. The tugai forests at Michurinskiy, Kenderli and Boyanly are 40-60 years old. 80 species of spider have been recorded. Among insects bugs and butterflies are the most studied. 43 species of fish inhabit the waters of the Amudarya river, channels and collectors, including species listed in the Red Data Book of Turkmenistan (1999). Amphibians – 2 species. Reptiles - 29 species, basically living in the desert areas. Mammals - 42 species, of which insectivores - 4 species, chiropterans - 5 species, lagomorphs - 1 species, rodents - 17 species, predators -12 species and ungulates - 3 species.

Management considerations Anthropogenic pressures are overgrazing, illegal hunting and firewood collection.

Protection status The Amudarya state reserve (established in 1982 covering 49,514 ha) consists of three areas in the middle course of the Amudarya River in which the valley flood plain tugai, ridge-hillocks and barchan sands, and salt pans of the Turan lowland are well represented. The territory of the reserve includes part of the Amudarya River.

Conservation response There are two recent projects concerned with the problems of this region: - 2003-2006 - Project GEF-UNEP-WWF « Projecting ECONET for long-term biodiversity protection » (WWF - the executive organization, the partner - the Ministry of Nature Protection) - 2003-2005 - Project UNDP « Improvement of protected areas system in Turkmenistan (ECONET) » (the executive organization - the Ministry of Nature Protection).

References Bukreev S.A. (1997) Ornithogeography and reservation matters of Turkmenistan. Мoscow: 157 p. (in Russian). Marochkina V.V. (1993) Materials on chiropterans of East Turkmenistan // Proceedings of the Turkmen Academy of Sciences. Biology Sciences, №3. (in Russian). Bukreev, S.A. Marochkina, V.V. (1999) Nested fauna of birds of Amudarya reserve. - Territorial aspects of protection of birds in Central Asia and Kazakhstan. Moscow, 1999., with. 49-59. (in Russian). Rajapov M. Biodiversity Strategy and Action Plan for Turkmenistan. Ashgabat, 2002. (in Russian, Turkmen, English). Rajapov M. Turkmenistan. Country Study on the Status of Biodiversity. Ashgabat, 2002. (in Russian, Turkmen, English).

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Recommended citation  BirdLife International (2013) Important Bird Areas factsheet: Nargyz. Downloaded from http://www.birdlife.org on 21/05/2013

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