BirdLife IBA Factsheet

Country/Territory

Bulgaria

Administrative region(s)

Varna

Central coordinates

28.55, 43.6667

Area

2000 ha

Altitude

0 - 3m

Criteria

A1, A4i, A4iii, B1i, B2

Site description A natural firth on the Black Sea coast in north-western Bulgaria, near the Romanian border. The water is fringed with reedbeds of Phragmites, Typha and Schoenoplectus, and is surrounded by arable land and plantations of Populus, Fraxinus and Prunus. The water-level varies widely, due to demand for irrigation and household-consumption in summer. There are some groups of Salix trees around the lake, and scrub to the south-west is dominated by Paliurus, Crataegus and Rosa.

Birds The site is of global importance for wintering Branta ruficollis, Anser albifrons and Phalacrocorax pygmeus, and also important for some other wintering or migrating waterbirds, e.g. Cygnus olor. Species of global conservation concern that do not meet IBA criteria: Anser erythropus (max. 5 on passage and in winter).

Protection status National Partial International Partial350 ha of IBA covered by National Monument (Durankulak lake, 350 ha). 350 ha of IBA covered by Ramsar Site (Durankulak lake, 350 ha).

Conservation issues The main problem is illegal hunting, including international hunting tourism. The management plan for Durankulak lake was prepared by the Ministry of Environment under the Bulgarian-Swiss Biodiversity Conservation Programme.

Citation BirdLife International 2003 BirdLife's online World Bird Database: the site for bird conservation. Version 2.0. Cambridge, UK: BirdLife International. Available: http://www.birdlife.org  (accessed 5/5/2005)