The WetCap project covers five countries in North Africa: Algeria, Egypt, Mauritania, Morocco and Tunisia.

Country Profiles

Algeria

Contracting Party to AEWA, CMS and the Ramsar Convention.

Algeria presently has 42 sites designated as Wetlands of International Importance, with a surface area of 2,959,615 hectares. Particularly important for migratory and resident waterbirds are the wetlands along the coast and on the plateau south of Constantine, which support very large numbers of wintering birds. Algeria’s coastline and offshore islands are of considerable significance for breeding seabirds.

Currently 406 bird species are recorded as occurring in Algeria, of which 214 are confirmed breeders. A number of them have an unfavourable conservation status and are covered by AEWA, e.g. White-headed Duck (Oxyura leucocephala), Marbled Teal Marmaronetta angustirostris, Ferruginous Pochard Aythya nyroca, Audouin’s Gull Larus audouinii and Corncrake Crex crex.

Egypt

Contracting Party to AEWA, CMS and the Ramsar Convention.

List of AEWA Species occuring in Egypt.

Egypt presently has 2 sites designated as Wetlands of International Importance, with a surface area of 105,700 hectares. More than 470 bird species are known in Egypt, most of which are non-breeding migrants, passing through the country or spending the winter there, and are of Palearctic origin. Because of Egypt’s unique, strategic geographical position along migration routes of Palearctic birds wintering in Africa, many Palearctic species migrate through Egypt in internationally significant numbers. Especially waterbirds have several migration bottlenecks in Egypt, e.g. the area of Suez, Hurghada and Zaranik. In addition vast numbers of Palearctic waterbird migrants winter in Egypt.

Mauritania

Contracting Party to CMS and the Ramsar Convention.

Mauritania presently has 4 sites designated as Wetlands of International Importance, with a surface area of 1,231,100 hectares. A total of 541 species has been recorded in Mauritania, of which 294 are migrants and 185 Palearctic migrants. Mauritania’s most important site ornithologically is the Banc d’Arguin, which holds the largest concentration of waterbirds, particularly waders, in West Africa, and which is also of high significance as one of the most important wintering and staging sites for many European migrants such as the Eurasian Spoonbill Platalea leucorodia and the Ferruginous Pochard Aythya nyroca. There are a number of other significant wetlands in the Sahalian zone, many of which are associated with the Senegal River. Recent waterbird censuses have, in addition, revealed that wetlands in the east of the country may hold as many birds as the coastal sites or the better-known western wetlands.

Morocco

Contracting Party to CMS and the Ramsar Convention; Signatory to AEWA.

List of AEWA Species occuring in Morocco.

Morocco presently has 24 sites designated as Wetlands of International Importance, with a surface area of 272,010 hectares. A total of 433 bird species has been recorded from Morocco, none of them being endemic, and a large number being covered by AEWA.

Morocco is a bottleneck on a main migration route between Europe and Africa for tens of millions of western Palearctic migrants. Up to 90,000 storks and cranes have been recorded passing across the Straits of Gibraltar at Jbel Moussa in northern Morocco. Most of the coastal wetlands and many of the inland waters are crucial resting and refuelling stops or overwintering sites for waterbirds.

Morocco especially harbours the larger of the last two existing wild breeding colonies of the Northern Bald Ibis Geronticus eremita. Other AEWA species wintering or breeding in Morocco are the Slender-billed Curlew Numenius tenuirostris, Marbled Teal Marmaronetta angustirostris, Audouin’s Gull Larus audouinii, Ferruginous Pochard Aythya nyroca, White-headed Duck Oxyura leucocephala and Corncrake Crex crex.

Tunisia

Contracting Party to AEWA, CMS and the Ramsar Convention.

List of AEWA Species occuring in Tunisia.

Tunisia presently has 20 sites designated as Wetlands of International Importance, with a surface area of 726,541 hectares. Tunisia's variety of wetlands, ranging from natural freshwater lakes, seasonal salt-lakes, pans and coastal lagoons, as well as the littoral (most notably the Gulf of Gabes) are important wintering areas for waders and other waterbird species in the Mediterranean. Its geographical location also makes the country an important stop-over site for trans-Saharan Palearctic migration, particularly in spring, when the country's oases offer the first green and wet areas after the long northward migration across the Sahara Desert.

Tunisia supports a number of endemic and endangered species, including several waterbird species. Despite its relatively small area, Tunisia has a rich avifauna of about 360 species, of which a number are covered by AEWA, some of them with an unfavourable conservation status e.g. Ferruginous Pochard Aythya nyroca, the White-headed Duck Oxyura leucocephala, the Marbled Duck Marmaronetta angustirostris, the Audouin's Gull Larus audouinii, the Corn Crake Crex crex and the Slender-billed Curlew Numenius tenuirostris.