The nature

The nature

The power of one, perhaps the most surprising aspect of nature is the power of one. Each living species has a key role in nature. As such, each of us can help save our mother nature. Accordingly, the Association Djibouti Nature standpoint is that effective nature conservation can only be achieved through sound connection between people and nature. Association Djibouti Nature/BirdLife International Partner, is a registered independent, not-for-profit and membership-based non-governmental organisation in Djibouti. Its mission is to contribute the conservation efforts, sustainable management and appreciation of nature and to improve the livelihoods of people in Djibouti. To achieve this, Djibouti Nature works with local communities, government bodies and other […]

Important Bird and Biodiversity Areas

Important Bird and Biodiversity Areas identified for Djibouti consisting 11 sites and cover all the key habitat types in the country. Six (6) of them are by law declared as protected areas (gazetted as terrestrial and marine protected areas). IBAs include two (2) small forested areas, the only remaining woodlands in the country; four (4) wetlands: one (1) inland, two (2) marines and one (1) coastal sites), five (5) semi-arid and arid areas non-declared protected areas yet. Only seven (7) of them are assessed and have been included in the Important Bird Areas of Africa and Associated Islands. See the list of Djibouti’s Important Bird and Biodiversity Areas. Ali-Sabieh/Assamo Allol/Madgoul […]

Allol / Magdoul

Allol/Magdoul is a complex of sites grouped by commodity –Alol, Doda, Andaba and Magdoul –consisting of mixture of large alluvial plains subject to periodic inundation, salt flats, mineral hot springs, marsh, dense Acacia scrub, mature stands of Acacia nilotica woodland, large stands of doum palm Hyphaene, grassland and rugged basalt hills. The site is one of the third known sites for ostrich breeding population. When inundated, the site supports an important breeding and passage wintering waders, i.e. breeding of black winged stilt, Kittlitz’s plover, little grebe and Egyptian goose has been confirmed. 286+ avocets and 1300+ of marsh sandpipers have been recorded at Doda (both highest Djibouti counts, the latter […]

Ali-Sabieh / Assamo

Ali-Sabieh/Assamo is located in the south-eastern and distanced from Djibouti city, the capital of the country about 120 kilometres. It is an area bordering with Ethiopia and Somalia and constitutes low hills and medium altitudes mountains intersected by wadis “dry rivers” and with large zones of sparse acacia, mixed shrubs and some small gardens developed in the broader wadis where ground water accessibility is easy. By its geographical location in the border with Ethiopia and Somalia, diversity of bird species of this site shows a mix of species which differs from other IBAs b in Djibouti. The wadis with acacia shrubs support northern crombec, Arabian warbler, black bush robin, grey-headed […]

Goba’ad plain

The site is consisted vast alluvial depression with mixture of extensive low acacia scrub, many shallow wadis, and large sandflats and scattered by plateaus. By its geographical location between two other significant IBAs (Lake Abhé and Hanlé plain) and closer to the border with Ethiopia, its avifauna shows elements reflecting a mixture of bird species provided the neighborhood location with Ethiopia. Goba’ad with two other sites in Djibouti is the only site which hosts ostrich with breeding population potentiality. In addition, typical semi-desert species presence include Black –crown sparrow lark, spotted thick-knee, Arabian bustard, Lichtenstein, chestnut-bellied and spotted sandgrouses, whilst wadis which are more vegetated hold yellow-necked spurfowl, yellow_breasted barbet, […]

Goda Massif / Forêt du Day

The Forêt Du Day ecosystem is a dry tropical Afromontane mixed woodland in the Goda Massif mountain ranges in the North of Djibouti with an altitudinal range between c. 1200 m to c. 1750 m and is an Important Bird Area (BirdLife International, 2000). It consists also one of the few forested areas still remaining in the country where, historically, the dominant forest tree was African pencil cedar Juniperus procera, which formed a closed canopy forest until a dramatic decline in the last 20-30 years which left a large proportion of the junipers dead or dying, and the canopy open (Bealey et al., 2006). At higher altitudes, the under storey […]

Godoria / Doumeira

Godoria/Doumeira is consisting of a broad coastal plain lying between Djibouti/Eritrea border with the low hill offshore island of Doumeira to the north, and the hill of Ras Siyyan to the south with extension to Godoria mangroves. This is part of the Rift Valley/Red Sea flyway, the second most important flyway for migratory soaring birds in the world, and is the focus of a conservation initiative by Birdlife for migrating soaring birds (http://www.birdlife.org/migratorysoaringbirds/). Over 1.5 million soaring birds of 37 species (including 5 globally threatened species) use the straits each year to move between Eurasia and Africa.  The Strait is an important migration bottleneck because it is the shortest water […]

Hanlé plain

The Hanlé plain has similar biotope which constitutes large alluvial depression with extensive low mix acacia scrub, shallow wadis, and vast sand mats scattered low hills bordered by steep-sided mountains. In several small places, the area support permanent freshwater that hold large stands of doum palm Hyphaene such as Hyphaene and patches of marsh. Hanlé including Galafi, Daoudaoua and Gagadé plains hold ostrich breeding small population and the freshwater areas support small numbers of breeding water birds such as spur-winged plover, three banded plover, black crake and Egyptian goose. And the area is known the only Djibouti record of long-tailed cormorant, malachite kingfisher and white-browed coucal (Welch and Welch 1998). […]

Haramous / Loyada

Haramous/Loyada consists of two main wet habitats but for simplicity is designated as one site and part of it, was declared as the first and only Ramsar site of the country when Djibouti ratified Wetlands Convention in 2003. The site supports large inter-tidal mudflats with mangroves patches in several areas. The eastern coastal terrestrial part of the site is formed low sandy plain intersected by well vegetated wadis and covered with sparse acacia and shrubs. The area supports large populations of passage and wintering shorebirds some of them are estimated as more than 1% of global population i.e. Crab Plover, Terek Sandpiper, Lesser and Greater Sandpipers as well as more […]

Musha / Maskali islands

Îles Musha / Maskali is Two ancient coral reef islands and several satellites islets, located at around 15 km in the North of Djibouti city in the Gulf of Tadjoura. The larger Island, Musha, supports an extensive stands of mangroves and sueada sp. The islands and particularly its satellite islets is known as one of the breeding areas which used by red-billed tropicbird, white-eyed gull, bridled tern, Eurasian spoon bill, osprey, Goliath, striated and western reef herons, chestnut –bellied sandgrouse and possibly some mangrove warblers i.e. clamorous reed warbler. The site is colonized by Indian House Crow and its presence has significant negative impacts on the breeding success of all […]