TEHRAN – Shadegan wetland in the southwestern province of Khuzestan is now hosting flocks of migratory birds that came to spend the winter, IRIB reported on Saturday.

Shadegan wetland covers 530,000 hectares, 400,000 hectares of which has been designated as a Ramsar site (defined by the Ramsar Convention for the conservation and sustainable use of wetlands, recognizing the fundamental ecological functions of wetlands and their economic, cultural, scientific, and recreational value).

The wetland feeds on Marun and Karun rivers both crossing Kohgiluyeh and Boyer-Ahmad province, but after dam construction over the Karun river, the wetland went dry not receiving its water right.

After the torrential rains and flooding started on March 19, the wetland has been saturated.

Last winter (December 2019- March 2020), 150,000 migratory birds were observed in the wetlands and reservoirs of Khuzestan. And the highest number of birds was counted in Hour al-Azim wetland, the highest diversity in the Shadegan wetland, and the highest population decrease in Bandoon wetland.

On January 2, IRNA quoted Mostafa Kenarkoohi, the director-general of Khuzestan province’s veterinary department, as saying that a comprehensive plan for monitoring highly pathogenic avian influenza (HPAI) has been implemented across Shadegan wetland.
Fourteen types of indigenous and migratory birds are living in the wetland and they are monitored constantly in terms of health, he explained.

FB/MG