Wetlands
Morocco
The four major wetland sites in Morocco are:
1: Merja Zerga
Coordinates: 34°50'N 006°20'W
Elevation: 0-74 m
Area: 7,000 ha
Location: The site is located on the Atlantic coast, adjacent to the town of Moulay Bou Salham,about 80 km north of the city of Kénitra and 40 km south of Larache, in the province of Kénitra,northwestern Morocco.
2: Merja Sidi Boughaba
Designation date: 20/06/1980
Coordinates: 34°15'N 006°40'W
Elevation: 0-77 m
Area: 600 ha
Location: The site is located about 14 km southwest of the city of Kénitra, in the province of Kénitra in northwest Morocco.
3: Lac d'Afennourir
Coordinates: 33°15'N 005°15'W
Elevation: 1700-1800 m
Area: 250 ha
Location: The site is located in the Atlas mountain range, a few kilometres southwest of the town of Ifrane, and approximately 70 km southeast of the city of Meknès, in the province of Ifrane in northern Morocco.
4: Baie de Khnifiss
Coordinates: 28°00'N 012°15'W
Elevation: 30-50 m
Area: 6,500 ha
Location: The site is located on the Saharan Atlantic coast, 120 km southwest of the town of Tan Tan and 70 km east-northeast of the city of Tarfaya, in the province of Laayoune in southwest Morocco.
MORROCAN wetland sites are considered very important as they support internationally important numbers of staging and wintering waterbirds, including some threatened species. Some consists of a large, coastal lagoon with extensive intertidal mudflats, subtidal seagrass beds and fringing marshes.
The Sebkha Tazra support the endemic halophyte Limonium tuberculatum. Other endemic plants. Furthermore, it includes nesting birds, such as the endangered bustard Chlamydotis undulata. The lagoon's strategic position on the East Atlantic Flyway, together with its abundant invertebrate and fish fauna and seagrass beds, give rise to internationally important numbers of staging and wintering birds.