Hadejia Nguru wetlands

12.9 11Coordinates: 12 ° 54 ' N , 11 ° 0' E

The Hadejia-Nguru Wetlands are located in the northeastern region of Nigeria . They extend over an area of approx. 3,500 km² between the cities of Hadejia and Gashua , in the states of Jigawa and Yobe . The Hadejia Nguru Wetlands are of great international importance; they form an important resting and wintering area for migratory birds from the northern hemisphere . 377 bird species with a calculated total population of 259,767 in 1995, 201,133 in 1996 and 324,510 in 1997 were counted. The annual rainfall in the region is given as 200 to 600 mm / m², which fall in the rainy season of the West African monsoons in the months of June to September.

The Hadejia-Nguru Wetlands are formed by an inland delta of the Hadejia , Kafin Hausa and Jama'are rivers . The Hadejia is the main tributary and splits into three tributaries at the place Hadejia, these are the Old Hadejia River , the Burum Gana and the Marma Canal . The Marma Canal flows northeast into the outflow-free Nguru Lake , the other two arms connect again after about 105 km. The Kafin Hausa flows into the Jama'are, this connects with the reunited Hadejia shortly before the village of Gashua and forms the Komadugu Yobe , this confluence forms the eastern end of the Hadejia-Nguru wetlands . The wetlands reach their greatest extent with the onset of the flood season from August and September , when they consist of a network of canals and smaller lakes. The size of the floodplains has decreased significantly in the last decades, so the wetlands at the beginning of the 1960s had an average size of 4,125 km², in particularly rainy years even up to 6,000 km² with an open water surface of approx. 2,000 km². These floodplain areas were reduced to approx. 3,500 km² in the 1990s due to the decrease in rainfall, the construction of dams on the upper reaches and extensive water abstraction for irrigation projects.

The Hadejia-Nguru wetlands are located in the vegetation belt of the Sahel-acacia savannah of the Sahel zone , with annual rainfall of 200 to 600 mm / m². There are three main specific types of vegetation in the area. The first is the shrub savannah, which spreads in the higher areas. The second is called tudu , which spreads on sandy soils and is criss-crossed by a large number of ponds. The predominant tree species are Anabaum ( Acacia albida ), Ziziphus spp., Desert date ( Balanites aegyptiaca ), tamarind tree ( Tamarindus indica ) and African baobab ( Adansonia digitata ), these are underlaid with vegetation from the grass species Cenchrus biflorus , Andropogon spp. and Vetiveria nigritana . Gallery forests , known regionally as Kumri forests, extend along the river meadows . These consist mainly of the tree species Khaya senegalensis , Mitragyna inermis and Diospyros mespiliformis . In some areas, the Kumri forests have been replaced by plantations with mango ( Mangifera indica ) and real guava ( Psidium guajava ). The third type of vegetation spreads in the floodplains and is known regionally as Fadama . The main tree species are Acacia nilotica and Doum palm ( Hyphaene thebaica ). Large areas of grass spread out in the floodplains, the dominant species are Echinochloa and Oryza spp., In drier areas of the Fadama vegetation it is the grasses Dactyloctenium aegyptium , Setaria spp. and Cyperus spp. The taller Typha domingensis and Mimosa pigra grow on the banks of the lakes.

The 1010.95 km² Baturiya Wetlands Game Reserve and the 581 km² Nguru Lake (and Marma Canal) complex were added to the list of wetlands of international importance by the Ramsar Convention in 2008. The bathing Nguru wetlands are part of the Chad Basin National Park on an area of 938 km², the core area of the national park in this region is the Dagona waterfowl sanctuary .

source

Individual evidence

↑ The Annotated Ramsar List: Nigeria ( Memento of October 12, 2013 in the Internet Archive ) (English)

[1] The Annotated Ramsar List: Nigeria ( Memento of October 12, 2013 in the Internet Archive ) (English)