Upper Kiskunság alkaline steppes

Alkaline steppes with Avocets in the Kiskunság

Upper Kiskunság alkaline steppes

  • Country: 
    Hungary
  • Site number: 
    1646
  • Area: 
    13,177 ha
  • Designation date: 
    06-10-2006
  • Coordinates: 
    47°04'N 19°09'E
Materials presented on this website, particularly maps and territorial information, are as-is and as-available based on available data and do not imply the expression of any opinion whatsoever on the part of the Secretariat of the Ramsar Convention concerning the legal status of any country, territory, city or area, or of its authorities, or concerning the delimitation of its frontiers or boundaries.

Overview

The Site is in central Hungary in the Danube river basin. Its continental saline ecosystems – marshes, grazing lands, sodic-alkaline meadows and terraces – and salt-resistant vegetation are characteristic and unique to the Pannonic biogeographic region. The Site is important for birds as a nesting, feeding and roosting ground and supports more than 20,000 geese, ducks and waders during migration periods. It hosts several plant and animal species endemic to the Carpathian Basin, which are important for maintaining the biological diversity of the region, and it constitutes one of the Hungarian strongholds for the great bustard Otis tarda and black-winged stilt Himantopus himantopus. The wetland plays an important role in the retention and storage of inland water and the regulation of groundwater levels. Land use is dedicated to traditional extensive farming and in particular domestic semi-nomadic animal grazing. The main threats derive from agricultural pollution and water regulation followed by falling groundwater levels. Wetland restoration programmes have been carried out.

Administrative region: 
Bács-Kiskun, Pest counties

  • Global international designation: 
    • UNESCO Biosphere Reserve
  • National legal designation: 
    • Environmentally Sensitive Area - UpperKiskunság alkaline steppes
    • National Park - Kiskunsági
    • Site of Community Importance - Upper Kiskunság alkaline steppes
  • Regional (international) legal designations: 
    • EU Natura 2000
  • Last publication date: 
    03-04-2017

Downloads

Ramsar Information Sheet (RIS)

Additional reports and documents