|Location||South Africa, Northern Cape|
|Central coordinates||24o 46.00' East 28o 44.00' South|
|Year of IBA assessment||1998|
Summary Kamfers Dam is located six km north of Kimberley and is a permanent wetland due to a continual increase in sewage effluent inflow. Kamfers Dam occasionally supports extremely large numbers of resident, migratory and nomadic birds. It regularly holds large numbers of Greater and Lesser flamingos.
Site description Kamfers Dam is located 2 km north of Kimberley at the junction of three biomes; the Karoo, Kalahari and Grasslands. The dam is actually a non-perennial, closed-basin pan in a semi-arid environment, receiving water from three primary sources; its 160 km² catchment, 14 megalitres of treated sewage effluent from Kimberley per day, and half of the town’s stormwater. During 5- to 10-year dry cycles, the pan dries out between October and December, and fills between February and March. There is always permanent water at the south-western end of the pan, owing to the continuous inflow of sewage effluent, and this has resulted in the establishment of extensive beds of Phragmites, Typha, Scirpus, Juncus and Cyperus marsh, sedge- and reedbeds.The Kalahari thornveld surrounding the pan is dominated by Acacia. Panveld grows on the water’s edge and lower slopes, and is characterized by plants that grow on heavy/brackish/saline soils. Unfortunately, invasive non-native plants (such as Tagetes, Agave, Argemone, Prosopis and Salsola) cover areas adjacent to the pan.
Key Biodiversity See Box for key species. Probably due to the nutrient-rich sewage input, this pan is highly productive and supports large numbers of birds. It regularly holds 4,000–10,000 individuals of resident, migratory and nomadic waterbird, and up to 20,000 have been recorded during periods of drought, when the site provides a reliable refuge while many of the surrounding ephemeral water-bodies dry out. The threatened Circus ranivorus and Charadrius pallidus occur at Kamfers Dam, which also occasionally holds large numbers of Alopochen aegyptiacus, Podiceps nigricollis and Tadorna cana. During winter, when Palearctic migrants are absent, the site supports substantially fewer birds.
Non-bird biodiversity: None known to BirdLife International.
|Species||Season||Period||Population estimate||Quality of estimate||IBA Criteria||IUCN Category|
|Egyptian Goose Alopochen aegyptiaca||winter||-||6,000 individuals||-||A4i||Least Concern|
|South African Shelduck Tadorna cana||winter||-||92-500 individuals||-||A4i||Least Concern|
|Black-necked Grebe Podiceps nigricollis||winter||-||900 individuals||-||A4i||Least Concern|
|Greater Flamingo Phoenicopterus roseus||winter||-||1,208-18,000 individuals||-||A4i||Least Concern|
|2013||very high||very unfavourable||negligible|
|Good - based on reliable and complete / representative data|
|Agriculture and aquaculture||livestock farming and ranching (includes forest grazing) - small-holder grazing, ranching or farming||happening now||small area/few individuals (<10%)||slow but significant deterioration||low|
|Biological resource use||hunting & collecting terrestrial animals - intentional use (species being assessed is the target)||happening now||small area/few individuals (<10%)||slow but significant deterioration||low|
|Climate change and severe weather||drought||likely in long term (beyond 4 years)||majority/most of area/population (50-90%)||moderate to rapid deterioration||medium|
|Climate change and severe weather||habitat shifting and alteration||likely in long term (beyond 4 years)||majority/most of area/population (50-90%)||slow but significant deterioration||medium|
|Climate change and severe weather||storms and floods||likely in long term (beyond 4 years)||majority/most of area/population (50-90%)||moderate to rapid deterioration||medium|
|Climate change and severe weather||temperature extremes||likely in long term (beyond 4 years)||majority/most of area/population (50-90%)||moderate to rapid deterioration||medium|
|Human intrusions and disturbance||recreational activities||happening now||small area/few individuals (<10%)||no or imperceptible deterioration||low|
|Human intrusions and disturbance||work and other activities||past (and unlikely to return) and no longer limiting||small area/few individuals (<10%)||no or imperceptible deterioration||low|
|Invasive & other problematic species, genes & diseases||invasive non-native/alien species/diseases - named species||happening now||some of area/population (10-49%)||moderate to rapid deterioration||high|
|Invasive & other problematic species, genes & diseases||problematic native species/diseases - named species||happening now||some of area/population (10-49%)||moderate to rapid deterioration||high|
|Natural system modifications||other ecosystem modifications||happening now||whole area/population (>90%)||very rapid to severe deterioration||very high|
|Pollution||air-borne pollutants - smog||likely in long term (beyond 4 years)||some of area/population (10-49%)||slow but significant deterioration||medium|
|Pollution||domestic & urban waste water - sewage||happening now||whole area/population (>90%)||moderate to rapid deterioration||very high|
|Pollution||excess energy - noise pollution||happening now||some of area/population (10-49%)||no or imperceptible deterioration||low|
|Pollution||industrial & military effluents - seepage from mining||happening now||majority/most of area/population (50-90%)||slow but significant deterioration||high|
|Residential and commercial development||housing and urban areas||likely in long term (beyond 4 years)||some of area/population (10-49%)||slow but significant deterioration||medium|
|Residential and commercial development||tourism and recreation areas||likely in short term (within 4 years)||small area/few individuals (<10%)||no or imperceptible deterioration||low|
|Transportation and service corridors||flight paths||happening now||small area/few individuals (<10%)||slow but significant deterioration||low|
|Transportation and service corridors||roads and railroads||happening now||small area/few individuals (<10%)||slow but significant deterioration||low|
|Shrubland||Scrub - woodland||0||0||good (> 90%)||moderate (70-90%)||near favourable|
|Wetlands (inland)||Ephemeral pools and wetlands||0||0||good (> 90%)||poor (40-69%)||unfavourable|
|Alopochen aegyptiaca||Egyptian Goose||6000||1994||individuals||34||very unfavourable|
|Tadorna cana||South African Shelduck||500||500||individuals||100||favourable|
|Podiceps nigricollis||Black-necked Grebe||900||448||individuals||50||unfavourable|
|Phoenicopterus roseus||Greater Flamingo||18000||4800||individuals||27||very unfavourable|
|Phoeniconaias minor||Lesser Flamingo||19566||81000||individuals||100||favourable|
|Falco naumanni||Lesser Kestrel||300||300||individuals||100||favourable|
|Charadrius pallidus||Chestnut-banded Plover||18||8||individuals||45||unfavourable|
|Little/none of site covered (<10%)||No management plan exists but the management planning process has begun||Very little or no conservation action taking place||negligible|
Local conservation groups The local conservation group below is working to support conservation at this IBA.
|Save the Flamingo||2008|
|IUCN habitat||Habitat detail||Extent (% of site)|
|Grassland||Grassland - Semi-desert||-|
|Wetlands (inland)||Artificial wetlands; Ephemeral pools and wetlands||major|
|Shrubland||Scrub - woodland||major|
|Land-use||Extent (% of site)|
|nature conservation and research||100%|
References Anderson (1994a,c), Anderson and Koen (1994), Koen (1993).
Contribute Please click here to help BirdLife conserve the world's birds - your data for this IBA and others are vital for helping protect the environment.
Recommended citation BirdLife International (2016) Important Bird and Biodiversity Area factsheet: Kamfers Dam. Downloaded from http://www.birdlife.org on 25/05/2016
To provide new information to update this factsheet or to correct any errors, please email BirdLife