The area was known for its rich marine and bird life, and the
mangrove forests around its borders. The mangroves thrived on the run-off of
freshwater springs after it passed through farms into the bay.
Wildlife The bay is a major breeding ground for
shrimp and fishes. It is also a stopover for several migratory bird species. The bay has been designated an
Important Bird Area (IBA) by
BirdLife International because it supports significant passage or wintering populations of
waders and
gulls, including
grey,
Kentish and
Siberian sand plovers, and
broad-billed sandpipers,
dunlins and
slender-billed gulls. Other wintering species include
little egrets,
common ringed plovers,
little stints,
ruddy turnstones, and
Pallas's and
black-headed gulls. '' in Tubli Bay
Conservation Tubli Bay has suffered from illegal
land reclamation,
environmental pollution and decreasing freshwater supply from springs. Land reclamation has reduced the size from 25 km2 in the 1960s to just 11 km2 today. The mangroves that used to exist along much of the coast have been reduced to just a few small patches at
Ras Sanad and
Ras Tubli. In 1997, Tubli Bay was added to the
list of Ramsar wetlands of international importance. ==References==