There is a beautiful wetland called Kani Barazan Wetland in Mahabad city of Urmia province. Kani Barazan Wetland covers an area of 900 hectares and is located 30 kilometers north of Mahabad city, near the villages of Khurkhura, Karadag, and Bafrawani in the Sharweran region. The average depth of the wetland is 60 cm. The water of this wetland is supplied from the Mahabad River and the Karadag Canal and flows into Urmia Lake.
Kani Barazan Wetland is the first place in Kurdistan and Iran for ornithology and one of the best places to introduce various birds. So far, researchers have recorded 75 species of birds.
If we count the animals around the wetland, which are both aquatic and terrestrial, there are 180 species of animals. Some of the birds recorded in the wetland include flamingos, ducks, white-headed ducks, white-tailed roosters, sea swallows, white pelicans, geese, and many other species of birds. So far, 45 species of plants have been recorded in the wetland.
During the winter and summer migrations of the birds, Kani Barazan wetland is home to more than 40000 birds. It is the largest wetland in the world for white-headed ducks to lay eggs.
Kani Barazan Wetland is known as a birds' paradise because it contains a variety of beautiful colorful birds.
The wetland is environmentally very special for birds because it contains good food for them.
The wetland has been set on fire several times in recent years by anti-environmentalists, which has caused great damage to the environment due to the lack of special firefighting equipment by the authorities.
A major problem of the wetland is its water shortage. In recent years, due to the digging of wells around the wetland, the Karadag spring, the main source of water for the wetland, has become very low and even dries up in some seasons of the year.
The wetland is in danger of destroying due to some other factors such as overhunting, grazing, water shortages, and agricultural chemicals.
If special measures are not taken to prevent the drying up of the Kani Barazan wetland, it is likely to disappear as a whole within the coming years. The environment of the wetland is very important in the region and is a shelter for birds in Kurdistan. Already, more than 14 very rare birds are becoming extinct due to the ignoring of the wetland.
Every year, many people from Kurdistan and Iran visit this wetland and it has become a touristic destination; however, it is not provided with adequate service facilities.
Several other wetlands are located in Mahabad, including Qopi Baba Ali, Hasan Khan, Dashkhana, and Qarashlaq.
