Umm al-Tuyour Coastal Reserve, North of Latakia

A 12-kilometre strip of coast 30 kilometres north of Latakia, where the mountains come down to the sea, and the forest behind it. The name means “mother of birds”. That is why the reserve exists: to protect migrating birds and the coastal woodland. It covers 1000 hectares, or ten thousand dunams. In the south are a sandy beach and the village of Umm al-Tuyour; to the north a rocky shore runs all the way to Ras al-Bassit.

Where it is and getting there

The reserve belongs to the Qastal Maaf subdistrict. The shore starts at Mount Quz Turanja in the south and ends at Ras al-Bassit in the north. On land, its edge is the farm road linking Turanja, al-Issawiyah and Bassit; to the west lies the sea. You head the same way as for Ras al-Bassit from Latakia.

What the shore is like

It has two characters. The southern part is sand. The village and its fishing boats are there. Heading north the sand gives way to igneous rock that continues to Ras al-Bassit. The mountain rises steeply right behind the shore, wooded along its top.

What grows in the woods

The coastal forest belongs to the warm, semi-humid Mediterranean belt. Three species dominate. They are carob, mastic (Pistacia lentiscus) and wild olive. Sources describe the cover as degraded Mediterranean forest, meaning low trees and scrub rather than tall, closed woodland.

Which birds it protects

BirdLife International lists this coast as an Important Bird Area (IBA). Details of which species earned it that status could not be found, so no species list is given here. Migration peaks in spring and autumn, and those are the two seasons that matter for birdwatching.

The village and how long to stay

Umm al-Tuyour is a Turkmen village. At the 2004 census it had 1101 people. Half a day is enough to walk the shore and sit on the beach, and you can carry on to Ras al-Bassit the same day.