Shadegan Lagoon

Shadegan lagoon is located in the southwest of Iran, south of Shadegan city and in the south of Khuzestan plain. This lagoon had also been called Khovr-e Dowraq, Dowraq al-Foras, Falahieh and Estelahieh which renamed to Shadegan.

Jarahi River as the biggest lagoon water supplier and after that Bahre Stream radiating the Karoon River, supplies the water of this lagoon. The depth of the lagoon is not so much and it is just some meters. Shadegan lagoon is a vast ecological system of sweet and salty wetlands, and also a tidal bay of Khor-e Musa and its islands.

The lagoon is located in the bottom basins of Jarahi River between Shadegan, Abadan and Mahshahr cities, joining the Persian Gulf. The lagoon is the biggest Ramsar site of Iran and enjoys the rich biodiversity of plant and animal species (most notably of them is bottlenose dolphin) as an international important lagoon. Large-scale, being natural, habitat diversity and its important role in the local resident’s survival site are the unique features of Shadegan lagoon.

There are some villages in its vicinity and two villages were also inside the lagoon. There is a local pier next to the village and on the way of Darkhoveyn to Shadegan where boats take tourists to watch lagoon. Livestock (buffaloes), fishing, bird hunting, reed cutting and feed harvesting are benefits of the lagoon for local people.