Luia (6015)
Angola, Africa

Site overview

KBA status: confirmed

Year of last assessment: 2001

National site name: Luia

Central coordinates: Latitude: -8.1667, Longitude: 21.5500

System: terrestrial

Elevation (m): 850 to 850

Area of KBA (km²): 1430.30598

KBA classification: Global/Regional TBD

Legacy site: Yes

Site details

Site description: The site lies to the west of the town of Luia, in the Luembe river valley, within the 1,400 mm isohyet. The vegetation is a mosaic of gallery forest along the rivers, open tall grasslands, miombo woodlands and Cryptosepalum dry evergreen forest.

Rationale for qualifying as KBA: This site qualifies as a Key Biodiversity Area of international significance because it meets one or more previously established criteria and thresholds for identifying sites of biodiversity importance (including Important Bird and Biodiversity Areas, Alliance for Zero Extinction sites, and Key Biodiversity Areas)

Additional biodiversity: See Box and Table 3 for key species. The avifauna is poorly known—only 109 species have been collected in the area. Given the wide range of habitats, the species-richness, particularly of birds of the Guinea–Congo Forests and Zambezian biomes, should certainly be higher. Poorly known species of the Guinea–Congo Forests biome that occur include Tigriornis leucolophus, and more widespread species include Tockus fasciatus, Neocossyphus fraseri and Trochocercus nitens. Elminia albicauda, a species of the Afrotropical Highlands biome, has also been recorded. Non-bird biodiversity: Lutra maculicollis (VU) has been recorded from the Luembe river (Cabral 1987), but there are no other available data on mammals.

Habitats

Land use: agriculture

IUCN Habitat	Coverage %	Habitat detail
Savanna	1
Shrubland	39
Forest	58

Threats

Summary of threats to biodiversity at KBA: Huntley (1974b) proposed that a reserve should be established in this area to protect a viable population of the ungulate Kobus vardonii, a species that is generally rare in Angola. Current threats to biodiversity at the site are not known.

Additional information