Njesi Plateau (6699)
Mozambique, Africa
Site overview
KBA status: confirmed
Global KBA criteria: A1a, A1e, B1
Year of last assessment: 2020
National site name: Monte Njesi
Central coordinates: Latitude: -12.5783, Longitude: 35.2023
System: terrestrial
Area of KBA (km2): 1996.26957
Protected area coverage (%): 77.95
KBA classification: Global
Legacy site: Yes
Site details
Site description: The proposed KBA is situated in the highland areas in northern Lichinga, Niassa Province to the north-west Mozambique, and includes three key mountains namely Njesi plateau, Mount Chitagal and Mount Sanga, covering an area about 1996 Km2. Being within the least populated province across all provinces of Mozambique, this area has not been settled and there are no signs of recent clearing for agriculture. However, Jones et al. (2017) noted presence of hunters with numerous snares of different sizes targeting all kind of animals. The vegetation is mainly of Afromontane grassland with sparsely distributed rocky outcrops, forest patches together gallery forests (Osborne et al., 2019). Jones et al. (2017) suggest that the forest patches on Mt Sanga and Mt Chitagal presents a closed canopy forest whereas, in the Njesi vegetation patches showed low hight with an open canopy wooded vegetation. The lower areas of the mountains are dominated by extensive miombo woodland with occasional intergrade zones of mixed woodland types at higher altitudes.
Rationale for qualifying as KBA: This site qualifies as a Key Biodiversity Area of international significance that meets the thresholds for at least one criterion described in the Global Standard for the Identification of KBAs. The Njesi Plateau it is already a KBA. Despite that Njesi Plateau has not been surveyed extensively, the area is regarded as of high biodiversity richness with latest results, for example Jones et al. (2020), Jones et al. (2017) and Osborne et al. (2019), showing that important discoveries. The botanical findings by Osborne et al. (2019) include the orchid Satyrium shirense, which was previously only know from Malawi, presents a new record for Mozambique. A list of 179 bird species is presented by Jones et al., (2017) from the three main mountains of the highlands including Chitagal, Sanga and Njesi. Of those, 85 species occur in the Njesi Plateau. In addition, the study revealed presence of 37 spiders of which seven were new species to science alongside with two new records out of 12 dragonfly species. Obviously, these findings testify the biological importance of the area which in turn, makes good case for its conservation having already been identified as Important Bird Area (IBA, MZ015), Key Biodiversity Area (KBA), and Alliance for Zero Extinction (AZE) site (Jones et al. 2020). Based on current information, this site holds with significant proportion the global population of two threatened species, which meet the KBA criteria at this site, namely: one reptile, the Mecula Grilled Lizard Cordylus meculae listed as Least Concern (with a total range of about 3,900 km2) and one bird, the Mozambique Forest-warbler Artisornis sousae listed as Endangered under the IUCN Red List, with the Njesi highlands encompassing their entire known population (Jones et al. 2020). Additionally, its includes several other Birds range-extensions of both conservation and biogeographical importance such the Dapple-throat Arcanator orostruthus (VU), and 15 Afromontane biome-restricted species, including two species new for Mozambique (Montane Nightjar Caprimulgus poliocephalus and Dark Batis Batis crypta). In light of all the reasons presented above, it is clear that this site is contributing significantly for the persistence of global biodiversity and therefore qualifies as a KBA. Although its ecological and biological importance, the Njesi Plateau is not formally protected. Therefore, enhances the KBA status on this site could may call attention of the conservation entities in the country as well as internationally to address the Njesi plateau for formal conservation. persists in time
Delineation rationale: It was not necessary to draw new boundaries. The boundaries of Njesi existing KBA which were based on the findings of a recent expedition (Jones et al. 2017) were followed Although the range of the trigger species extend beyond the boundaries of the proposed KBA. We have found no strong reason to increase the KBA proposed boundary, since the species was only observed within this area (Jones et al. 2017), which also seems to be less degraded. The original proposers were engaged and agreed with the approach. .
Habitats
| IUCN Habitat | Coverage % | Habitat detail |
|---|---|---|
| Forest | 79 | |
| Shrubland | 19 |
Threats
| Threat level 1 | Threat level 2 | Threat level 3 | Timing |
|---|---|---|---|
| Pollution | Domestic & urban waste water | Sewage | Ongoing |
| Natural system modifications | Fire & fire suppression | Trend Unknown/Unrecorded | Only in the future |
| Biological resource use | Logging & wood harvesting | Motivation Unknown/Unrecorded | Ongoing |
| Natural system modifications | Fire & fire suppression | Suppression in fire frequency/intensity | Ongoing |
| Climate change & severe weather | Habitat shifting & alteration | Only in the future |