Livingstone Mountains forests (7021)
Tanzania, Africa

Site overview

KBA status: confirmed

Global KBA criteria: A1e

Year of last assessment: 2018

National site name: Livingstone Mountains forests

Central coordinates: Latitude: -9.7940, Longitude: 34.7630

System: terrestrial

Elevation (m): 500 to 2488

Area of KBA (km²): 71.54145

Protected area coverage (%): 96.04

KBA classification: Global

Legacy site: Yes

Site details

Site description: These mountains form the high ground along the north-east coast of Lake Nyasa, inland to the plateau country south of Njombe. The escarpment, rising to 2,488 m within only 4 km of the Lake, is steep, largely inaccessible and virtually uninhabited. The extent of forest cover is unknown, but it is likely that there is some gallery forest along the escarpment. The highest ground is separated from the main plateau by a series of rivers that drain south-west directly into Lake Nyasa and south-east into the Ruhuhu river before emerging into Lake Nyasa 60 km to the south. The more fertile valleys are densely settled in some areas; there has been some cultivation of the higher ground and some erosion on the steeper slopes. There are 13 Forest Reserves listed for Ludewa District, lying in the Livingstone Mountains. Of these, information has only been traced on four: Madenge (1,146 ha), Mdando (5,140 ha), Msiora (315 ha) and Sakaranyumo (840 ha). These areas only are included in the IBA at present.

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. Alliance for Zero Extinction (2018): site confirmed as an AZE site during the AZE project (2015-2018). Taxonomy, nomenclature and Red List category follow the IUCN 2016 Red List.

Additional biodiversity: See Box and Tables 2 and 3 for key species. Little is known of the general birdlife in the area; only 106 species have been recorded, during two brief visits. Hirundo atrocaerulea, Cisticola njombe and Serinus melanochrous are likely to occur. Hirundo angolensis breeds around Uwemba and both Cisticola njombe and Cisticola nigriloris reach their southern limits in Tanzania, just to the north of 09°S. Non-bird biodiversity: None known to BirdLife International.

Delineation rationale: 2009-10-19 (BL Secretariat): the site comprises 13 Forest Reserves (see 2001 pan-African IBA book), but only four of the reserves were identified in 2001 (with area totalling 7,441 ha); now that an IBA polygon has been defined, overlap with a further 7-8 Forest Reserves can be identified, therefore I have increased the IBA area to 10,802 ha.

Habitats

Land use: agriculture | forestry | water management

IUCN Habitat	Coverage %	Habitat detail
Forest	100

Threats

Summary of threats to biodiversity at KBA: Forest clearance for agriculture, burning and cultivation of steep valley slopes all threaten these sites. Surveys are needed to assess the biodiversity values and current status of each of these forests.

Additional information