Mount Rungwe (7028)
Tanzania, Africa

Site overview

KBA status: confirmed

Global KBA criteria: B2

Year of last assessment: 2011

National site name: Mount Rungwe

Central coordinates: Latitude: -9.1000, Longitude: 33.7340

System: freshwater, terrestrial

Elevation (m): 1500 to 2718

Area of KBA (km²): 453.4309

Protected area coverage (%): 97.32

KBA classification: Global

Legacy site: Yes

Site details

Site description: Mount Rungwe and its associated belt of forest dominates the mountainous country north-west of Lake Nyasa. The impressive crater lake of Ngozi lies 10 km north-west of Mount Rungwe, encircled by the Mporoto Ridge Forest Reserve. To the east of Mount Rungwe is the Livingstone Forest Reserve which cloaks the steep escarpment of the Lake Nyasa Trough, overlooking Mwakalele town, and which is included within site TZ073. Common trees in these montane forests include Aphloia theiformis, Ficalhoa laurifolia, Maesa lanceolata, Trichocladus ellipticus, Albizia gummifera and Bersama abyssinica. There are extensive stands of bamboo in some forests and a belt of heathland on Mount Rungwe above 2,600 m. Grassland and forest-edge habitats within these Forest Reserves are becoming increasingly important for threatened birds as agriculture expands into marginal areas. Rungwe Catchment Forest Reserve (CFR) (13,652 ha), Livingstone CFR (26,366 ha) and Mporoto CFR (13,652 ha) are the three largest forest areas included in the IBA. Also included are eight smaller Forest Reserves: Ihoho CFR (380 ha), Sawago CFR (907 ha), Kitweli CFR (234 ha), Irenge CFR (635 ha), Chuvwi CFR (486 ha), Ngalijembe Local Authority Catchment Forest Reserve (LACFR) (260 ha, 50% plantation), Kyejo LACFR (693 ha) and Irungu LACFR (1,850). The south-eastern slopes of these mountains receive up to 3,000 mm of rainfall per annum, the highest in Tanzania.

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. KBA identified in the process of compiling the CEPF Ecosystem Profile of the East Afromontane Hotspot. Species taxonomy and threat category was based on IUCN Red List 2010-4. The site holds a significant population of the following plant species which, although not yet Red-List-assessed at the global level, are thought likely to be categorised as globally threatened once assessed (thus meeting the KBA Vulnerability criterion), based on existing regional or national Red List assessments (species also considered as site-endemic are tagged with Irr1 [KBA Irreplaceability 1 criterion]): Asclepias inaequalis, Clematopsis scabiosifolia, Crotalaria seemeniana, Pimpinella kyimbilaensis (Irr1), Pimpinella rigidiuscula, Rubus transvaaliensis (Irr1).

Additional biodiversity: See Box and Tables 2 and 3 for key species. Ploceus bertrandi occurs here, a largely sedentary and solitary species of forest-edge and riverine scrub habitat at higher elevations. The status of Hirundo atrocaerulea is unknown, but it is likely to occur rarely. Non-bird biodiversity: None known to BirdLife International.

Delineation rationale: 2011-12-06 (BL Secretariat): site extent increased from 31,542 ha to 45,000 ha, based on revised GIS polygon (rounded to nearest 10%).

Habitats

Land use: agriculture | forestry | water management

IUCN Habitat	Coverage %	Habitat detail
Forest	96
Shrubland	3

Threats

Summary of threats to biodiversity at KBA: There has been massive degradation of natural habitat in this IBA, perhaps one of the reasons why its birdlife is poorly known. The remaining forests have a high water-catchment value. They suffer substantial problems of fire, overgrazing, illegal timber removal and an ever increasing amount of cultivation.

Additional information