Mgahinga Gorilla National Park (7041)
Uganda, Africa
Site overview
KBA status: confirmed
Global KBA criteria: A1c
Year of last assessment: 2024
National site name: Mgahinga Gorilla National Park
Central coordinates: Latitude: -1.3700, Longitude: 29.6400
System: terrestrial
Elevation (m): 2280 to 4127
Area of KBA (km2): 40.64743
Protected area coverage (%): 94.14
KBA classification: Global
Legacy site: Yes
Site details
Site description: Mgahinga Gorilla National Park (MGNP) is Uganda’s smallest at 34 km2 but one of its most scenic national parks, situated at the extreme south-western corner of the country. Rangig from 2227-4127m a.s.l in altitude, it encompasses the Ugandan side of the three Bufumbira volcanic mountains of Mgahinga (3,400 m), Muhavura (4,127 m), and Sabinyo (3,645 m) on the boundary with Rwanda and the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC). The three mountains are part of the six extinct and two active volcanoes of the Virunga range, which extends into Rwanda and DRC. The park forms part of the large transboundary conservation area that straddles the political boundaries to include the Volcano National Park in Rwanda and Virungas National Park in the DRC.The vegetation of the park consists of: a bamboo Arundinaria-forest zone at 2,800–3,100 m; a misty Hypericum-woodland zone at 3,100–3,700 m; a tree-heather zone; a subalpine ericaceous belt; and the topmost alpine moorland vegetation (alpine zone). There are numerous north-flowing streams, two crater-lakes on Mount Mgahinga and Mount Muhavura, and high-altitude swamps and marshes. Forest covers a total of c.3,000 ha within the park.
Rationale for qualifying as KBA: This site is a global KBA for its population of eastern gorilla (Gorilla beringei) which occur here and more widely in the virunga volcanoes massif that straddles the borders of Uganda, Rwanda and Democratic Republic of Congo
Manageability of the site: The site is managed by Uganda Wildlife Authority as a national park. It receives tourists who come to view its primates in particular.
Supersedes another site: Boundary also revised to use shapefile used by Uganda Government -encroachment in the northern part of the park has been reclaimed and is slowly recovering. The border links to the top of the volcanoes in the south better than the old shapefile
Other site values: There is a small community of Batwa living at the edge of the park who have some access rights.
Delineation rationale: The boundary of the site follows the legally gazetted boundary of the national park as recognised by the Uganda Government
Habitats
Land use: Managed by Uganda Wildlife Authority for conservation.
| IUCN Habitat | Coverage % | Habitat detail |
|---|---|---|
| Forest | 75 | |
| Grassland | 1 | |
| Artificial - Terrestrial | 9 | |
| Savanna | 4 | |
| Unknown | 8 |
Threats
| Threat level 1 | Threat level 2 | Threat level 3 | Timing |
|---|---|---|---|
| Biological resource use | Hunting & collecting terrestrial animals | Ongoing | |
| Agriculture & aquaculture | Livestock farming & ranching | Small-holder grazing, ranching or farming | Ongoing |
| Biological resource use | Gathering terrestrial plants | Unintentional effects (species being assessed is not the target) | Ongoing |
| Invasive & other problematic species, genes & diseases | Invasive non-native/alien species/diseases | Unspecified species | Ongoing |