Queen Elizabeth National Park and Lake George (7047)
Uganda, Africa
Site overview
KBA status: confirmed
Global KBA criteria: A1a, A1c, D1a
Year of last assessment: 2024
National site name: Queen Elizabeth National Park and Lake George
Central coordinates: Latitude: -0.1900, Longitude: 29.9600
System: terrestrial, freshwater
Elevation (m): 910 to 1365
Area of KBA (km2): 2709.02131
Protected area coverage (%): 87.13
KBA classification: Global
Legacy site: Yes
Site details
Site description: Queen Elizabeth National Park (QENP) lies in the Western Rift Valley and covers an area of 1978 km2. The QENP and lake George KBA includes this park together with Lake George and the Kigezi Wildlife Reserve in the south east and totals 2709 km2. QENP's establishment as a national park from several controlled hunting reserves in 1952 recognized its varied habitats, including grassland, woodland, moist tropical forest and wetlands, including both freshwater rivers and lakes and saline crater-lakes. It ranges in altitude from 910m at lake Edward up to 1365m on the escarpment in the east. In the south-east, the Kigezi Wildlife Reserve (adjacent to the park) continues into the Maramagambo forest, and up to Kalinzu Forest Reserve. These are medium-altitude, semi-deciduous forests, covering c.40,000 ha in total.The escarpment of the Western or Albertine Rift Valley forms part of the eastern boundary of the park. The KBA includes the whole of Lake George, one of Uganda's most productive fisheries, as well as the wetlands to the north of the lake (totalling c.25,000 ha). These wetlands, difficult to access, are designated as a Ramsar Site in Uganda. Lake George is connected to Lake Edward by the 32-km-long Kazinga Channel, which also roughly bisects the park into northern and southern sectors. To the north, QENP is contiguous with Kibale National Park, and with Kyambura Wildlife Reserve (also KBAs) to the north-east. A number of crater-lakes, derived from eruptions during the mid-Pleistocene, are found in the north and north-east, the most prominent being Lake Katwe, whose salt deposits have been mined for centuries. Lakes Katwe, Munyanyange and Kasenyi, which are all saline, are outside the park’s boundaries, but belong to Kazinga Wildlife Sanctuary and have been included within this IBA. Katwe town and 12 other settlements, mainly fishing communities, are found within QENP, having been demarcated at the time of gazettement to allow for the exploitation of the rich fish-resources of Lakes Edward and George. Katwe town also flourishes because of salt-exploitation from Lake Katwe
Rationale for qualifying as KBA: This site meets global KBA status for its African savannah elephant (Loxodonta africana) population, a cycad (Encephalartos whitelockii) as well as three bird species: Ruppell's Griffon Vulture (Gyps rueppelli), Lappet-faced vulture (Torgos tracheliotos), and African skimmer (Rynchops flavirostris) which migrates here in the non-breeding season.
Manageability of the site: The site is managed by the Uganda Wildlife Authority and QENP is one of the most visited parks in Uganda
Supersedes another site: Boundary submitted uses the officially recognised boundary for the site by the Government of Uganda for Queen Elizabeth Conservation Area and differs slightly from the existing shapefile
Delineation rationale: The boundary of the site follows the legally gazetted boundary of the national park and encompasses lake george.
Habitats
Land use: Managed by Uganda Wildlife Authority for conservation.
| IUCN Habitat | Coverage % | Habitat detail |
|---|---|---|
| Shrubland | 5 | |
| Savanna | 4 | |
| Forest | 51 | |
| Artificial - Terrestrial | 16 | |
| Grassland | 2 | |
| Wetlands(Inland) | 20 |
Threats
| Threat level 1 | Threat level 2 | Threat level 3 | Timing |
|---|---|---|---|
| Natural system modifications | Fire & fire suppression | Increase in fire frequency/intensity | Ongoing |
| Energy production & mining | Renewable energy | Ongoing | |
| Biological resource use | Logging & wood harvesting | Intentional use: subsistence/small scale (species being assessed is the target) [harvest] | Ongoing |
| Agriculture & aquaculture | Livestock farming & ranching | Small-holder grazing, ranching or farming | Ongoing |
| Agriculture & aquaculture | Livestock farming & ranching | Nomadic grazing | Ongoing |
| Invasive & other problematic species, genes & diseases | Invasive non-native/alien species/diseases | Named species | Ongoing |
| Biological resource use | Gathering terrestrial plants | Unintentional effects (species being assessed is not the target) | Ongoing |
| Energy production & mining | Mining & quarrying | Ongoing | |
| Energy production & mining | Renewable energy | Only in the future |