Mount Kei Forest Reserve (7062)
Uganda, Africa
Site overview
KBA status: confirmed
Year of last assessment: 2012
National site name: Mount Kei Forest Reserve
Central coordinates: Latitude: 3.7500, Longitude: 31.1667
System: terrestrial
Elevation (m): 915 to 1330
Area of KBA (km2): 413.82946
Protected area coverage (%): 93.33
KBA classification: Global/Regional TBD
Legacy site: Yes
Site details
Site description: Mount Kei Forest Reserve (formerly Mount Kei Rhino Sanctuary) is in the extreme north-west of Uganda. The northern boundaries are the Kaya river and the international border with Sudan; the Kechi river is to the east. The reserve can broadly be classified into dry Combretum-Terminalia savanna and Butyrospermum savanna woodland. There is only a sparse human population around the reserve, and it is largely undisturbed, but for small-scale human activities and some agricultural encroachment along the southern border. It is also important as a source of fuelwood, building poles, medicinal plants and honey, and serves as a water catchment area, which is one reason for its retention—it contains no tropical forest.
Rationale for qualifying as KBA: This site qualifies as a Key Biodiversity Area of international significance because it meets one or more previously established criteria and thresholds for identifying sites of biodiversity importance (including Important Bird and Biodiversity Areas, Alliance for Zero Extinction sites, and Key Biodiversity Areas)
Additional biodiversity: See Box and Table 3 for key species. Mount Kei lies in the Sudan–Guinea Savanna biome, which is reflected in the species composition of the reserve. A total of 175 species is known. The reserve contains several species known in Uganda only from this area, including Accipiter brevipes, Buteo auguralis, Merops orientalis, Euschistospiza dybowskii and Nectarinia osea. Non-bird biodiversity: There are more than 30 uncommon plant species in the reserve, three of them known in Uganda from this reserve only, i.e. Aeschynomene schimperi, Combretum racemosum and Morinda titanopylla. A shrew, Crocidura somalica, is known from no other site in Uganda.
Habitats
Land use: forestry | water management
| IUCN Habitat | Coverage % | Habitat detail |
|---|---|---|
| Forest | 57 | |
| Shrubland | 2 | |
| Savanna | 40 |
Threats
Summary of threats to biodiversity at KBA: Many of the larger mammals (including the rhinos for which it was created a sanctuary) have been hunted to extinction. The relative remoteness of Mount Kei limits management activity, but there are no known serious threats to the continued existence of the reserve. However, the persistence of war in southern Sudan creates a refugee situation, which could be a potential danger to protected areas such as this one.
| Threat level 1 | Threat level 2 | Threat level 3 | Timing |
|---|---|---|---|
| Agriculture & aquaculture | Annual & perennial non-timber crops | Small-holder farming | Ongoing |
| Agriculture & aquaculture | Livestock farming & ranching | Small-holder grazing, ranching or farming | Ongoing |
| Natural system modifications | Fire & fire suppression | Increase in fire frequency/intensity | Ongoing |
| Biological resource use | Logging & wood harvesting | Unintentional effects: subsistence/small scale (species being assessed is not the target) [harvest] | Ongoing |
| Biological resource use | Gathering terrestrial plants | Unintentional effects (species being assessed is not the target) | Ongoing |
Additional information
References: Davenport and Howard (1996).