Mount Moroto Forest Reserve, Uganda
Site Overview
KBA status: confirmed
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) 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.
Text account
Mount Moroto Forest Reserve is perched on top of the escarpment of the Eastern Rift Valley, east of Moroto town; its eastern boundaries are also those of the Ugandan border with Kenya. The upper parts of Mount Moroto are forested (totalling c.7,000 ha), but the reserve extends a considerable distance into savannas of various types, including Combretum woodlands, as well as bushland and tree/shrub-steppe.
There are three communities inhabiting the slopes of Mount Moroto. The Tepeth people are the largest and most established population, the Kraals are scattered on the lower slopes and the Karamojong on the lower plains. These communities grow crops, and graze cattle and goats, and they rely on the forest for many of their basic needs, such as fuelwood, building poles and medicine (including the stimulant leaf locally called ‘mairungi’). Gold is panned for in some rivers flowing from the mountain. The mountain often acts as a refuge to warring tribes in the area—the Karamojong, the Tepeth and the Turkana on the Kenyan side of the mountain. As a result, there is extensive hunting in the reserve using automatic weapons and dogs, and most large mammals have been hunted to extinction.
Habitats
| IUCN Habitat | Coverage level | Coverage % | Habitat detail |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1. Forest | - | 21-30% | ; |
| 14. Artificial - Terrestrial | - | 71-80% | ; |
| 18. Unknown | - | 21-30% | ; |
| 3. Shrubland | - | 71-80% | ; |
| 4. Grassland | - | 1-10% | ; |
Threats
| Threat level 1 | Threat level 2 | Threat level 3 | Timing | Scope | Severity | Impact |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 5 Biological resource use | 5.2 Gathering terrestrial plants | 5.2.2 Unintentional effects (species being assessed is not the target) | Ongoing | Affects the minority of the population (<50%) | Causing or likely to cause negligible declines | Low |
| 5 Biological resource use | 5.3 Logging & wood harvesting | 5.3.3 Unintentional effects: subsistence/small scale (species being assessed is not the target) [harvest] | Ongoing | Affects the minority of the population (<50%) | Causing or likely to cause negligible declines | Low |
| 7 Natural system modifications | 7.1 Fire & fire suppression | 7.1.1 Increase in fire frequency/intensity | Ongoing | Affects the minority of the population (<50%) | Causing or likely to cause negligible declines | Low |
| 5 Biological resource use | 5.2 Gathering terrestrial plants | 5.2.2 Unintentional effects (species being assessed is not the target) | Ongoing | Affects the minority of the population (<50%) | Causing or likely to cause negligible declines | Low |
| 5 Biological resource use | 5.3 Logging & wood harvesting | 5.3.3 Unintentional effects: subsistence/small scale (species being assessed is not the target) [harvest] | Ongoing | Affects the minority of the population (<50%) | Causing or likely to cause negligible declines | Low |
| 7 Natural system modifications | 7.1 Fire & fire suppression | 7.1.1 Increase in fire frequency/intensity | Ongoing | Affects the minority of the population (<50%) | Causing or likely to cause negligible declines | Low |
