BirdLife IBA Factsheet

Country/Territory

Angola

Administrative region(s)

Huambo

Central coordinates

12^o 25' South 15^o 11' East Map

Area

6000 ha

Altitude

2000 - 2500m

Criteria

A1, A2, A3

Site description The highlands of west-central Angola are of great biogeographic interest as they harbour species that are relicts of past climatic conditions that favoured a wider distribution of a cool moist forest biome. Only a few patches of forest remain, isolated on the protected slopes of mountains in Benguela, Huambo and Huíla Provinces. The best remaining example of these forests is on Mount Moco, in the Luimbale district, where there are at least 15 patches ranging in size from 1 ha to 15 ha in deep ravines. No specific climatic data are available for the area, but the site is within the 1,400 mm isohyet.

Birds See Box and Tables 2 and 3 for key species. A total of 221 species have been collected at Mount Moco, including three species of global conservation concern—Macronyx grimwoodi is frequent in moist grassland, while Francolinus swierstrai is uncommon, and Xenocopsychus ansorgei is common on rocky outcrops. The latter two species have restricted ranges, as do Dioptrornis brunneus and Nectarinia ludovicensis, which are both frequent in the area and probably breed.

Conservation issues A protected area of c.60 km² was proposed by Huntley (1974), but was not established (Huntley and Matos 1994). No research projects are currently in progress at Mount Moco, as far as is known. Threats to the avifauna in the 1970s included logging, clearing and burning (and probably frequent runaway fires) and the remaining forest patches were rapidly shrinking (Huntley 1974b). Current threats to the biodiversity are not known.

Recommended Citation BirdLife International (2009) Important Bird Area factsheet: Mount Moco, Angola. Downloaded from the Data Zone at http://www.birdlife.org on 29/7/2010