Sites - Important Bird Areas (IBAs)

Ornithological information See Box and Tables 2 and 3 for key species. Apalis kaboboensis is confined to this site. In addition, five species of the Guinea–Congo Forests biome and one of the Zambezian biome have been recorded at this site (see Table 3).

Site description The site is part of the mountain range to the west of the northern half of Lake Tanganyika in eastern DR Congo, between the towns of Fizi and Kalemie. This mountain range, defined as the area above 1,500 m, is some 150 km in length and from about 10 km to 30 km wide. The site identified here comprises the central part of this range, lying above 2,100 m and culminating in Mt Kabobo (2,701 m) and contains virtually all the montane forest in the area. It is separated from the southernmost outliers of Itombwe (IBA CD014) by some 50 km of savanna. Average annual rainfall is estimated at c.1,500 mm, with a dry season of about five months, from May to October.

Populations of IBA trigger species

Habitats

Land use

Other biodiversity No recent information is available. Mammals of global conservation concern reported in the past include Colobus polykomos prigoginei (endemic subspecies, LR/nt), Cercopithecus l’hoesti (LR/nt), Loxodonta africana (EN) and Tragelaphus euryceros (LR/nt).

Management considerations The site has no legal protection. The region is densely populated and pressures from agriculturalists and pastoralists are severe; how much forest remains on Kabobo is unknown. Protected area status for the site has been proposed.

References Collar and Stuart (1988), IUCN (1990), Prigogine (1960, 1985).

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Recommended citation  BirdLife International (2013) Important Bird Areas factsheet: LaLuama - Katanga - Mount Kabobo. Downloaded from http://www.birdlife.org on 22/05/2013

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