Sites - Important Bird Areas (IBAs)

Ornithological information See Box and Tables 2 and 3 for key species. To date 134 species have been recorded from Kounounkan.

Site description Kounounkan Forest Reserve, also known as Kamalayah, is located 90 km south-east of Conakry, north of the town of Moussaya, on the southern tip of the Fouta Djalon. The forest sits on a massif of Devonian sandstone, rising to 1,094 m above the coastal plain. The massif is dissected into several steep-sided plateaux. The vegetation is mainly old-growth (more than 150 years) secondary, closed canopy, semi-evergreen rainforest, mostly confined to the ravines. Representative tree species include Afzelia africana, Aningeria altissima, Cola gigantea and Morus mesozygia. Savanna woodland occurs on the ridge tops with areas of farmbush on the lower slopes.

Populations of IBA trigger species

Protected areas

Protected area	Designation	Area (ha)	Relationship with IBA	Overlap with IBA (ha)
Kamalaya (Kounounkan)	Strict Nature Reserve	5,032	is identical to site	5,032

Habitats

Land use

Other biodiversity The primates Cercopithecus diana (VU) and Pan troglodytes (EN) are known to occur.

Management considerations The reserve was gazetted in 1994. Firewood-collection is considered to be the most significant threat to the remaining area of forest. Other threats include agricultural encroachment and uncontrolled bush fires. Hunting pressure appears to be relatively low.

References Barnett et al. (1994), Hayman et al. (1995).

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Recommended citation  BirdLife International (2013) Important Bird Areas factsheet: Kounounkan. Downloaded from http://www.birdlife.org on 19/06/2013

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