Sites - Important Bird Areas (IBAs)

Ornithological information See Box and Tables 2 and 3 for key species. Little is known of the general birdlife in the area; only 106 species have been recorded, during two brief visits. Hirundo atrocaerulea, Cisticola njombe and Serinus melanochrous are likely to occur. Hirundo angolensis breeds around Uwemba and both Cisticola njombe and Cisticola nigriloris reach their southern limits in Tanzania, just to the north of 09°S.

Site description These mountains form the high ground along the north-east coast of Lake Nyasa, inland to the plateau country south of Njombe. The escarpment, rising to 2,488 m within only 4 km of the Lake, is steep, largely inaccessible and virtually uninhabited. The extent of forest cover is unknown, but it is likely that there is some gallery forest along the escarpment. The highest ground is separated from the main plateau by a series of rivers that drain south-west directly into Lake Nyasa and south-east into the Ruhuhu river before emerging into Lake Nyasa 60 km to the south. The more fertile valleys are densely settled in some areas; there has been some cultivation of the higher ground and some erosion on the steeper slopes. There are 13 Forest Reserves listed for Ludewa District, lying in the Livingstone Mountains. Of these, information has only been traced on four: Madenge (1,146 ha), Mdando (5,140 ha), Msiora (315 ha) and Sakaranyumo (840 ha). These areas only are included in the IBA at present.

Populations of IBA trigger species

Protected areas

Protected area	Designation	Area (ha)	Relationship with IBA	Overlap with IBA (ha)
Forest Reserve Name Unknown No. 5	Forest Reserve	4,385	unknown	0
Idamba	Forest Reserve	38	protected area contained by site	38
Ikonde	Forest Reserve	105	protected area contained by site	105
Isililo	Forest Reserve	93	protected area contained by site	93
Madenge	Forest Reserve	0	protected area contained by site	1,146
Mdando	Forest Reserve	0	protected area contained by site	5,140
Mtunguru	Forest Reserve	768,757	protected area overlaps with site	3,000
Musiora	Forest Reserve	0	protected area contained by site	315
Ngongwa-Busangi	Forest Reserve	4,660,106	protected area overlaps with site	50
Nguluka	Forest Reserve	60	protected area contained by site	60
Sakaranyumo	Forest Reserve	0	protected area contained by site	840
Sisu	Forest Reserve	189,179	protected area overlaps with site	15

Habitats

Land use

Other biodiversity None known to BirdLife International.

Management considerations Forest clearance for agriculture, burning and cultivation of steep valley slopes all threaten these sites. Surveys are needed to assess the biodiversity values and current status of each of these forests.

References Britton (1980), Fottland (1996).

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Recommended citation  BirdLife International (2013) Important Bird Areas factsheet: Livingstone Mountains forests. Downloaded from http://www.birdlife.org on 18/06/2013

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