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UG022
Mount Kei Forest Reserve
Location Uganda, Arua
Central coordinates 31o 10.00' East  3o 45.00' North
IBA criteria A3
Area 38,400 ha
Altitude 915 - 1,330m
Year of IBA assessment 2001

NatureUganda



Ornithological information See Box and Table 3 for key species. Mount Kei lies in the Sudan–Guinea Savanna biome, which is reflected in the species composition of the reserve. A total of 175 species is known. The reserve contains several species known in Uganda only from this area, including Accipiter brevipes, Buteo auguralis, Merops orientalis, Euschistospiza dybowskii and Nectarinia osea.

Site description Mount Kei Forest Reserve (formerly Mount Kei Rhino Sanctuary) is in the extreme north-west of Uganda. The northern boundaries are the Kaya river and the international border with Sudan; the Kechi river is to the east. The reserve can broadly be classified into dry Combretum-Terminalia savanna and Butyrospermum savanna woodland. There is only a sparse human population around the reserve, and it is largely undisturbed, but for small-scale human activities and some agricultural encroachment along the southern border. It is also important as a source of fuelwood, building poles, medicinal plants and honey, and serves as a water catchment area, which is one reason for its retention—it contains no tropical forest.

Populations of IBA trigger species

Species Season Period Population estimate Quality of estimate IBA Criteria IUCN Category
Heuglin's Francolin Francolinus icterorhynchus resident  1998  present [units unknown]  -  A3  Least Concern 
White-crested Turaco Tauraco leucolophus resident  1998  present [units unknown]  -  A3  Least Concern 
Red-throated Bee-eater Merops bulocki resident  1998  present [units unknown]  -  A3  Least Concern 
Speckle-breasted Woodpecker Dendropicos poecilolaemus resident  1998  present [units unknown]  -  A3  Least Concern 
Yellow-billed Shrike Corvinella corvina resident  1998  present [units unknown]  -  A3  Least Concern 
Red-pate Cisticola Cisticola ruficeps resident  1998  present [units unknown]  -  A3  Least Concern 
Foxy Cisticola Cisticola troglodytes resident  1998  present [units unknown]  -  A3  Least Concern 
Red-winged Grey Warbler Drymocichla incana resident  1998  present [units unknown]  -  A3  Least Concern 
Dusky Babbler Turdoides tenebrosa resident  1998  present [units unknown]  -  A3  Least Concern 
Purple Glossy-starling Lamprotornis purpureus resident  1998  present [units unknown]  -  A3  Least Concern 
Chestnut-crowned Sparrow-weaver Plocepasser superciliosus resident  1998  present [units unknown]  -  A3  Least Concern 
Heuglin's Masked-weaver Ploceus heuglini resident  1998  present [units unknown]  -  A3  Least Concern 
White-cheeked Oliveback Nesocharis capistrata resident  1998  present [units unknown]  -  A3  Least Concern 
Black-bellied Firefinch Lagonosticta rara resident  1998  present [units unknown]  -  A3  Least Concern 
Brown-rumped Bunting Emberiza affinis resident  1998  present [units unknown]  -  A3  Least Concern 

Protected areas

Protected area Designation Area (ha) Relationship with IBA Overlap with IBA (ha)  
Mount Kei Wildlife Sanctuary 41,620 protected area contains site 38,400  

Habitats

IUCN habitat Habitat detail Extent (% of site)
Shrubland   2%
Savanna   40%
Forest   57%

Land use

Land-use Extent (% of site)
forestry -
water management -
other -
Notes: Collection of fuelwood, medicinal plants and honey.

Other biodiversity There are more than 30 uncommon plant species in the reserve, three of them known in Uganda from this reserve only, i.e. Aeschynomene schimperi, Combretum racemosum and Morinda titanopylla. A shrew, Crocidura somalica, is known from no other site in Uganda.

Management considerations Many of the larger mammals (including the rhinos for which it was created a sanctuary) have been hunted to extinction. The relative remoteness of Mount Kei limits management activity, but there are no known serious threats to the continued existence of the reserve. However, the persistence of war in southern Sudan creates a refugee situation, which could be a potential danger to protected areas such as this one.

References Davenport and Howard (1996).

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

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