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Year of most recent IBA criteria assessment: 2016

Populations of IBA trigger species

Species	Current IUCN Red List Category	Season	Year(s) of estimate	Population at site	IBA criteria triggered
Martial Eagle Polemaetus bellicosus	EN	resident	2006-2016	present	A1
Hinde's Babbler Turdoides hindei	VU	resident	2006-2016	250-999 adults	A1, A2

Note: The current IUCN Red List category may differ from the category that was valid at the time of IBA criteria assessment.

For more information about the IBA criteria, please click here

Threats to the site (pressure)
Threat level 1	Threat level 2	Timing	Scope	Severity	Result
Agricultural expansion and intensification	annual & perennial non-timber crops - small-holder farming	happening now	some of area/population (10-49%)	moderate to rapid deterioration	high
Biological resource use	gathering terrestrial plants - unintentional effects (species being assessed is not the target)	happening now	majority/most of area/population (50-90%)	moderate to rapid deterioration	high
Biological resource use	hunting & collecting terrestrial animals - motivation unknown/unrecorded	happening now	whole area/population (>90%)	very rapid to severe deterioration	very high
Biological resource use	hunting & collecting terrestrial animals - persecution/control	likely in long term (beyond 4 years)	majority/most of area/population (50-90%)	moderate to rapid deterioration	medium
Biological resource use	logging & wood harvesting - intentional use: subsistence/small scale	happening now	majority/most of area/population (50-90%)	moderate to rapid deterioration	high
Climate change and severe weather	drought	happening now	some of area/population (10-49%)	slow but significant deterioration	medium
Natural system modifications	fire & fire suppression - trend unknown/unrecorded	likely in long term (beyond 4 years)	some of area/population (10-49%)	slow but significant deterioration	medium

Condition of the site (state), by habitat
Habitat	Habitat detail	Reference area (ha)	Actual area (ha)	Habitat quantity (% remaining)	Habitat quality (carrying capacity)	Result
Forest	Lowland forest - dry evergreen	0	0	moderate (70-90%)	moderate (70-90%)	unfavourable
Forest	Montane forest - mixed	0	0	moderate (70-90%)	moderate (70-90%)	unfavourable
Rocky areas (eg. inland cliffs, mountain peaks)	Scree, boulders & bare rock	0	0	good (> 90%)	good (> 90%)	favourable

Conservation actions taken at the site (response)
Protected-area designation	Management planning	Other conservation action	Result
Most of site (50-90%) covered (including the most critical parts for important bird species)	No management plan exists but the management planning process has begun	Substantive conservation measures are being implemented but these are not comprehensive and are limited by resources and capacity	low

For more information about IBA conservation status, please click here

Protected area (PA)	PA designation	PA area (ha)	Relationship of PA with IBA	Overlap of PA with IBA (ha)
Mutito	Forest Reserve	1,975	protected area overlaps with site	0

IUCN Habitat	Habitat detail	Extent (% of site)
Forest	Lowland forest - dry evergreen, Montane forest - mixed	-
Rocky areas (eg. inland cliffs, mountain peaks)	Scree, boulders & bare rock	-

For further information about the IUCN habitat classification, please click here.

Land-use	Extent (% of site)
forestry	-
nature conservation and research	-
tourism/recreation	-

For further information about the land-use classification, please click here.

It is a gazetted forest managed by Kenya Forest Service.

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Recommended citation
BirdLife International (2023) Important Bird Area factsheet: Mutitu Forest. Downloaded from http://datazone.birdlife.org/site/factsheet/45611 on 02/06/2023.