CI005
Peko Mountain National Park


Country/territory: Côte d'Ivoire

IBA criteria met: A1, A2, A3 (2001)
For more information about IBA criteria, please click here

Area: 34,000 ha

SOS-FORETS

Site description (2001 baseline)
Mont Péko National Park is located to the north of the town of Duékoué, south-east of Man, and is one of the easternmost outliers of the highland range that extends from western Côte d’Ivoire into Guinea and northern Liberia. The terrain is therefore rugged, with numerous granitic inselbergs in the north of the site, the highest of which rises to 1,000 m, while in the south it drops away to lowland where semi-deciduous forest occurs extending to the fringes of the Sôn river. The Sôn forms the southern boundary of the site before it reaches the Sassandra river a little way downstream. Forest covers 80% of the park and commonly includes such tree species as Triplochitom scleroxylon, Celtis spp., Pterygota macrocarpa and Mansonia altissima. Swamp-forest occurs in places in which Mitragyna ciliata and Raphia spp. are common. Forest grows up to the edges of the inselbergs, climbing them where soil depth permits. A relatively low, dense, dry forest grows on the summits and on some slopes in which Hildegardia barteri and Holarrhena floribunda are common. Elsewhere, an open, specialized herbaceous layer covers parts of the otherwise bare rock surfaces. Average annual rainfall is c.1,350 mm.

Key biodiversity
See Box and Tables 2 and 3 for key species. Some 240 species have been recorded. Recent surveys have revealed that Péko holds a large number of the Guinea–Congo Forests biome species as well poorly known species of conservation concern including Scotopelia ussheri, Melaenornis annamarulae and Phyllastrephus baumanni.

Non-bird biodiversity: A population of Pan troglodytes verus (EN) occurs. Some Loxodonta africana cyclotis (EN) persist. Cephalophus maxwellii (LR/nt) and Neotragus pygmaeus (LR/nt) remain reasonably common, but other species such as Syncerus caffer (LR/cd), Tragelaphus euryceros (LR/nt), Cephalophus niger (LR/nt), C. sylvicultor (LR/nt), C. dorsalis (LR/nt) are now rarely seen. Hexaprotodon liberiensis (VU) may still occur in low numbers.


Recommended citation
BirdLife International (2024) Important Bird Area factsheet: Peko Mountain National Park. Downloaded from https://datazone.birdlife.org/site/factsheet/peko-mountain-national-park-iba-côte-divoire on 19/03/2024.