Current view: Text account
Site description (2010 baseline):
Site location and context
This site covers Vaisigano watershed, Leafe Watershed, and Fulusou Watershed, Lake Lanutoo National Park and Mt Vaea Reserve within the central highlands of Upolu.
Good numbers of Tooth-billed Pigeon and Mao have been recorded in some of the survey sites within the IBA, despite its proximity to Apia. Good densities of Samoan Flycatcher, Samoan Triller, Many-coloured Fruit-dove and Polynesian Starling have also beenrecorded on site, while the densities of Red-headed Parrotfinch were higher at this site than any of the other surveyed areas.
Non-bird biodiversity: The land snail Thaumatodon hystricelloides has been recorded on the site, while there is a roost of over 800 bats, Pteropus spp.
The site consists of a mixture of lowland rainforest along the ridges of the watershed areas, secondary forest dominated by Albizia spp closer to settlements and disturbed montane forest in higher elevation. Although the site is predominantly secondary and disturbed forest, its importance as a watershed area for the capital provides some form of protection. Changes in the forest structure are as much the result of cyclones and seed dispersal nature of introduced plants such as Funtumia elastica and Albizia spp.
Pressure/threats to key biodiversity
The main threats to the area are from small scale land clearing for plantations, cyclones and human settlement pressures. Invasive plants may be having a negative impact although the evidence is currently lacking.
Conservation responses/actions for key biodiversity
Some sites, sucha as the Lake Lanutoo National Park and Mount Vaea Nature Reserve are on government land, while the Watershed Regulations in Samoa provide some protection for the catchments within the site.
Recommended citation
BirdLife International (2024) Important Bird Area factsheet: Apia Catchments (Samoa). Downloaded from
https://datazone.birdlife.org/site/factsheet/apia-catchments-iba-samoa on 25/11/2024.
