Current view: Text account
Site description (2001 baseline):
Site location and context
Bururi Forest is situated on the extreme southern edge of the Congo–Nile divide and is a small patch of forest lying immediately west of the town of Bururi in south-western Burundi. Although the reserve is 3,300 ha, the remaining semi-evergreen forest covers only some 1,600 ha. At least 93 tree species occur, with
Strombosia and
Myrianthus spp. dominant and
Tabernaemontana,
Newtonia and
Entandrophragma spp. also common. The area is situated at a biogeographic crossroads such that, in addition to holding many plant and animal species of the montane forests of the Congo–Nile divide, it contains elements associated with the Zambezian region to the south, the drier savanna areas of the east and even the lowland evergreen forests of DR Congo. Annual rainfall varies from 1,200 mm to 2,400 mm.
See Box and Tables 2 and 3 for key species. A total of 87 bird species have been recorded, including
Apalis argentea, common in some parts. Bururi is also the type-locality for
Alethe poliocephala vandeweghei. In addition, two species of the Guinea–Congo Forests biome, one of the Lake Victoria Basin biome and one of the Zambezian biome have been recorded (see Table 3).
Non-bird biodiversity: There is a population of some 30 Pan troglodytes (EN).
Pressure/threats to key biodiversity
Threats include demands for agricultural land and hunting of bush-meat.
Recommended citation
BirdLife International (2024) Important Bird Area factsheet: Bururi Forest Nature Reserve (Burundi). Downloaded from
https://datazone.birdlife.org/site/factsheet/bururi-forest-nature-reserve-iba-burundi on 22/11/2024.
