Current view: Text account
Site description (2010 baseline):
Site location and context
This site is home to the largest diversity and population of birds in the country. It covers all the Savaii uplands above approximately 500m in elevation. This includes the Tuasivi Ridge, itself classed as a KBA and an AZE as the last site for the Samoan Moorhen.
Six separate surveys have been undertaken on part of the site, although there are large areas that have not been surveyed to date. The site is the only likely site for the Samoa Moorhen, a species not definitely recorded since 1873, although there were possible sightings in 1987. In adddition Samoan White-eye is recorded here, and nowhere else.
The majority of the site is indigenous rainforest with the only disturbance being from forest fires along the dry north western end and cyclones. A few land clearing for plantations forest replanting prorammes are the only known human disturbance to the site.
Pressure/threats to key biodiversity
The site is threatened by logging along the lower slopes where millable timber can be found. A recent government policy directive stopping commercial logging operations could provide the necessary protection. The northwest side of the IBA is often threatened by forest fires during the dry season, while cyclones are always possible during the wet season.
Three national parks are located around the perimeter of the site - Asau-Falelima NP in the North West, Lata NP in the south and Mauga Salafai NP to the east. The site incorporates the Tuasiva Ridge KBA and AZE site within its boundaries.
Recommended citation
BirdLife International (2024) Important Bird Area factsheet: Central Savaii Rainforest (Samoa). Downloaded from
https://datazone.birdlife.org/site/factsheet/central-savaii-rainforest-iba-samoa on 23/12/2024.
