Current view: Text account
Site description (2001 baseline):
Site location and context
Diécké Forest Reserve is situated in the extreme south-east of Guinea, south of Nzérékoré and immediately north of the town of Diécké, close to the Liberian border. It is an area of lowland rainforest near the north-western limit of its distribution. Representative tree species include
Parkia bicolor and
Piptadeniastrum africanum. Although parts of the north-east of the reserve have been logged, much of the remainder is mature forest. The reserve also includes areas of swamp-forest dominated by
Raphia palms, which makes access for commercial timber exploitation difficult or impossible in places. Annual rainfall is in the range 1,900–2,000 mm.
See Box and Tables 2 and 3 for key species. A total of 141 species is currently known from Diécké, a figure which suggests that many more have yet to be discovered. There are also earlier records of a number of additional species, including
Scotopelia ussheri and
Lamprotornis cupreocauda, from ‘Nzérékoré’, only a short distance to the north, which may therefore yet be found in Diécké.
Non-bird biodiversity: The frog Phryobatrachus tokba is known only from its type-locality, close to Diécké. Fauna of conservation concern include the crocodile Osteolaemis tetraspis (VU) and the mammals Cercopithecus diana (VU), Procolobus badius (LR/nt), Colobus polykomos (LR/nt), Cercocebus atys (LR/nt), Pan troglodytes (EN), Cephalophus dorsalis (LR/nt), C. jentincki (VU), C. niger (LR/nt), C. sylvicultor (LR/nt), C. zebra (VU), Neotragus pygmaeus (LR/nt), Hexaprotodon liberiensis (VU), Hyemoschus aquaticus (DD), Tragelaphus euryceros (LR/nt) and Hylochoerus meinertzhageni (VU).
Pressure/threats to key biodiversity
The reserve was gazetted in 1945. Some 5,000 ha in the north-east of the reserve were logged in the 1960s. Farms were then established on this land under the ‘taungya’ system whereby farmers care for tree seedlings alongside their crops for a number of years before leaving the area to become reforested. The area was not, however, returned to forest. More recently, the influx of refugees from Liberia escaping the civil war has led to increased exploitation.
Recommended citation
BirdLife International (2024) Important Bird Area factsheet: Diécké (Guinea). Downloaded from
https://datazone.birdlife.org/site/factsheet/diécké-iba-guinea on 23/11/2024.
