Data Zone
Country/territory: Congo, The Democratic Republic of the
IBA criteria met: A1, A2, A3 (2001)
For more information about IBA criteria, please click here
Area: 180,000 ha
Site description (2001 baseline)
The sites comprises an area of forested mountains immediately west of Lake Edward and Virunga National Park (IBA CD010) in eastern DR Congo. The land rises sharply from Lake Edward (912 m) and the Semliki plain to over 2,000 m in several places; westwards, beyond the mountains, altitudes decrease only gradually towards Maiko National Park (CD011). The only part of the area currently protected are the environs of its highest peak, Mount Tshiaberimu (3,117 m) in the north, close to Lake Edward, which is included in the northern section of Virunga National Park. The area is heavily populated, especially the highlands, but in some areas of the west, population densities are low. The main population centres are Lubéro, Alimbongo and Lutunguru. Agriculture and the felling of trees for firewood and construction seriously threaten the remaining forests.
Key biodiversity
See Box and Tables 2 and 3 for key species. Additional species of global conservation concern that may be expected to occur include Kupeornis rufocinctus, Terpsiphone bedfordi, Nectarinia rockefelleri and Cryptospiza shelleyi. In addition, one species of the Lake Victoria Basin biome has been recorded (see Table 3).
Non-bird biodiversity: Mammals of global conservation concern include Gorilla gorilla graueri (EN).
Recommended citation
BirdLife International (2024) Important Bird Area factsheet: Forests west of Lake Edward (Congo, The Democratic Republic of the). Downloaded from
https://datazone.birdlife.org/site/factsheet/forests-west-of-lake-edward-iba-congo-the-democratic-republic-of-the on 22/11/2024.