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: 560,000 hectares (5,600.00 km2)
| IBA conservation status | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Year of assessment (most recent) | State (condition) | Pressure (threat) | Response (action) |
| 2001 | poor | high | low |
| For more information about IBA monitoring, please click here | |||
Site description (2001 baseline)
The park is located in eastern DR Congo, beside the Albertine Rift west of Lake Kivu and the town of Bukavu, close to the international frontiers with Rwanda and Burundi. It is composed of two distinct parts connected by a narrow corridor of forest. The original section of 60,000 ha, which is crossed by the major Bukavu–Kisangani road, has an altitudinal range of 1,800–3,300 m and is centred around Mt Kahuzi (3,300 m) and Mt Biega (2,900 m). It consists mainly of dense primary montane forest with some bamboo, with the remainder woodland, swamp and peatbog. The western extension seeks to conserve a vast undulating tract of transition and lowland forest, varying in altitude between c.600 and 1,500 m, with only the isolated peak of Mt Kamami (1,700 m) and some parts of the corridor rising higher. Areas of old secondary forest mark former settlements, mining camps and fields predating the incorporation of this area into the park. Average annual rainfall is 1,800 mm, with wide yearly fluctuations.
Key biodiversity
See Box and Tables 2 and 3 for key species. No systematic survey of the park has been undertaken. Additional species of global conservation concern that may be expected to occur include Columba albinucha and Malaconotus lagdeni.
Non-bird biodiversity: The park is important for Gorilla gorilla graueri (EN) (estimated at 4,150 to 10,800 individuals during 1990–1995; as much as 70% of the global population of this taxon is thought to occur within Kahuzi–Biega and Maiko National Parks) and Gorilla gorilla beringei (CR). Six other primates occur, including Pan troglodytes schweinfurthii (EN) (1,300–4,000) and Cercopithecus hamlyni (LR/nt). Other mammals include Loxodonta africana (EN) (1,350–3,600) and Tragelaphus euryceros (LR/nt), while Osbornictis piscivora (DD) has been recorded from the vicinity.
Recommended citation
BirdLife International (2024) Important Bird Area factsheet: Kahuzi-Biega National Park (Congo, The Democratic Republic of the). Downloaded from
https://datazone.birdlife.org/site/factsheet/kahuzi-biega-national-park-iba-congo-the-democratic-republic-of-the on 22/12/2024.