• Summary
• Text account
• Data table and detailed info
• Map
• Reference and further resources

Site description (2001 baseline)
A large, remote area of undisturbed tropical moist forest in the middle of the Congo basin, situated between the Lomako river in the south and the Yekokora river in the north. The site, which is only accessible by water, comprises mainly mixed evergreen and semi-deciduous lowland forest and is located within a much larger block of primary forest. It is dissected by streams which, in the southern part, flow into the Lomako river and, in the northern part, into the Yékokora. Seasonally inundated swamp-forest and monodominant forest border these streams. The forest consists of a relatively open upper canopy with emergents such as Oxystigma oxyphyllum and Antiaris toxicaria, a continuous middle canopy with a relatively impoverished liana-climber-epiphyte community and a very sparse shrub layer composed of Haumania librechtsiana and Palisota ambigua. Prominent canopy species include Polyalthia suaveolens, Scorodophloeus zenkeri, Dialium corbisieri, Irvingia robur, Celtis mildbraedii and Crudia laurentii. There are a few small settlements and small-scale agricultural activities in the area. Rainfall is fairly constant throughout the year, averaging about 2,000 mm annually and rarely dropping below 60 mm in the driest month. River levels are high between October and December, low from February to August.

Key biodiversity
See Box and Table 3 for key species. The area supports the highest density of Afropavo congensis recorded to date.

Non-bird biodiversity: The area supports an important population of Pan paniscus (EN), a primate endemic to the country. Other primate species include Lophocebus aterrimus (LR/nt) (also endemic to DR Congo) and Allenopithecus nigroviridis (LR/nt). Other mammals include Loxodonta africana (EN), Tragelaphus spekii (LR/nt) and Hyemoschus aquaticus (DD).

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Recommended citation
BirdLife International (2024) Important Bird Area factsheet: Lomako - Yekokora (Congo, The Democratic Republic of the). Downloaded from https://datazone.birdlife.org/site/factsheet/lomako--yekokora-iba-congo-the-democratic-republic-of-the on 23/12/2024.