Current view: Text account
Site description (2001 baseline):
Site location and context
This site, centred on the volcanic Mount Luba in southern Bioko, is one of the wettest places in the world; annual rainfall may reach 10,000 mm. It includes the only undisturbed lowland forest on Bioko which merges, in an unbroken catena, into montane forest above 800 m. The terrain is extremely rugged. There is one village within the reserve, with fewer than 200 inhabitants, while some 2,000 people, living along its borders or close to them, make use of the site.
See Box and Table 2 for key species. To date, 120 species have been recorded, but future fieldwork may be expected to reveal more. Those so far recorded, in addition to the endemic
Batis poensis (found only in lowland forest), include 35 species which occur as endemic races on Bioko. This site is the only place in Bioko where populations of larger, hunted species such as
Ceratogymna atrata and
Bostrychia hagedash occur.
Non-bird biodiversity: Five primate species of global conservation concern occur; Cercopithecus preussi (EN), C. erythrotis (VU), Colobus satanas (VU), Procolobus badius (LR/nt) and Mandrillus leucophaeus (VU). The population of the last is possibly the largest remaining. Four species of turtle—Chelonia mydas (EN), Eretmochelys imbricata (CR), Lepidochelys olivacea (EN) and Dermochelys coriacea (EN)—nest on the southern beaches.
Pressure/threats to key biodiversity
Although identified as a protected area since 1988, the site was given legal status only in 2000, as a Scientific Reserve. No official protection measures have been implemented, but the Spanish NGO Asociación Amigos de Doñana worked in the area between 1992 and 1998, on a turtle conservation and ecotourism project. Threats include commercial hunting of mammals and birds.
Recommended citation
BirdLife International (2024) Important Bird Area factsheet: Luba Caldera Scientific Reserve (Equatorial Guinea). Downloaded from
https://datazone.birdlife.org/site/factsheet/luba-caldera-scientific-reserve-iba-equatorial-guinea on 22/11/2024.
