Current view: Text account
Site description (2001 baseline):
Site location and context
The National Park occupies the mountainous bulge that protrudes into Lake Tanganyika along its eastern shoreline. The mainly grass-covered mountain ridge that runs parallel to the lake is forested in parts with rich gallery forest extending down the many watercourses. Some of these forested valleys have extensive stands of bamboo. The lower slopes are cloaked in tall
Brachystegia woodland which dominates the western and drier eastern areas. The south-western and southern tip of the peninsular are dominated by smaller
Brachystegia woodland.
See Box and Tables 2 and 3 for key species. The area is relatively poorly known ornithologically. A draft species list includes only 214 species, reflecting a paucity of fieldwork rather than low species-richness. These include three Guinea–Congo Forests biome species (see Table 3). There is some evidence that this site has ornithological affinities with the highlands of the Albertine Rift rather than the Ufipa plateau in south-western Tanzania. An endemic subspecies of the globally threatened
Apalis argentea is present at the site. Endemic subspecies of
Phyllastrephus flavostriatus,
Andropadus tephrolaemus,
Platysteira concreta,
Alethe poliocephala,
Sheppardia bocagei and
Phylloscopus ruficapilla, and an endemic race of
Nectarinia regia also occur. A new subspecies of
Anthoscopus caroli was described from the site in the 1960s. The highland-forest
Poeoptera stuhlmanni is only known in Tanzania from Mahali, as is the enigmatic
Bradypterus alfredi.
Non-bird biodiversity: The park was created to protect a large population of Pan trogolodytes (EN).
Pressure/threats to key biodiversity
This is one of the few protected areas in Tanzania that is not under pressure from agricultural encroachment along its borders. The extensive woodlands and forested river valleys to the east of the park are virtually uninhabited. While the habitat to the east of the park still has a low human density, it would be opportune to extend the park eastwards to include the potentially important water catchment of the Mwesi and Sitwe Hills, with their forested valleys. This would protect further habitat for
Pan trogolodytes and known populations of
Apalis argentea. It could also be used to increase tourism in the area by providing a road link between Mahali and Katavi National Park (TZ002).
Recommended citation
BirdLife International (2024) Important Bird Area factsheet: Mahali Mountain National Park (Tanzania). Downloaded from
https://datazone.birdlife.org/site/factsheet/mahali-mountain-national-park-iba-tanzania on 23/12/2024.
