Current view: Text account
Site description (2001 baseline):
Site location and context
Mayo-Louti Forest Reserve lies about 10 km west of the town of Mokolo and east of the Mandara mountains in the north-west of the country, near the border with Nigeria. The area is relatively flat and is crossed by three main rivers which run south–north through the reserve. The northern edge of the triangular-shaped reserve is bounded by the road between Mokolo and the village of Rumsiki, while the western and eastern borders are formed, respectively, by the Mayo-Louti and Mayo-Wanday rivers. The vegetation is dry savanna woodland with
Isoberlinia,
Piliostigma,
Crossopteryx and
Cussonia spp. trees, together with some
Khaya senegalensis in places along watercourses. The soil is sandy with many rocky outcrops.
See Box and Table 3 for key species. The area has only been briefly surveyed and, to date, 147 species have been recorded. The site lies at the northern edge of the Sudan–Guinea Savanna biome in Cameroon (and
Grafisia torquata appears to reach the northern limit of its range here). Some large raptor species breed in the reserve, including
Aquila rapax.
Rhinoptilus chalcopterus occurs and probably breeds.
Non-bird biodiversity: The mammal Gazella rufifrons (VU) used to be common, and still occurs.
Pressure/threats to key biodiversity
The site holds one of the last areas of Sudanian woodland in Cameroon north of Garoua. Although formally protected, the site is under severe human pressure. Surrounding villages rely heavily on the woodland for fuelwood-collection, a significant part of which is being sold to nearby Mokolo. Hunting pressure is high and the few remaining large mammals are under severe threat.
Recommended citation
BirdLife International (2024) Important Bird Area factsheet: Mayo-Louti Forest Reserve (Cameroon). Downloaded from
https://datazone.birdlife.org/site/factsheet/mayo-louti-forest-reserve-iba-cameroon on 22/12/2024.
