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

Site description (2001 baseline)
Mbi Crater is a Faunal Reserve of 400 ha: the crater itself is c.1 km across and lies at 2,060 m. It consists mostly of grassland, probably seasonally flooded, and there is also a smaller permanent swamp. The rims are covered with a mosaic of montane forest, Gnidia woodland, montane grassland and rocky ridges and much the same range of habitats occurs at nearby Mbingo. The main section of forest here flanks the escarpment (c.1,900–2,100 m), just beyond the north-western rim of the crater, and lies outside the reserve on a privately-owned cattle-ranch. The ranch entirely surrounds Mbi crater and extends north-westwards to the boundary of Mbingo forest, which is also on private land, belonging to Mbingo Baptist Hospital. It comprises at least 400 ha of gallery forest and grassland between 1,600–2,000 m.

Key biodiversity
See Box and Tables 2 and 3 for key species. From brief visits, some 120 species have been recorded. The two Bamenda highlands endemics, Tauraco bannermani and Platysteira laticincta, are both widespread as are other restricted-range species. There is a probable record of Tyto capensis from Mbi Crater; Malaconotus gladiator should be searched for at Mbingo, where the lower altitude of the forest appears more suitable than at Oku (CM012). Three Sudan–Guinea Savanna biome (A04) and three Guinea–Congo Forests biome (A05) species also occur (see Table 3).

Non-bird biodiversity: Mbi Crater is thought likely to hold some endemic plant species, under investigation by staff of the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew.

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Recommended citation
BirdLife International (2024) Important Bird Area factsheet: Mbi Crater Faunal Reserve - Mbingo forest (Cameroon). Downloaded from https://datazone.birdlife.org/site/factsheet/mbi-crater-faunal-reserve--mbingo-forest-iba-cameroon on 23/12/2024.