Current view: Text account
Site description (2020 baseline):
Site location and context
The proposed KBA falls on the Mount Chiperone in northern Mozambique and cover an area of about 35.97Km2. The Mount Chiperone is a semi-isolated peak located about 50 km south of the Mount Mulanje massif in southern Malawi (Timberlake et al., 2007). It lies 40 km south of the frontier town of Milange district in Zambézia Province. The central point of the massif is 16o 29'S, 35o 43'E, with the highest point at 2054 m (c. 16o 28'44S, 35o 42'88E) (Timberlake et al., 2007). The mountain’s geology consists of recent syenite (Jurassic/Cretaceous period about 150 Million years ago) (Timberlake et al., 2007). The region is influenced by the tropical rainy savanna climate with an average annual rainfall varying mostly between 1,200 and 1,400mm. The rainy period is between November and the end of March which overlaps with the hot season (MAE, 2014). The temperature annual average ranges from 24 to 26ºC and the Potential evapotranspiration registers average values which range from 1,000 to 1,400 mm (MAE, 2014). According to Timberlake et al. (2007) the Chiperone mountain is covered with medium and higher altitude forest above about 1000 m. Bellow that altitude together with the ridges with shallow soils, there is miombo or similar woodland types. The topography on the mid-slopes is very dissected and often steep, hence soils are shallow (Timberlake et al., 2007). The lower slopes of the mount originally supported a drier miombo woodland with Brachystegia spiciformis, B. boehmii, B. utilis and Julbernardia globiflora, but much of this has been cleared for agriculture on the southern and eastern slopes. Burning of the remaining woodland is common. Fallow areas are often colonized by the bamboo Oxytenanthera abyssinica and secondary woodland (Timberlake et al., 2007).
Recommended citation
BirdLife International (2024) Important Bird Area factsheet: Mount Chiperone (Mozambique). Downloaded from
https://datazone.birdlife.org/site/factsheet/mount-chiperone-iba-mozambique on 23/12/2024.
