Current view: Text account
Site description (2001 baseline):
Site location and context
Situated on the Adamaoua plateau, about 35 km south-east of Ngaoundéré, this site is a privately-owned ranch. The vegetation comprises a mix of Sudanian savanna and gallery forests as well as some grassland, used for cattle-ranching. There are also two small crater lakes.
See Box and Tables 2 and 3 for key species. The avifauna is well known with just over 300 species recorded, including a good representation of Sudan–Guinea Savanna biome species. In addition, nine species of the Guinea–Congo Forests biome (A05) and one of the Afrotropical Highlands biome (A07), also occur (see Table 3). The site is a well-known locality for
Francolinus schlegelii and
Apalis bamendae, but the francolin has not been reported from here in recent years.
One of the lakes harbours a huge roost of weavers and starlings, including at times up to 100
Creatophora cinerea, for which Ngaoundaba is the only known site in Cameroon. A number of rarely seen species may be observed in the area, including
Rhinoptilus chalcopterus,
Vanellus superciliosus and
Grafisia torquata, all of which are likely to breed.
Non-bird biodiversity: None known to BirdLife International.
Pressure/threats to key biodiversity
The site is privately owned and has no formal protected status. Although some of the natural habitats are threatened by burning and grazing (for cattle-ranching purposes), there is little evidence of fuelwood extraction. The ranch also seeks to attract visitors and tourists for whom it offers accommodation and other facilities. Management practices seek to reconcile cattle-ranching with natural habitat preservation, although overgrazing is a problem for the survival of
Francolinus schlegelii. In the long term, the forest patches are likely to be better preserved than in other parts of the Adamaoua plateau, where there is no or little control over the use of natural resources.
Recommended citation
BirdLife International (2024) Important Bird Area factsheet: Ngaoundaba Ranch (Cameroon). Downloaded from
https://datazone.birdlife.org/site/factsheet/ngaoundaba-ranch-iba-cameroon on 23/12/2024.
