Data Zone
Country/territory: Nigeria
IBA criteria met: A1, A3 (2001)
For more information about IBA criteria, please click here
Area: 132,000 hectares (1,320.00 km2)
| IBA conservation status | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Year of assessment (most recent) | State (condition) | Pressure (threat) | Response (action) |
| 2019 | very poor | high | medium |
| For more information about IBA monitoring, please click here | |||
Site description (2001 baseline)
Omo Forest Reserve is located about 135 km north-east of Lagos, some 20 km from the coast. The terrain is undulating and elevation reaches about 300 m on some rocky hills. The eastern border is formed by the Omo river which, with its many tributaries, drain the reserve. Omo is contiguous with five other, highly degraded, Forest Reserves, the largest of which is Oluwa Forest Reserve to the east. The vegetation is mixed moist semi-evergreen rainforest. Due to selective exploitation in the past, the forest is largely mature secondary, with pockets of primary forest along river courses and in other areas where log extraction is difficult. Average annual rainfall is over 2,000 mm.
Key biodiversity
See Box and Table 3 for key species. To date, 147 species have been recorded, including the nationally uncommon Canirallus oculeus, Ispidina lecontei, Ceratogymna atrata, Campethera caroli and Parmoptila woodhousei.
Non-bird biodiversity: Plant diversity is high, with over 200 tree species recorded. Mammals include Cercopithecus erythrogaster (VU) and Loxodonta africana cyclotis (EN).
Recommended citation
BirdLife International (2024) Important Bird Area factsheet: Omo Forest Reserve (Nigeria). Downloaded from
https://datazone.birdlife.org/site/factsheet/omo-forest-reserve-iba-nigeria on 22/12/2024.