Data Zone
Country/territory: Tanzania
IBA criteria met: A1, A2, A3 (2001)
For more information about IBA criteria, please click here
Area: 4,600 ha
Site description (2001 baseline)
Pangani District is centred on the Pangani river which enters the Indian Ocean at the town of Pangani. The land slopes gently away from the coast to meet rolling hills. There are four Forest Reserves listed for Pangani District: Msumbugwe (4,407 ha), Garafuno (195 ha, shared with TZ054), Jasini (117 ha) and Mangrove-Pangani (600 ha mangrove), of which the latter two are not thought to be of importance for birds and are excluded from the IBA. There may also be some coastal forest in the Mkwaja Ranch area worthy of investigation.
Key biodiversity
See Box and Tables 2 and 3 for key species. Some 56 forest-dwelling birds are listed from Msumbugwe, including coastal forest species such as Pogoniulus simplex, Dicrurus ludwigii, Phyllastrephus fischeri, Neocossyphus rufus, Macrosphenus kretschmeri and Erythrocercus holochlorus. Local rarities include Muscicapa caerulescens, Bias musicus and Anthreptes neglectus. Records of Pogonocichla stellata during August suggest an overwintering population of this altitudinal migrant. More intensive fieldwork is likely to discover the endangered Zoothera guttata, especially during migration in May and November, and may also locate Anthus sokokensis and migrant Pitta angolensis.
Non-bird biodiversity: There are endemic mammals, reptiles, amphibians and plants. The tree Stuhlmannia moavi is considered endemic to the area.
Recommended citation
BirdLife International (2024) Important Bird Area factsheet: Pangani District Coastal Forests (Tanzania). Downloaded from
https://datazone.birdlife.org/site/factsheet/pangani-district-coastal-forests-iba-tanzania on 22/11/2024.