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Site description (2001 baseline):
Site location and context
The National Park consists of a main island, 12 much smaller islands and the expanse of water around them. These islands are situated in the south-western corner of Lake Victoria to the north of Emin Pasha Gulf. The islands are forested, with large grassy glades on the main island. The shorelines are a mix of narrow sandy beaches, rock, forest-edge and isolated stands of papyrus
Cyperus papyrus.
See Box and Table 3 for key species. No species list exists for the park. Two species of the Guinea–Congo Forests biome have been recorded (see Table 3). The smaller islands provide safe nesting sites for species which would formally have bred on the nearby mainland.
Ardea goliath occurs in noteworthy numbers with a count of 107 birds, including 12 active nests, in January 1995. During January 1995, some 638
Haliaeetus vocifer were counted within the park, including a single concentration of 166 birds. This is a far higher density than has been recorded elsewhere on Lake Victoria. Numbers of other colonial waterbirds such as
Phalacrocorax africanus and
Threskiornis aethiopicus may well exceed 1% thresholds seasonally, but no counts have been made. Rubondo main island holds a wide variety of other species, including huge breeding colonies of four species of
Ploceus weavers and a relatively dense population of
Circaetus cinerascens which are rare in East Africa. During January 1995, an unidentified
Batis flycatcher was recorded in forest on the main island.
Non-bird biodiversity: Small populations of endangered mammals were released on the main island during the 1970s including Diceros bicornis (CR), Loxodonta africana (EN) and Pan trogolodytes (EN). Tragelaphus spekii (LR/nt) are common on the main island, as is Lutra maculicollis (VU).
Pressure/threats to key biodiversity
A former Game Reserve, the National Park was established in 1977. The main island is well protected from illegal exploitation by the expanse of water separating it from the heavily populated mainland. The only known threat is the gradual degradation of Lake Victoria.
Recommended citation
BirdLife International (2024) Important Bird Area factsheet: Rubondo Island National Park (Tanzania). Downloaded from
https://datazone.birdlife.org/site/factsheet/rubondo-island-national-park-iba-tanzania on 23/11/2024.
