Data Zone
Country/territory: Zambia
IBA criteria met: A3 (2001)
For more information about IBA criteria, please click here
Area: 527,600 hectares (5,276.00 km2)
| IBA conservation status | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Year of assessment (most recent) | State (condition) | Pressure (threat) | Response (action) |
| 2005 | poor | medium | low |
| For more information about IBA monitoring, please click here | |||
Site description (2001 baseline)
The third largest of Zambia’s National Parks, situated in the dry south-west. Much of the area is very sandy and there are few permanent water-sources. The Mashi river (also known as the Kwando) lies along the park’s south-western boundary, although the international border with Angola is delineated by the edge of the flood-plain on the Zambian side. Mopane woodland and mutemwa forest cover a large proportion of the area and there is also grassland, thicket and woodland of various types. In places, the woodland is dominated by Acacia species.
Key biodiversity
See Box and Table 3 for key species. A number of species from the Zambian list are restricted to the dry south-west of the country. Most occur within the site, including Pterocles burchelli and Lamprotornis australis, both characteristic of the Kalahari–Highveld biome (A11), as well as Tockus bradfieldi, Tricholaema leucomelas, Sylvia subcaerulea, Bradornis mariquensis, Laniarius atrococcineus, Lamprotornis nitens and Estrilda erythronotos.
Non-bird biodiversity: Mammals known to occur include Loxodonta africana (EN) and Giraffa camelopardalis angolensis (only Zambian population of the species outside the Luangwa Valley).
Recommended citation
BirdLife International (2024) Important Bird Area factsheet: Sioma Ngwezi National Park (Zambia). Downloaded from
https://datazone.birdlife.org/site/factsheet/sioma-ngwezi-national-park-iba-zambia on 22/12/2024.