Current view: Text account
Site description (2001 baseline):
Site location and context
The site comprises the highest parts of the island and includes three peaks, Pico de São Tomé (2,024 m), Calvario (1,594 m) and Pico Ana Chaves (1,630 m), as well as Lagoa Amelia, an old crater-lake and the surrounding marshy area. The area holds most of the montane and cloud-forests in the centre of the island above 1,000 m, around the Pico de São Tomé massif. The area that held montane forest between 800 m and 1,000 m on the northern edge of the massif is excluded, as it has been cleared for cultivation. Montane forests extend to 1,400 m, above which they give way to cloud-forest. Typical tree species of both forest-types include
Tabernaemontana stenosiphon,
Homalium henriquesii,
Croton stelluliferus,
Polyscias quintasii,
Craterispermum montanum,
Podocarpus mannii, all of which are endemic to the Gulf of Guinea islands, and the more widespread
Olea capensis,
Syzygium guineense and
Pauridiantha floribunda.
See Box and Table 2 for key species. Among the 21 species recorded, six are of global conservation concern. The majority of the population of
Columba thomensis occurs here.
Otus hartlaubi and
Oriolus crassirostris appear not to be found above 1,600 m, as do some of the restricted-range species such as
Treron sanctithomae,
Columba malherbii,
Terpsiphone atrochalybeia and
Ploceus grandis, which are therefore not found in the Pico de São Tomé area.
Non-bird biodiversity: None known to BirdLife International.
Pressure/threats to key biodiversity
The forests of the area are not at risk, other than at their lower edges, where there has been some clearance for coffee plantations (many now abandoned) and market gardening. Most of the area has been proposed as a Zona Ecologica.
Recommended citation
BirdLife International (2024) Important Bird Area factsheet: São Tomé montane and cloud-forests (São Tomé e Príncipe). Downloaded from
https://datazone.birdlife.org/site/factsheet/são-tomé-montane-and-cloud-forests-iba-são-tomé-e-príncipe on 23/11/2024.
