Data Zone
Country/territory: Rwanda
IBA criteria met: A1, A2, A3 (2001)
For more information about IBA criteria, please click here
Area: 16,000 hectares (160.00 km2)
| IBA conservation status | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Year of assessment (most recent) | State (condition) | Pressure (threat) | Response (action) |
| 2001 | not assessed | low | high |
| For more information about IBA monitoring, please click here | |||
Site description (2001 baseline)
The Parc National des Volcans is located in the north-west Rwanda, on the joint border with Uganda and DR Congo, where it is contiguous with Mgahinga Gorilla National Park (UG001) and Virunga National Park (CD010). The park contains eight Pleistocene volcanic peaks which form part of the watershed between the Nile and Congo river systems, and includes Karisimbi (4,507 m). The terrain is often difficult and broken, with steep slopes. The vegetation varies considerably with altitude; at lower elevations (2,400–2,500 m) there is montane forest with Neoboutonia, above which there is a zone of bamboo Arundinaria alpina between 2,500 and 3,200 m, replaced on more humid slopes in the west and south by Hagenia–Hypericum forest. Some open areas are occupied by montane bogs. Subalpine vegetation with lobelias, evergreen bushland and thicket occurs between 3,500–4,000 m, while above 4,000 m there is an Afro-alpine vegetation of heath and thicket grassland. Average annual rainfall at Karisoke (3,100 m) is c.2,000–2,400 mm.
Key biodiversity
See Box and Tables 2 and 3 for key species. The park holds a rich avifauna which includes many of the Albertine Rift endemics. Records come mainly from areas around the Karisoke Research Centre; other areas have been worked by comparatively few ornithologists.
Non-bird biodiversity: The park is best known for the mountain gorilla Gorilla gorilla beringei (CR), a subspecies endemic to the Virunga mountains and Bwindi Forest in Uganda. Other threatened mammals include Cercopithecus mitis kandti (EN) and Loxodonta africana (EN).
Recommended citation
BirdLife International (2024) Important Bird Area factsheet: Volcans National Park (Rwanda). Downloaded from
https://datazone.birdlife.org/site/factsheet/volcans-national-park-iba-rwanda on 22/12/2024.