Title
Priority Areas for Conservation in the Maiko, Tayna, Kahuzi Biega Landscape (Unpublished Report for USAID and USFWS)
Author(s)
Plumptre, A. J.; Ayebare, S.;Kujirakwinja, D.
Published
2015
Abstract
The Albertine Rift is known to be one of the most biodiverse regions on the African continent, having been designated an endemic bird area (Stattersfield et al.1998), a Global 200 Priority Ecoregion (Olson and Dinerstein, 1998; Burgess et al., 2004) and part of the Eastern Afromontane Hotspot (Brooks et al.,2004). The richness of vertebrate and plant taxa have been documented in the past (Plumptre et al. 2003; 2007) and in 2003 it was estimated that there were about 5,793 plant species and 1,757 terrestrial vertebrate species known for the region. More thorough surveys, identification of new species and the finding of additional records for plants have increased these numbers to 6,409 plants and 1,779 terrestrial vertebrates and more species are being discovered and described every year, particularly from the amphibians and reptiles. Six key landscapes for conservation were identified within the Albertine Rift of which one is the Maiko-Itombwe Landscape as named by the Albertine Rift Strategic Framework plan of 2004 or Maiko, Tayna, Kahuzi Biega Landscape (MTKB) as named by CARPE. A Landscape plan for MTKB was developed by the Dian Fossey Gorilla Fund International together with Conservation International under CARPE II and a Great Apes Conservation Plan was also developed for almost the same region led by the Jane Goodall Institute although this plan encompasses the Maiko-Itombwe and Ngamikka Landscapes of the Albertine Rift Plan. None of these plans though had much information on the biodiversity and locations of species of conservation concern (apart from Grauer’s gorilla), particularly the species endemic to the Albertine Rift and those that are globally threatened according to the IUCN Redlist (IUCN 2015). Under CARPE III (CAFEC) funding to the Wildlife Conservation Society (WCS) was given to support conservation in the MTKB Landscape by USAID/CAFEC and part of this funding was to support a landscape wide assessment of priority conservation areas in this landscape, one of the larger landscapes under CARPE III. This report summarises the findings of this assessment.
Full Citation
Plumptre, A. J., S. Ayebare, and D. Kujirakwinja (2015). Priority Areas for Conservation in the Maiko, Tayna, Kahuzi Biega Landscape (Unpublished Report for USAID and USFWS).

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