Sites - Important Bird and Biodiversity Areas (IBAs)
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Bururi Forest Nature Reserve
29o 35.82' East 3o 56.22' South
A1, A2, A3
1,900 - 2,307m
Year of IBA assessment
Association Burundaise pour la Protection des Oiseaux (Partner Designate)
Site description Bururi Forest is situated on the extreme southern edge of the Congo–Nile divide and is a small patch of forest lying immediately west of the town of Bururi in south-western Burundi. Although the reserve is 3,300 ha, the remaining semi-evergreen forest covers only some 1,600 ha. At least 93 tree species occur, with Strombosia and Myrianthus spp. dominant and Tabernaemontana, Newtonia and Entandrophragma spp. also common. The area is situated at a biogeographic crossroads such that, in addition to holding many plant and animal species of the montane forests of the Congo–Nile divide, it contains elements associated with the Zambezian region to the south, the drier savanna areas of the east and even the lowland evergreen forests of DR Congo. Annual rainfall varies from 1,200 mm to 2,400 mm.
Key Biodiversity See Box and Tables 2 and 3 for key species. A total of 87 bird species have been recorded, including Apalis argentea, common in some parts. Bururi is also the type-locality for Alethe poliocephala vandeweghei. In addition, two species of the Guinea–Congo Forests biome, one of the Lake Victoria Basin biome and one of the Zambezian biome have been recorded (see Table 3).
Non-bird biodiversity: There is a population of some 30 Pan troglodytes (EN).