Priority Setting for Conservation

WCS has used the lists of species richness  and numbers of endemic species it has compiled to identify the priority sites for conservation or gaps where further research is required. The results are published in the Albertine Rift Technical Reports Series (No. 3) (5MB) and can be downloaded as a PDF document from this web site. The sites in the Rift were ranked separately according to the number of mammals, birds, reptiles, amphibians, and plants. Mean rankings were then calculated across all these taxa to provide an average ranking and these were then reduced to three categories of high, medium and low ranking sites. This process was repeated for endemic and threatened species, as well as total species richness.  The table below summarizes the results. The columns rank the number of endemic and threatened species and the rows rank the total number of species. Virunga, Kahuzi Biega, Semliki, Kibale, Bwindi Impenetrable and Nyungwe National Parks together with Lake Tanganyika and the Itombwe Massif are the priority sites for conservation in the Albertine Rift. These are closely followed by the sites that have high endemic and threatened species such as Rwenzori, Kasyoha-Kitomi, Kibira and lakes Edward and George.

 

	Endangered and Threatened Species
Species Richness	High	Medium	Low
High	Virunga NP Itombwe Massif Kahuzi Biega NP Semliki NP Kibale NP Bwindi Impenetrable NP Nyungwe FR Lake Tanganyika	Murchison Falls NP Budongo FR Kalinzu-MaramagamboQueen Elizabeth NP W. Lake Edward
Medium	Rwenzori Mts NP Kasyoha-Kitomi FR Kibira NPLakes Edward and George	Lendu plateau Semliki WR Mahale Mts NP Marungu Massif Sumbu NP Mweru-Wantipa NP	Karuma WR Kyambura WR Lake Albert
Low	Echuya FR Mt Kabobo	Bugoma FR Mafuga FR Lake Kivu	Kagombe FR Kitechura FR Matiri FR Itwara FR Idjwi Island Bururi FR Lac Ruzizi NP Gombe Stream NP Mbizi FR

Sites that need further survey work are those at the southern end of the Rift, including the Marungu Massif, Mt Kabobo, Itombwe Massif, Mahale Mountains and east and south of Mahale in Tanzania.

This priority setting ranked sites as separate entities, but many are connected and form contiguous landscapes. These landscapes are some of the most biodiverse sites in the world.