Abstract:

Uganda is particularly rich in biodiversity, having recorded more than half of Africa’s birds for instance, despite being a small area of the continent. This is because several major African biomes meet in this country and contain different fauna and flora from the continent. It is also because of the large altitude range found here from 5,100 metres a.s.l in the Rwenzori Massif down to 500600m in the north of the country. The mountains and forests of the western Rift Valley or Albertine Rift are particularly rich in vertebrates and this ecoregion contains more endemic and threatened vertebrates than any other part of Africa. Mountains in the east along the Kenya border also contain unique species, particularly Mt Elgon but also Mt Moroto, and other mountains/hills in Karamoja. Uganda is one of the better surveyed African countries for its biodiversity. Despite this there has not been a comprehensive analysis of the critical sites that contribute to biodiversity conservation at a global as well as a national level across several taxa. We here present such an assessment using mammals, birds, reptiles, amphibians and plants as surrogate taxa. Initially mapping the variation in biodiversity richness across the country we then analyse which sites would qualify as Key Biodiversity Areas (KBAs). KBAs are sites that contribute to global biodiversity conservation because they conserve important populations of species. KBA criteria include assessment thresholds for globally threatened species (found on the IUCN red list) as well as restricted range species and important sites for congregations of a species. A total of 36 terrestrial/wetland KBA sites and nine freshwater sites are identified for Uganda. Uganda has recently completed a first assessment of nationally threatened species for the same five taxa as well as dragonflies and butterflies. It has also made an assessment of threatened habitat at a national level. We employ a conservation planning approach to identify where is needed to conserve all the globally and nationally threatened species and nationally threatened habitat in Uganda including all of the KBA sites. Using the software Marxan, we identify sites that are irreplaceable for biodiversity conservation across the country as well as sites that contribute but provide options for trade-offs between several sites to meet the targets set for species and habitats. Conservation efforts and the investments of the recently established Uganda Biodiversity Fund should focus on the KBAs and irreplaceable sites as priority areas for conservation and then should assess some of the sites that provide trade off options to evaluate which contain the most important biodiversity. Many of these are wetland sites which have not been surveyed intensively for their biodiversity and which were ranked here based on their level of protection, size and location inrelation to altitude and four regions of the country.