Ecosystem Profile EASTERN AFROMONTANE BIODIVERSITY HOTSPOT FINAL VERSION 24 JANUARY 2012 Prepared by: BirdLife International with the technical support of: Conservation International / Science and Knowledge Division IUCN Global Species Programme – Freshwater Unit IUCN –Eastern Africa Plant Red List Authority Saudi Wildlife Authority Royal Botanic Garden Edinburgh, Centre for Middle Eastern Plants The Cirrus Group UNEP World Conservation Monitoring Centre WWF - Eastern and Southern Africa Regional Programme Office Critical Ecosystem Partnership Fund And support from the International Advisory Committee Neville Ash, UNEP Division of Environmental Policy Implementation; Elisabeth Chadri, MacArthur Foundation; Fabian Haas, International Centre of Insect Physiology and Ecology; Matthew Hall, Royal Botanic Garden Edinburgh, Centre for Middle Eastern Plants; Sam Kanyamibwa, Albertine Rift Conservation Society; Jean-Marc Froment, African Parks Foundation; Kiunga Kareko, WWF, Eastern and Southern Africa Regional Programme Office; Karen Laurenson, Frankfurt Zoological Society; Leo Niskanen, IUCN Eastern & Southern Africa Regional Programme; Andy Plumptre, Wildlife Conservation Society; Sarah Saunders, Royal Society for the Protection of Birds; Lucy Waruingi, African Conservation Centre. Drafted by the ecosystem profiling team: Ian Gordon, Richard Grimmett, Sharif Jbour, Maaike Manten, Ian May, Gill Bunting (BirdLife International) Pierre Carret, Nina Marshall, John Watkin (CEPF) Naamal de Silva, Tesfay Woldemariam, Matt Foster (Conservation International) Neil Burgess (WWF – US, Copenhagen University), Nigel Varty With special contributions from: Julian Bayliss, William Darwall, Tim Davenport, Kathryn Doody, David Hole, Robert Holland, Marc Languy, Quentin Luke, Jonathan Timberlake, Andy Plumptre, Sam Kanyamibwa, Nonie Coulthard, Ibrahim Khader, Tony Knowles. Assisted by experts and contributors from the following institutions: Action Ceinture Verte pour l‘Environnement (Burundi) Frankfurt Zoological Society (Ethiopia) Addis Ababa University (Ethiopia) Global Environment Facility (Zimbabwe Focal Point) Advocates Coalition for Development and Environment Great Ape Trust (Rwanda) (Uganda) Great land Initiative (Rwanda) Africa Institute for Energy Governance (Uganda) Horn of Africa Regional Environmental Center (Sub African Union of Conservationists (Uganda) Regional) African Wildlife Foundation (Regional) Institut Congolais pour la Conservation de la Nature Agricultural Research Authority (Yemen) (RD Congo) Albertine Rift Conservation Societ ARCOS (Regional) Institut National pour l'Environnement et la Alliance Congolaise des Organisations de Conservation Conservation de la Nature (Burundi) des Oiseaux (DR Congo) Institute of Biodiversity Conservation (Ethiopia) Amicale Congolaise pour la Conservation des Oiseaux et International Gorilla Conservation Programme leurs Habitats (DR Congo) (International) Association Burundaise pour la Protection des Oiseaux International Union for the Conservation of Nature (Burundi) (Uganda office) Association for Environmental Impact Assessment , Jane Goodall Institute (International) ABEIE (Burundi) Jordan University of Science and Technology - Association pour la Conservation de la Nature au Department of Applied Biological Sciences Rwanda (Rwanda) Kenya Forests Working Group (Kenya) Association Rwandaise des Ecologistes (Rwanda) Kenya Forest Research Institute (Kenya) BirdLife Zimbabwe (Zimbabwe) Kenya Forest Service (Kenya) Burundi Nature Action (Burundi) Kenya Wildlife Service (Kenya) Commission for Science and Technology (Tanzania) Kilele Foundation Kenya (Kenya) Conservation of the Asiatic Cheetah Project (Arabian Makerere University (Uganda) Peninsula) Melca-Ethiopia (Ethiopia) Department of Resource Surveys and Remote Sensing Ministère de l‘Eau, de l‘Environnement, de (Kenya) l‘Aménagement du Territoire et de l‘Urbanisme Dian Fossey Gorilla Fund (International) (Burundi) East African Wild Life Society (Sub-regional) Ministry of Environment and Lands (Rwanda) Eastern Arc Mountains Conservation Endowment Fund Ministry of Natural Resources and Tourism (Tanzania) (Tanzania) Ministry of Water and Environment (Rwanda) Eco-Trust (Uganda) Mount Kenya University (Kenya) Ecole régionale postuniversitaire d‘aménagement et de NABU-Birdlife Germany – Ethiopia Programme gestion intégrés des forêts et territoires tropicaux (Ethiopia) ERAIFT (Regional) National Alliance for Community Forest Associations Environment & Coffee Forest Forum (Ethiopia) (Kenya) Environmental Alert (Uganda) National Environment Management Authority (Uganda) Environmental Conservation Trust of Uganda (Uganda) National Forestry Authority (Uganda) Ethio-Wetlands and Natural Resources Association National Museums of Kenya (Kenya) (Ethiopia) NatureKenya (Kenya) Ethiopia Wildlife & Natural History Society (Ethiopia) NatureUganda (Uganda) Ethiopian Coffee Forest Forum (Ethiopia) Office de Tourisme et Parcs Nationaux (Rwanda) Ethiopian Sustainable Tourism Alliance (Ethiopia) Organisation Concertée des Ecologistes et Amis de la Ethio-wetlands and natural resources association Nature – OCEAN (RD Congo) (Ethiopia) Organisation of Biodiversity Information and Ethiopian Wildlife and Natural History Society Conservation in Congo Kinshasa (RD Congo) Ethiopian Wildlife Conservation Authority (Ethiopia) Organization for the Promotion of Pygmy Settlements FARM-Africa/SOS SAHEL (Ethiopia) (RD Congo) Fauna and Flora International (Uganda) Oromia Forest & Wildlife Enterprise OFWE (Ethiopia) Forest and Bee Keeping Division (Tanzania) Rainforest Alliance (International) Forum for Environment (Ethiopia) Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew (UK) Foundation for the Protection of the Arabian Leopard in Rwanda Development Board (Rwanda) Yemen (Yemen) Rwanda Environment Management Authority (Rwanda) Rwanda Wildlife Authority - Akagera National Park ; Uganda Tourist Board (Uganda) Volcanoes National Park ; Nyungwe National Park University of East Anglia – Redirect Project (Rwanda) (Rwanda) University of Dar es Salaam (Tanzania) University of Nairobi (Kenya) Saudi Wildlife Authority (Saudi Arabia) Water Governance Institute (Uganda) Sokoine University of Agriculture (Tanzania) Wetlands Management Department (Uganda) Sustainable Development of the Protected Area System Wildlife and Environmental Society of Malawi (Malawi) of Ethiopia SDPASE-GTZ (Ethiopia) Wildlife Conservation Society, national offices (Rwanda Sustainable Tourism in the Albertine Rift Program – Uganda, USAID-STAR (Uganda) Wildlife Conservation Society of Tanzania (Tanzania) Tanzania Forest Conservation Group (Tanzania) Wildlife for Sustainable Development (Ethiopia) Tanzania Forestry Research Institute (Tanzania) World Wildlife Fund (Eastern and Southern Africa Tanzania National Parks (Tanzania) Regional Programme Office, Uganda Office, Uganda Community Tourism Association (Uganda) Zambian Ornithological Society (Zambia) Uganda Nile Discourse Forum (Uganda) CONTENTS EXECUTIVE SUMMARY ....................................................................................................................... iv 1. INTRODUCTION ..................................................................................................................................... 1 2. BACKGROUND ...................................................................................................................................... 5 2.1 The Consultation Process .................................................................................................................. 6 2.2 Production and Approval of the Profile .............................................................................................. 8 3. BIOLOGICAL IMPORTANCE OF THE HOTSPOT ................................................................................ 9 3.1 Geography, Geology and Climate ..................................................................................................... 9 3.2 ―Ecoregions,‖ Habitats and Ecosystems ..........................................................................................11 3.3 Species Diversity and Endemism ....................................................................................................12 4. CONSERVATION OUTCOMES DEFINED FOR THE HOTSPOT ........................................................19 4.1 Species Outcomes ...........................................................................................................................20 4.2 Site Outcomes .................................................................................................................................23 4.3 Corridor Outcomes: Broadscale Planning Units for Conservation Investment ................................34 5. SOCIOECONOMIC PROFILE OF THE HOTSPOT ..............................................................................42 5.1 Introduction and Historical Context ..................................................................................................42 5.2 Demographic and Social Trends .....................................................................................................42 5.3 Economic Trends .............................................................................................................................47 5.4 Ecosystem Services and Relationship between Environment and Development ...........................60 5.5 Contribution of Conservation Interventions to Poverty Reduction in the Hotspot ...........................65 6. POLICY CONTEXT OF THE HOTSPOT ...............................................................................................68