Bwindi Impenetrable National Park - Biodiversity

Biodiversity

Further information: Albertine Rift montane forests

Bwindi Impenetrable Forest is old, complex, and very biologically rich. Diverse species are a feature of the park, and it became an UNESCO World Heritage Site because of its ecological importance. Among East African forests, Bwindi has some of the richest populations of trees, small mammals, birds, butterflies, reptiles, and moths. The park's diverse species are partly a result of the large variations of altitude and habitat types in the park, and may also be because the forest was a refuge for species during glaciations in the Pleistocene epoch.

The park's forests are afromontane, which is a rare vegetation type on the African continent. Located where plain and mountain forests meet, there is a continuum of low-altitude to high altitude primary forests in the park, one of the few large tracts of East African forest where this occurs. The park has more than 220 tree species, (more than 50% of Uganda's tree species) and more than 100 fern species. The Brown Mahogany is a threatened plant species found within the park.

Bwindi is thought to have one of the richest faunal communities in East Africa. There are an estimated 120 mammal species in the park, ten of which are primates, and more than 45 of which are small mammal species. The park is important for the conservation of afromontane fauna, especially species endemic to the western rift valley's mountains. Along with mountain gorillas, species in the park include the Common Chimpanzee, L'Hoest's Monkey, African elephant, African Green Broadbill, and Cream-banded Swallowtail, black and white colobus, red-tailed monkeys, vervets, the giant forest hog, and small antelope species. There occur many carnivores, include the side-striped jackal, African golden cat and African civet .The park has more than 350 bird species and more than 200 butterfly species. The fish species in the park's rivers and streams are not well known.