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. Uganda is also 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. With funding from USAID, WCS led a process with other conservation partners and government of Uganda to identify critical sites for conservation in the country. These included identifying Key Biodiversity Areas (KBAs) using the recent criteria established by IUCN in 2016, which are sites of global importance for biodiversity persistence. In addition sites important for nationally threatened species or nationally threatened habitat were also identified and mapped. Many of the remaining natural habitat sites in Uganda are irreplaceable in terms of the species or habitat they protect highlighting the importance of conserving most remaining natural habitat in the country. A report of the assessment is freely available for download
here (3MB).
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