The birdlife of Mozambique is poorly known and, as yet, no definitive bird checklist exists for the country. More than 680 bird species have been recorded and more than 530 breeds within the country. A single species, Apalis lynesi, is endemic to Mozambique, occurring only on Mount Namuli in the north. 



Two distinct bird communities exist in the country, with the boundary between them coinciding more or less with the Zambezi river. North of the Zambezi, birdlife is largely shared with that of East Africa, while south of the Zambezi, birdlife is largely characteristic of southern Africa. In conservation terms, the avifauna is most notable for its forest restricted birds. Although these are mostly shared with neighbouring countries, they are threatened wherever they occur. 


Out of 22 resident species which are classified as globally threatened and/or of restricted range, 13 occur in evergreen forests. Of the three Endemic Bird Areas (EBAs) which overlap significantly with Mozambique (Stattersfield et al. 1998), the South-east African coast EBA (EBA 092) supports four restricted-range species in Mozambique (being defined geographically by their combined ranges), the Eastern Zimbabwe mountains EBA (EBA 104) holds three such species, and the Tanzania–Malawi mountains EBA (EBA 105) holds seven, including one shared with EBA 104, Swynnertonia swynnertoni (Table 2). 



The four Mozambican species of the Southeast African coast EBA—Apalis ruddi, Nectarinia neergaardi, Hypargos margaritatus and Serinus citrinipectus—all have more than half of their global populations within Mozambique, and are thus near-endemic to the country. Three major biomes meet in Mozambique (Table 3). The Afrotropical Highlands biome (biome A07) occurs in montane areas of the country, which hold 30 out of the 226 species globally restricted to this biome. The East African Coast biome (A09) occurs in lowland areas of Mozambique, which support 25 out of the 36 species globally restricted to this biome. Finally, the Zambezian biome (A10), one of the more extensive biomes in Africa, is represented in Mozambique mainly by the Brachystegia woodlands of middle altitudes and plateaus, and these habitats hold 26 of the biome’s 67 characteristic species.


 The long coastline, extensive intertidal flats, major lowland rivers and flood-plains, and abundance of marshes and lakes all make the country important for water birds. The coastal habitats provide wintering grounds for large numbers of Palearctic migrants and the freshwater habitats provide both refuges and breeding grounds for southern African water birds. These wetlands are distributed among a great number of smaller sites, and there are few single sites which

regularly support large numbers of birds. The most important single site for water birds is the Zambezi river delta, with its significant numbers of breeding and non-breeding Grus carunculatus.

Current conservation legislation was drawn up by the colonial administration prior to 1977 and is in the process of being rewritten. The existing legislation makes provision for the creation of protected areas under six categories: National Park, Game Reserve, Partial Reserve, Faunal Reserve, Hunting and Photographic Safari Area and Forest Reserve. Management of protected areas petered out during the civil war. 


By 1992, all designated protected areas were unstaffed, without infrastructure and effectively unprotected. Subsequently, rehabilitation of the protected areas is gradually being implemented. Current conservation planning envisages the creation of larger conservation areas, in which the present inhabitants will continue to practise agriculture, fishing and hunting under resource-management programmes which aim to minimize negative impacts on natural resources and which envisage generating income from tourism. 


This development is linked to a trans frontier parks concept which seeks to link conservation areas with adjacent protected areas in neighbouring countries. A potential drawback is that conservation areas may be selected primarily according to the feasibility of linking them to protected areas in neighbouring states, rather than according to the occurrence of threatened habitats. The existing network of protected areas was established by the colonial administration prior to 1977, with the primary goal of protecting larger mammals. Consequently, open woodlands, savanna and grassland are well represented within the network, largely to the exclusion of other habitats, especially montane habitats and coastal forests. The major environmental threat faced by the country is deforestation, which is threatening all wooded habitats.



The site is at present unprotected. It adjoins the Chimanimani National Park in Zimbabwe, and comprises an even greater area of protection worthy habitat than that park. A trans frontier conservation area has been proposed for this site as part of a GEF (Global Environment Facility) initiative, supported by the World Bank. 


The provincial Forestry and Wildlife Service and the Ford Foundation have proposed the development of infrastructure for tourism, based on birdwatching in the area. Further investigation on the ground is needed to determine boundaries of the proposed conservation area in such a way as to minimize conflict of interest with the land requirements of local inhabitants.