Albertine Rift montane forests
RESOLVE 1
The Albertine Rift montane forests cloak the mountains of the western branch of the East African Rift, spanning five countries: the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Uganda, Rwanda, Burundi, and Tanzania, and taking in ranges such as the Virunga and Rwenzori mountains and isolated massifs near Lake Tanganyika. These tropical moist broadleaf forests are rich in the plant families Euphorbiaceae, Rubiaceae, and Meliaceae, with vegetation shifting by elevation from dense lowland forest through moss- and fern-draped montane forest into giant bamboo and high moorland. Although it sits in the heart of tropical Africa, the high terrain gives the region an essentially temperate climate, with annual rainfall generally between 1,200 and 2,200 millimeters and reaching about 3,000 millimeters on the western slopes of the Rwenzori. The ecoregion holds the highest faunal endemism in Africa and is the only home of the mountain gorilla, earning it a place on the Global 200 list of priority conservation areas, with strongholds protected in parks including Virunga, Volcanoes, Bwindi Impenetrable, Nyungwe, and Kahuzi-Biega. Gardeners may recognize the giant montane bamboo that forms a distinct belt across these slopes.
About the tropical & subtropical moist broadleaf forests biome
Warm, wet, highly productive forests — including tropical rainforests — with closed canopies, near year-round growing seasons, and the richest terrestrial biodiversity on Earth. Low seasonality and high rainfall sustain dense, layered vegetation from canopy to forest floor.
Catalog plants suited to this ecoregion
Computed from each plant's stated USDA zone range against this ecoregion's CHELSA-derived current zone range, with the CHELSA mid-century warming delta applied for the projection. Plants whose stated range falls outside both the current and projected zone end up dropped; the rest land in one of the three buckets below.
Climate-resilient picks · 4
These plants fit this ecoregion today AND remain in range under the mid-century SSP3-7.0 projection. Lead with these for a planting that holds up as the climate shifts.
Currently suited · 48
These plants fit the ecoregion as it is today, but the mid-century projection moves them outside their stated zone range — plan for them to struggle by 2070.
Collections for this ecoregion
No curated collection's plants all fit this ecoregion's zone range. We surface a collection only when every member would grow here — partial fits get filtered out rather than mislead. As the catalog and the curated set both grow, this section will fill in.