The Mitumba Mountains stretch along the Western Rift Valley in Eastern Congo (DRC), west of

Lake Tanganyika Lake Tanganyika ( ; ) is an African Great Lakes, African Great Lake. It is the world's List of lakes by volume, second-largest freshwater lake by volume and the List of lakes by depth, second deepest, in both cases after Lake Baikal in Siberia. ...

and

Lake Kivu Lake Kivu is one of the African Great Lakes. It lies on the border between the Democratic Republic of the Congo and Rwanda, and is in the Albertine Rift, the western branch of the East African Rift. Lake Kivu empties into the Ruzizi River, which ...

. The two main peaks, Mount Kahuzi (3,308 m) and Mount Biéga (2,790 m) are dormant volcanoes. The northern portion of the range is also known as the Itombwe Mountains or Itombwe Plateau.Moeyersons, Jan & Trefois, Philippe & Nahimana, Louis & Ilunga, L. & Vandecasteele, Ine & Byizigiro, Rutazuyaza Vaillant & Sadiki, S.. (2009). River and landslide dynamics on the western Tanganyika rift border, Uvira, D.R. Congo: Diachronic observations and a GIS inventory of traces of extreme geomorphologic activity. Natural Hazards. 53. 291-311. 10.1007/s11069-009-9430-z.

Ecology

Most of the mountain range is in the

Albertine Rift montane forests The Albertine Rift montane forests ( French: ''Forêts montagnardes du Rift Albertin'') is a tropical moist broadleaf forest ecoregion in east-central Africa. The ecoregion covers the mountains of the northern Albertine Rift, and is home to dis ...

ecoregion. At lower elevations, the montane forests transition to lowland rain forests at the northern end of the range, to forest–savanna mosaic in the central portion of the range, and miombo woodlands to the south."Kahuzi-Biega National Park". DOPA Explorer. Accessed 22 March 2022
/ref> '' Gambeya gorungosana'' and '' Syzygium guineense'' are characteristic trees of the primary or mature montane forests. '' Macaranga kilimandscharica, Neoboutonia macrocalyx'', and '' Xymalos monospora'' are trees typical of secondary forests, which regrow in areas cleared by wind or human disturbance.Masumbuko, N. C., Habiyaremye, M. F., & Lejoly, J. (2012). Woody climbing plants influence the structure of the mountain forest in the kahuzi-biega national park, DR congo. Regional Environmental Change, 12(4), 951-959. doi:http://dx.doi.org/10.1007/s10113-012-0309-2

Protected areas

Kahuzi-Biéga National Park The Kahuzi-Biega National Park (, ) is a protected area near Bukavu town in eastern Democratic Republic of the Congo. It is situated near the western bank of Lake Kivu and the Democratic Republic of the Congo–Rwanda border, Rwandan border. His ...

covers a portion of the mountains, including mounts Kahuzi and Biéga.

References

Mountain ranges of the Democratic Republic of the Congo Albertine Rift montane forests Lake Tanganyika Great Rift Valley {{DRCongo-geo-stub