Forest galleries are narrow wooded fringes distributed along rivers, or lining flooded hillside ravines. Forest galleries can be found almost everywhere in Burundi, but they remain important in the east of the country. In the savannas of eastern Burundi, they occupy the bottoms of the valleys and go up the embankments. They are installed on more or less humid soils, from swampy bottoms to the upper parts exempt from the embankments. Correlatively, the species that make up these tree stands have very variable ecological requirements, in particular with respect to waterlogging in the soil.

In Burundi, there are 2 types of forest galleries:

 

• Submontane forest galleries encountered in the western part at an altitude of 1300 m. They are characterized by vegetation whose dominant trees over 30 m in height are: Albizia zygia, Albizia gummifera, Spathodea campanulata, Newtonia buchananii, Pycnanthus angolensis, Pycnanthus angolensis, Hymenodictyon floribundum.

 

• Riparian forest galleries that are shallow wooded fringes distributed along rivers, or lining humid hillside ravines. Forest galleries were found almost everywhere in Burundi, but they remain important in the east of the country. However, the floristic composition is characteristic of the ecological requirements of the environment.

 

At the level of the Ruvubu National Park, we distinguish:

 

• riverine forests subject to flooding with Alchornea cordifolia and Syzygium cordatum;
• swamp forests with Macaranga spinosa, Anthocleista schweinfurtii or Uapaca guineensis;
• mesophilic forests with Sapium ellipticum and Newtonia buchanannii.

 

A type of swampy forest gallery in Uapaca guineensis has been found in Ruvubu and east of Cankuzo in Gisagara. They bear witness to the Guineo-Congolese influences that have penetrated so far.

 

In the Karuzi basin, vegetation zones consisting of forest galleries whose component species recall mountain secondary forest formations such as Newtonia buchanannii, Bridelia micrantha, Sapium ellipticum, Sapium ellipticum, Xymalos monospora, Xymalos monospora, Albizia gummifera and Harungana madagascariensis are described.
Forest galleries of the protected landscape from Kinoso to Makamba at an altitude of 1,350 m, composed of large trees such as Alchornea cordifolia, Macaranga schwenfurthii, Newtonia buchananii, Albizia gummifera, Albizia gummifera, Antocleista schwenfurthii, etc. are mentioned.