Bamingui-Bangoran's major ecosystem is characterized as tropical dry or deciduous forests while the major habitats and land covers are dry forests, wooded savannas, edaphic savannas, and gallery forests. This Important Bird Area covers the Bamingui Bangoran National Park in the broad sense, i.e. the National Park covers 1,070,000 ha together with the Vassako - Bolo Strict Nature Reserve covering 86,000 ha and the adjacent Gribingui - Bamingui and Koukourou - Bamingui Faunal Reserves with an area of 450,000 ha and 110,000 ha respectively.

Also included is the Sangba river area conservation zone and hunting concession of 270,000 hectares. The complex is located in the centre-north of the country, west of the town of Ndélé, while a short length of the western border of the park is formed by the international frontier with Chad. The park lies mostly on a plateau of 400 - 500 meters, the rivers of which drain north-westwards to the Chari. It is mainly Sudan - Guinea Savanna woodland, on relatively flat ground.

The northern part is essentially drier Sudan vegetation, the southern a more humid Guinea savanna. Dominant trees include Terminalia laxiflora, Isoberlinia doka and Anogeissus leiocarpus. In places these savanna trees form quite extensive dry deciduous forest. Along watercourses there is a narrow riparian forest thicket community of considerable interest containing, as it does, a number of southern Guineo-Congolian forest species.

The Bamingui River is perennial, whereas others are seasonally reduced to no more than small pools. Seasonal marshes and ponds occur in some low-lying areas. Open or lightly-wooded grasslands may have Mitragyna inermis, Lophira lanceolata and Crossopteryx febrifuga trees. In the south and east there are also a few granite inselbergs.

There are 374 bird species recorded of these, at least 250 certainly or probably breed. Species of global conservation concern reported are Aythya nyroca and Circus macrourus. In addition, one species of the Sahel biome, Ardeotis Arabs, and one of the Afrotropical Highlands biome, Ploceus baglafecht, are reported.