Assessment of the biological values of different land cover types in ...

1) Introduction
1.1 Background to the project
This report documents the results of biodiversity surveys carried out in the East Usambara Mountains in
Tanzania as a part of the Integrating Livelihoods and Multiple Biodiversity Values in Landscape Mosaics
project, also known as Landscape Mosaics project. It is a partnership project between CIFOR and ICRAF,
financed by Swiss Agency for Development and Cooperation (SDC). In Tanzania, the project is implemented
by the Tanzania Forest Conservation Group (TFCG) in partnership with ICRAF. The purpose of Landscape
Mosaics project is to improve the livelihoods of the rural people and contribute to conservation of biodiversity
values in the tropical landscape mosaics. The project is a multi-national project involving five selected CIFOR-
ICRAF field sites in Africa and Southeast Asia. The botanical survey, transect walk and resource use survey
methods have been standardized across the sites.
The biodiversity surveys aimed at assessing the biodiversity of different land cover types and the value of that
biodiversity to the local people in the three landscapes of Misalai, Shambangeda and Kwatango villages in the
East Usambara Mountains.
1.2 Report structure
The report is organized in seven sections. The report begins with an executive summary followed by an
introduction which contains the background of the project and an overview of the East Usambara Mountains.
The next five sections provide the results of the surveys on plants, birds, and mammals, the transect walks, as
well as the results from the resource use interviews. Each section includes introduction, methodology, results
and discussion. The final section includes the conclusions and recommendations of the study.
1.3 An overview of the East Usambara Mountains
The East Usambara Mountains of north-east Tanzania are one of the 13 mountain blocks that comprise the
Eastern Arc Mountains. The Eastern Arc is a chain of block-faulted, crystalline mountains under the climatic
influence of the Indian Ocean (Lovett, 1985). The East Usambara Mountains extend over an area of 1,082
km 2 in Korogwe, Muheza and Mkinga districts of Tanga region, between coordinates 4°45´ and 5°20´ S and
between 38°26´ and 38°48´ E. The mountains are located about 40 km away from the city of Tanga. To the
north west of the East Usambara Mountains lie the West Usambara Mountains.
The rainfall distribution is bi-modal, peaking between March and May and between September and December.
The dry seasons are from June to August and January to March. Rainfall is greatest at higher altitudes and in
the south-eastern part of the mountains, increasing from 1,200 mm annually in the foothills to over 2,200 mm
at higher altitudes. The west-facing slopes of the mountains are drier compared to the east-facing slopes due
to climatic and topographical interactions. Due to their age, isolation and their role as condensers of the
moisture from the Indian Ocean, the East Usambara Mountains support ancient and unique forests, rich in
endemic species (Hamilton, 1989).
In the East Usambaras, there are 32 forest reserves including two nature reserves, 10 Central Government
Forest Reserves, eighteen Village Forest Reserves and two private forests with a total area of nearly 328 km 2 .
The altitude of the East Usambara Mountains ranges from 130 m a.s.l in the lowlands to 1,506 m a.s.l in the
highlands (Burgess et al., 2007).
The East Usambara Mountains have the highest number of Eastern Arc endemic/near-endemic trees (40
species) and about 35 Eastern Arc endemic and 42 near endemic vertebrates, excluding fish. In addition there
are 7 vertebrate species that are endemic to the East Usambara Mountains (Burgess et al., 2007). An
3