Neil D. Burgess, Paul Harrison, Peter Sumbi, James Laizer, Adam ...

SPATIAL PLANNING BASELINE: TANZANIA’S COASTAL FORESTS 2011
3.9.2 Pemba Island
Pemba Island, 1014km 2 , lies approximately 50 km from the mainland and is surrounded by
comparatively deep water with strong currents. Unlike Unguja, Pemba has been separated from the
mainland since the end of Miocene about 10 million years ago. Also unlike the relatively flat terrain of
Unguja Island, Pemba has an undulating landscape with valleys, some of which are quite steep, and dry
river beds. The only high forest remaining on Pemba is in the extreme North, the rest of the island is
covered by a mosaic of agriculture, grassland, bushland, or forest in various stages of growth or
regeneration from cultivation.
On Pemba, the areas of the greatest importance for wildlife and those to be included in the PA network
include: the three government PAs of Ngezi-Vumawimbi Nature Reserve, Msitu Mkuu Forest Reserve
and Ras Kiuyu Proposed Forest Reserve, and the High Protection and Low Impact Use zones of the 13
community forests (Figure 17). There are also a number of additional forest patches which need to be
further studied to determine their importance to wildlife. These include: Kwa Konondo, Ngulu,
Makuwe-gando, Kangagani, and Kideke; and the community managed forest patches of Fundo,
Matambwe, Mgelema, and Mbiji/Changaweni (Figure 18). Unlike on Unguja, most of these important
areas are spread out across the island and are not well connected; none of the 3 government PAs are
connected by wildlife corridors. There was reported to be a corridor between Msitu Mkuu and
Kangagani but recent exploration has shown that no longer to exist. There is still a corridor between
Ngezi and Makuwe but this corridor is mainly via mangrove forest rather than terrestrial forest which
will limit the usefulness of the corridor to a select number of species. There may also be a corridor
linking Kangagani and Makaani which is currently being explored.