Eastern Africa Coastal Forest Programme: Regional Workshop ...

The coastal forests workshop was able to take the updated data on forest location,
area and status and incorporate this within ArcView GIS. Maps were prepared
showing the position of the coastal forests, and their sizes in a number of different
categories (Updated maps are to be found on the CD enclosed as Annex P). These
maps show that most of the forests in Kenya are small apart from the two large forests
which remains in that country – The Arabuko-Sokoke forest and Shimba Hills. In
Tanzania, there are many medium sized forests, but none of the forests approaches
Arabuko-Sokoke, which is over 350 km 2 in area. Most of the larger forests in
Tanzania are either in the foothills of the Eastern Arc Mountains (especially the East
Usambaras), or in southern Tanzania. The bulk of the large coastal forest patches
remaining in eastern Africa are found in Mozambique. The mapping indicates that
forests are found all along the coastal strip, but that the largest and least well-known
are found in Cabo Delgado Province in the northern part of the country.
Mapping non-forest vegetation
The workshop was not able to map all the various kinds of non-forest vegetation that
is found in the coastal strip of eastern Africa. These vegetation types include
wetlands, bushland and palm-savanna habitats, and various types of coastal and
littoral vegetation. As the coastal forest programme progresses, it is important to
undertake an analysis of the distribution of non-forest vegetation in the ecoregion and
to assess how well it is protected. The work presented here does not provide an
adequate assessment of the heterogeneity of habitats along the coast and has not
sought to represent those habitats within a framework centered on the conservation of
the coastal forest vegetation, which is the biologically most interesting part. Such a
representation analysis will need to be completed later in the ecoregion planning
process.
Mapping areas of endemism within the coastal forests
The entire coastal forest region is an important centre of endemism at the global level.
However, within the coastal region there are regions of exceptional endemism. These
regions were termed coastal forest hotspots and were mapped in each of the countries
where they were found. Conservation actions are needed to conserve portions of each
of these hotpots in over to prevent high numbers of species being threatened by
extinction if forest patches are removed from these different areas.
8. VISION
The workshop developed a draft Vision for the EACF as follows:
“Coastal Forests of eastern and south-eastern Africa are conserved,
managed and sustainably utilized for the benefit of present and future
generations.”
It was felt that this Vision could be used as a basis for further discussion in national
workshops. On the basis of this vision, the targets and action plan were developed.
9. ROOT CAUSES ANALYSIS
An exercise was undertaken in plenary to identify major causes of forest loss and to
identify underlying forces driving this process. This analysis was of necessity
superficial, and was not informed by any research. However, it was seen as an
Eastern Africa Coastal Forests - 17 - Workshop Report, Nairobi February 4-7 2002