Mgambo Forest Reserve: A biodiversity survey. - Eastern Arc ...

Mgambo Forest Reserve
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To this day, Mgambo FR has spiritual value to local Washambaa communities and serves as a
source of medicinal plants and non-timber forest products. A number of ritual areas were
observed during the course of the study. These sites were often located in the better forest
areas such as the riverine forest areas and site locations included bases of trees and caves.
The greatest threat to Mgambo FR is fire disturbance, to provide fresh grass for illegal
livestock grazing in the forest. Pole and timber cutting and animal hunting continue illegally
on a small scale within the reserve, generally close to inhabitation.
The information collected by this survey will be used for management planning by the
EUCAMP. The survey results are also available as a baseline for monitoring. The data are
stored on a Microsoft Access (version Windows 97) database in the EUCAMP library in
Tanga, and parts of it are available on the Internet at the following address:
www.usambara.com
Animal specimens have been deposited at: the Department of Zoology and Marine Biology,
University of Dar es Salaam; Natural History Museum, London; Zoological Museum of
Copenhagen, Denmark; Frankfurt Zoological Museum, Germany; The Natural History
Museum of Zimbabwe, Bulawayo and the African Butterfly Research Institute, Nairobi.
Contact names and addresses are listed in Appendix 2.
Botanical specimens are held at the National Herbarium of Tanzania (NHT) in Arusha,
Missouri Botanical Gardens, USA and Kew Royal Botanical Gardens, UK.
East Usambara Conservation Area Management Programme Technical Paper 59