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Table 2: Forest loss divided by forest type, 1990-2000, TanzaniaForest type Historical Area Area 1990 Area 2000 Percentageloss (% )Miombo Woodlands1 40% <strong>of</strong> land area Only partial data Only partial data -13%(rough estimate)Acacia Savanna No data No data No dataEastern Arc Mountains2 17,992 km2 3,550.90 km2 3,531.8 0 km2 -1 %Kenya/Tanzania No data No data No dataMountainsEastern African Coastal 136379 km2 7,042 km2 6,841.5 km2 - 7 %Forests3Guinea-Congolian Below 5000 km2 No data 6,700 km2forestsMangrove forests4 No data 1,095.93 km2 1,081.38 km2 -2 %1 – Data from a partial sample <strong>of</strong> miombo in Eastern Tanzania (FBD 2005) Forest Area assessment for theEastern Arc Mountains.. Forestry and BeekeepingDivision, Ministry <strong>of</strong> Natural Resources and Tourism, Dar es Salaam. www.easternarc.or.tz2 – FBD 2005 (ibid)3 – Tabor, Mbilinyi and Kashigali ( in prep). Forest area assessment for the coastal forests (this assumesthat all this ecoregion was originally forested)4 – Wang et al 2003. Remote Sensing <strong>of</strong> Mangrove ChangeAlong the Tanzania Coast. Marine Geodesy, 26:35 –48, 2003Source: (United Republic <strong>of</strong> Tanzania 2009, p.7)When it comes to deforestation and forest degradation in Tanzania as a whole, theavailable data is also varied. Experiences and estimates from various sources hasplaced the annual national deforestation rate between 130,000 and 500,000 ha, forinstance figures from FAO in 2008 indicated an annual deforestation rate <strong>of</strong> about412,000 ha. According to the R-PIN this may be close to the actual figure, but theyhighlight the need for a more detailed and overall forest inventory <strong>of</strong> Tanzania toconfirm that. In addition, in terms <strong>of</strong> tenure system, most <strong>of</strong> the deforestation happenson general land, i.e. open access, and some in village lands. This is also the case forforest degradation, which is documented to have a rate <strong>of</strong> 500,000 ha annually. Giventhat there is no legal protection within this tenure system, which makes up about 49%<strong>of</strong> total forest land, it is open for human activity, and has meant a steady decline forforest and woodland areas in Tanzania (United Republic <strong>of</strong> Tanzania 2009).When it comes to deforestation and forest degradation trends in comparison withother countries, according to the World Banks country brief on Tanzania from 2009,Tanzania has experienced a deforestation rate <strong>of</strong> 1.1 percent annually from 1990-2005, which puts it at a rate twice that <strong>of</strong> the other low-income countries which havean average <strong>of</strong> 0.6 percent (World Bank 2009). This is not to say that Tanzania has not8

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