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Eastern Arc Mountains Forests of Tanzania
CHOME PROPOSED NATURE RESERVE
Name of site: Chome
Designation: Forest Reserve
Proposed Nature Reserve
Gazette notification: Government Notice No. 125 (Boundary maps: JB 338, JB 339 and JB 340, 1957)
Date of notification: 25/5/1951 (followed by Variation Order No. 303 of 20/6/1958)
Land ownership: Forestry and Beekeeping Division, Ministry of Natural Resources and Tourism
Area (ha): 14,283 ha
Location
Centre point: Between 4 0 10’ - 4 0 24 South and 37 0 53` - 38 0 00` East
Districts: Same
Mountain Block: South Pare
Brief description
Geography: Chome lies on the highest ridges and plateau of the ancient crystalline South Pare
Mountains, which are rich in mica deposits, with rock faces exposed at higher altitudes.
Basement rocks are gneiss and magmatite pre-Cambrian crystalline. The Reserve has a
high catchment value due to the high rainfall and its extensive forest cover.
Settlements: Surrounded by 27 villages, with a total population of 60,916 (2008) whose main activities
are agriculture and subsistence livestock farming.
Altitudinal range: 1,250 – 2,463 m (Mt Shengena, the highest peak of South Pare)
Climate: Estimated annual rainfall is 1,400 mm. The short rains are between November and
December and long rains between March and May. Eastern slopes receive more rainfall
than western slopes, with a mist effect at higher altitudes. Temperature ranges between
15 o C minimum (July) and 20 o C maximum (February).
Vegetation: Main vegetation types are submontane, montane and upper montane forest. Montane
forest occurs above 1,500 m, with a drier type on lower slopes and rainshadow areas, and
a wetter type covering about 60% of the Reserve mainly on eastern and western slopes of
valleys at 2,000 – 2,300m. Ocotea usambarensis is the dominant emergent tree, with
specimens 45 m in height and 2 m in diameter being common. Moss-covered upper
montane forest occurs above 2,300 m, with elfin forest on the highest ridges. Primary
heath, dominated by Erica arborea, occurs along rocky ridges in shallow, acidic soils;
secondary heath and grassland have colonized large areas between 1,600 m and 2,000 m
in drier montane forest that have been subject to fires.
Species diversity: Plant and animal surveys have been undertaken in 1999-2001. Plant collections are
entered on the TROPICOS database, maintained by the Missouri Botanical Gardens.
Some 20 plant species are of particular interest including: Manikara bakuzi which was
previously reported from Southern Sudan, Ethiopia, Uganda, Northern and Central Kenya;
Penteria adolf-frederecii sub sp. keniensis which was previously reported only from Kenya,
with a tentative record from the Themi River near Arusha; Melletia oblate sub sp. tentesis
and Coffea fadenii, which were previously considered endemic to Taita Hills in Kenya;
Manikara obovata which was known from West and Central Africa, Zambia, Angola and in
Tanzania only from Bukoba and Musoma District; Macaranga modadra and Rytigynia
unbelluata which are Guinea Congolean species previously known in Tanzania only from
Bukoba, Kigoma and Mpanda District; Pouteria adolf, friedericii sub sp. australis which
was previously reported from the Zambia/Malawi border; and South Western Tanzania
and Mistrostigma usambarensis, which was considered endemic to the Usambara.
Ministry of Natural Resources and Tourism 30