eastern arc mountains forests of tanzania - Campaign for the ...

Eastern Arc Mountains Forests of Tanzania
range of the forest from lowland forest at 200 m, through sub-montane,
montane and upper montane forest, to montane grasslands, heathlands
and bogs above the tree line. Drier and ecologically unique montane
woodlands are present on the lee slopes of Udzungwa Mountains, and
there are important assemblages of xerophytic plants, including endemic
species, growing on exposed rocky outcrops.
The series of sites encompass at least 50% of the remaining natural
habitat in the Eastern Arc Mountains, including true wilderness where there
are no visible human impacts and large mammals, such as elephant,
buffalo and lion, are still found living at high altitudes. The 9 sites are intact
and have no people living inside their boundaries.
Five of the 6 largest remaining patches of protected habitat in the Eastern
Arc Mountains are included in the serial nomination, each of the 5
exceeding 23,000 ha and the rest ranging from approximately 6,000 ha to
14,000 ha. The two largest sites in the series are contiguous (Udzungwa
National Park and Kilombero Nature Reserve) and plans are underway to
link Kilombero Nature Reserve with the nearby proposed Uzungwa Scarp
via Mngeta Corridor to provide a contiguous area in excess of 366,000 ha
within the Udzungwa Mountain Block. This would amount to 16% of the
total area of the Eastern Arc Mountains. There are also plans to link the
two smallest nature reserves, Amani and Nilo, via Derema Corridor to
create a contiguous unit of at least 14,600 ha.
Peripheral to the boundaries of these 9 core areas and, indeed, all natural
forests within the Eastern Arc Mountains are numerous settlements and
extensive areas of cultivation, providing little or no short-term opportunity
for establishing adjacent buffer zones.
While there is effectively only 4,000 ha of de facto buffer zone (national
Forest Reserves) peripheral to the core areas, local authority and village
Forest Reserves cover an estimated 7,924 ha in the vicinity of the 9 serial
sites. These forests meet some of the livelihood needs of village
communities and, thereby, play an important role in reducing pressures on
the forests protected for biodiversity and watershed conservation purposes.
Good progress is also being made in encouraging village communities to
establish buffer strips outside and contiguous with the boundary of nature
reserve.
Much more extensive is the network of national Forest Reserves within
each mountain block, amounting to some 126,873 ha, which provide
‘stepping stones’, ‘corridors’ and refuges to plants and animals, all of which
contributes to the maintenance and exchange of genetic diversity.
The 9 serial sites comprise 8 nature reserves under the management of
the Forestry and Beekeeping Division (FDB), of which 3 are in the
process of being legally notified in 2010, and 1 national park under the
management the Tanzania National Parks (TANAPA). All of these
protected areas have management plans, with one exception (Uzungwa
Scarp) that is being prepared in 2010. The national park management
plan is currently under revision.
Management plan objectives focus primarily on biodiversity conservation
and also water conservation and provision, along with visitor
Ministry of Natural Resources and Tourism 7