DOCSLIB.ORG

The Forests and Woodlands of the Coastal East Africa Region

Total Page：16

File Type：pdf, Size：1020Kb

Download full-text PDF Read full-text
The Forests and Woodlands of the Coastal East Africa Region Threatened Spaces, Disappearing Species: The Forests and Woodlands of the Coastal East Africa Region REPORT INT 2011 Threatened Spaces, Disappearing Species: The Forests and Woodlands of the Coastal East Africa Region © JOHN SALEHE Threatened Spaces, Disappearing Species: The Forests and Woodlands of the Coastal East Africa Region CONTENTS FOREWORD Eastern Africa’s coastal forests and Tanzania’s Eastern Arc 03 FOREWORD Mountains are globally recognized by biologists as Centres of 03 ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS Endemism, home to species found nowhere else on Earth. While, for reasons explained in this report, a mere 10% of the original coastal 04 EXECUTIVE SUMMARY forests of Eastern Africa remain, the surviving fragile patches are a 05 THREATENED SPACES, DISAPPEARING SPECIES: treasure trove of fascinating plants and animals. THE FORESTS AND WOODLANDS OF THE COASTAL EAST AFRICA REGION However, the forests and woodlands of coastal East Africa, which include the 06 AFRICA’S LAST SAVANNA WILDERNESS - THE EASTERN endemic-rich Eastern Arc mountain forests and the vast tracts of Miombo woodland are at increasing risk. Some 20 million people live in the Coastal East Africa region and all MIOMBO WOODLANDS of them depend directly or indirectly on these resources for the goods and services they SURYLGH$WWKHLUFXUUHQWUDWHRIGHJHQHUDWLRQKRZHYHUWKHVHEHQH¿WVZLOOEHVKRUWOLYHG 07 FRAGILE AND THREATENED - THE COASTAL FORESTS and a world that has still so much to be discovered will be lost forever. 08 TREASURE “ISLANDS” - THE EASTERN ARC MOUNTAINS The UN General Assembly has declared 2011 as the’ International Year of Forests’ - Forests, biodiversity and human well-being to raise awareness on sustainable management, and conservation of all types of 10 ENDEMIC SPECIES, CENTRES OF ENDEMISM, AND CONSERVATION forests. Within this context, the publication of this report marks the beginning of a concerted campaign to preserve the vital forest resources of the coastal East Africa 12 SPECIES OF THE EASTERN MIOMBO WOODLANDS region. WWF believes that with government commitment and the support of local communities, we can create a balance between people’s need for forest products and 14 ENDEMIC SPECIES OF THE COASTAL FORESTS services and the survival of Coastal East Africa’s unique biodiversity. WWF, through its Coastal East Africa initiative, is committed to ensure the conservation of this 16 ENDEMIC SPECIES OF THE EASTERN ARC MOUNTAINS important natural heritage. 19 SAVING SPECIES SAVES LIVELIHOODS: Peter Scheren A CASE STUDY FROM THE COASTAL FORESTS WWF Coastal East Africa Network Initiative Leader - WWF’s Global and local partners - Addressing the international market chain (DVLQJFHUWL¿FDWLRQSURFHVVHVLQWKH5HJLRQ - Meeting the Challenge of Mpingo conservation 21 COASTAL EAST AFRICA’S BIODIVERSITY – A CALL TO ACTION 23 FURTHER READING ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS The author wishes to thank the following for their assistance in the writing of this report and for generously providing the photographs: Neil Burgess; Rolf Baldus; Colin Jackson; Evan Bowen Jones; Arabella Bramley; Rob Brett; Phil Clarke; Viola Clausnitzer; Will Darwall; Tim Davenport; Ingrid & Ron Eggert; Steffen Foerster; Rudi Hahn; Louis Hansen; Tim Herman; Peter Howard; David Hoyle; Leigh Ann Hurt; Nate Johnson; Bronwyn Llewellyn; Quentin Luke; Sue Mainka; Michele Menegon; Amani Ngusaru; David Peterson; Henrietta Pringle; Galen Rathbun; Francesco Rovero; John Salehe; Claire Spottiswoode; Tom Struhsaker; Colin Watkins; Warwick Tarboton; soundandfair.org. Written and researched by Alison Wilson with advice from WWF’s Coastal East Africa Initiative. Designed by The Clarion Portfolio Ltd, UK. 2 3 Threatened Spaces, Disappearing Species: The Forests and Woodlands of the Coastal East Africa Region EXECUTIVE SUMMARY THREATENED SPACES, DISAPPEARING SPECIES: The African countries bordering the Indian Ocean have an amazing diversity of THE FORESTS AND WOODLANDS ecosystems and are rich in biodiversity. Despite this, their human populations are among the poorest on the planet. The region’s miombo woodlands, coastal forests, and Eastern OF THE COASTAL EAST AFRICA REGION Arc mountains harbour tens of thousands of known species of plants and animals, and species new to science are regularly being discovered. While these landscapes are crucially important for the people of the region, as well as for biodiversity, they are under :KHUHFDQ\RX¿QGYDVWVZDWKHVRIZRRGODQGVDYDQQDV unprecedented pressure as human populations expand and embrace development. teeming with elephants, tropical rainforests ringing with ELUGFDOOVSDOPIULQJHGEHDFKHVZKHUH¿GGOHUFUDEV FKDVHWKHZDYHVDQGPDJQL¿FHQWFRUDOUHHIVDOLYHZLWK FRORXUIXO¿VK±DOOZLWKLQDIHZKXQGUHGNLORPHWUHVRI each other? The eastern seaboard of Africa! This amazing corner of the globe is extraordinarily special for its rich tapestry of ecosystems and because its forests and woodlands harbour hundreds of endemic species, found The miombo ecosystems of northern Mozambique and most important areas of the world for the conservation of nowhere else on earth. Yet this unique assemblage southern Tanzania encompass some of the last great endemic birds, plants and other taxonomic groups: they of plants and animals is under increasing danger of wilderness areas in Africa, home to the continent’s are also home to some of the highest densities of rare disappearing forever. greatest populations of savanna elephants and DQGHQGDQJHUHGVSHFLHVDQGJHQHUDRIÀRUDDQGIDXQDLQ Endangered African wild dogs, as well as to numerous the whole of Eastern Africa, if not the world. Only 30% WWF’s Coastal East Africa Initiative region covers an species of antelope, woodland birds, and other of the original forest cover of these mountains survives area of some 1.4 million km2 and stretches 4,600 km from vertebrates. Many thousands of species are unique to and what is left, mostly in protected areas, is still under northern Mozambique, through southern and eastern miombo woodlands and while much of the miombo threat, along with all its special biodiversity. If the forest Tanzania, and along Kenya’s coastline north to the remains intact within protected areas such as the vast cover of these mountains continues to diminish it is not ERUGHUZLWK6RPDOLD7KHUHJLRQ¶VODQGVFDSHV±PLRPER 6HORXV*DPH5HVHUYHODUJHDUHDVDUHWKUHDWHQHGE\ only biodiversity that will suffer: so, to will the people of woodlands, coastal forests, Eastern Arc mountains, and commercial logging for timber species and by clearance Tanzania who rely on these mountains for the ecosystem inshore waters - harbour tens of thousands of known for subsistence agriculture, fuelwood and charcoal. VHUYLFHV±HVSHFLDOO\ZDWHUDQGHQHUJ\WKDWWKH\SURYLGH species of plants and animals. And new species are regularly found: in the last ten years more than 400 Eastern Africa’s coastal forests and Tanzania’s Eastern WWF’s Coastal East Africa Initiative, together its QHZVSHFLHVLQFOXGLQJLQYHUWHEUDWHV¿VK KEY HABITAT TYPES Arc mountains are globally recognized by biologists as development and conservation partners, is working amphibians, 19 reptiles, ten birds, seven mammals and 93 Eastern Arc Forests Centres of Endemism, home to species found nowhere to conserve these woodlands and forests and their plants have been discovered in the region. Eastern Mombo Woodlands else on Earth. Most of the coastal lowland forests, XQLTXHIDXQDDQGÀRUDE\GHPRQVWUDWLQJWKHYDOXH Coastal Forest inhabited by people for thousands of years, have long of biodiversity, engaging governments and local Eastern Africa’s woodlands and forests are crucially since been cleared. A mere 10% of the original coastal communities, and reducing human impact through a important for the people of the region, as well as for forest habitat remains and the surviving fragile patches range of approaches. biodiversity, including many migratory Palearctic bird 400+ are a treasure trove of fascinating plants and animals, species. The coastal forests and Tanzania’s Eastern Arc some of them unique to only one or two forest remnants. mountains are also globally recognized by biologists as NEW SPECIES DISCOVERED IN We are only now starting to make discoveries of species Centres of Endemism. THE LAST TEN YEARS, INCLUDING: new to science in the coastal forests of Mozambique, WE ARE ONLY NOW STARTING TO MAKE which were closed to biologists for decades during that DISCOVERIES OF SPECIES NEW TO SCIENCE IN / 261 invertebrates country’s civil war. If we lose what is left of this habitat, THE COASTAL FORESTS OF MOZAMBIQUE / 28 fish we will be losing not only a unique ecosystem which / 25 amphibians provides local people with an array of services, but also its remarkable biodiversity. EASTERN AFRICA’S WOODLANDS AND FORESTS ARE / 19 reptiles CRUCIALLY IMPORTANT FOR THE PEOPLE OF THE / 10 birds Global analyses of biodiversity priority undertaken / 7 mammals by conservation biologists show that the Eastern Arc REGION, AS WELL AS FOR BIODIVERSITY, INCLUDING / 93 plants Mountains - a chain of massifs stretching from southern MANY MIGRATORY PALEARCTIC BIRD SPECIES Tanzania and into southern Kenya - rank among the 4 5 Threatened Spaces, Disappearing Species: The Forests and Woodlands of the Coastal East Africa Region FRAGILE AND THREATENED - THE COASTAL FORESTS 10% OF THE ORIGINAL © RUDI H The lowland regions of coastal eastern Africa were once COASTAL © N covered by a forest mosaic extending from southern E I FOREST L Mozambique north to the Kenya’s border with Somalia. BU AHN R These forests were a diverse mix of forest and woodland HABITAT G ESS Miombo woodlands in the Selous-Niassa
Load more

Recommended publications
  • Selous Game Reserve Tanzania
    SELOUS GAME RESERVE TANZANIA Selous contains a third of the wildlife estate of Tanzania. Large numbers of elephants, buffaloes, giraffes, hippopotamuses, ungulates and crocodiles live in this immense sanctuary which measures almost 50,000 square kilometres and is relatively undisturbed by humans. The Reserve has a wide variety of vegetation zones, from forests and dense thickets to open wooded grasslands and riverine swamps. COUNTRY Tanzania NAME Selous Game Reserve NATURAL WORLD HERITAGE SITE 1982: Inscribed on the World Heritage List under Natural Criteria ix and x. STATEMENT OF OUTSTANDING UNIVERSAL VALUE The UNESCO World Heritage Committee issued the following Statement of Outstanding Universal Value at the time of inscription: Brief Synthesis The Selous Game Reserve, covering 50,000 square kilometres, is amongst the largest protected areas in Africa and is relatively undisturbed by human impact. The property harbours one of the most significant concentrations of elephant, black rhinoceros, cheetah, giraffe, hippopotamus and crocodile, amongst many other species. The reserve also has an exceptionally high variety of habitats including Miombo woodlands, open grasslands, riverine forests and swamps, making it a valuable laboratory for on-going ecological and biological processes. Criterion (ix): The Selous Game Reserve is one of the largest remaining wilderness areas in Africa, with relatively undisturbed ecological and biological processes, including a diverse range of wildlife with significant predator/prey relationships. The property contains a great diversity of vegetation types, including rocky acacia-clad hills, gallery and ground water forests, swamps and lowland rain forest. The dominant vegetation of the reserve is deciduous Miombo woodlands and the property constitutes a globally important example of this vegetation type.
    [Show full text]
  • The Miombo Woodlands of Central, Eastern and Southern Africa
    90 The Miombo Woodlands of Central, Eastern and Southern Africa Philomena Tuite and John J. Gardiner Dept. of Crop Science, Horticulture and Forestry, University College Dublin, Belfield. Dublin 4. Summary Aspects of the environment and ecology of Miombo woodlands are described. Attention is given to the widespread nature of their distrihution area and the role played by Miombo at local and national levels. A matrix of woodland-use is presented. This offers some insight into changing resource-usc patterns in Miombo, and highlights the conflicts which may ensue with the adoption of certain woodland management strategies. Iutroduction In Africa, tropical dry forests and woodlands constitute between 70 - 80% of all forested land (Murphy & Lugo 1986). South of the Equator, (50 to 25 0 S) Miombo woodlands are the main dry for· est type in the continent, occupying an estimated area of 7 million square kilometres (Griffith 1961). Thus, Miombo represents one of the most widespread, yet compact forest types in the world. Almost 50% of the land area of both Tanzania and Zambia, and large tracts of Mozambique, Malawi, Zimbabwe, Zaire and Angola support Miombo (Fig. 1). This aereal distribution corresponds roughly to the Zambezian Floral Domain of White (1965), recognised for its floristic richness and the widespread occurrence of the tree genera Brachystegia, lulbernardia and Isoberlinia. Despite the widespread nature of this woodland type, its long history of exploitation and the increasing human·related pressure and needs within the countries mentioned, Miombo resource-use re­ mains largely undocumented. The data base on inventory, silviculture, IRISH FORESTRY, 1990. Vol. 47 (2)' 90·107 THE MIOMBO WOODLANDS 91 • I _.
    [Show full text]
  • Forest Cover and Change for the Eastern Arc Mountains and Coastal Forests of Tanzania and Kenya Circa 2000 to Circa 2010
    Forest cover and change for the Eastern Arc Mountains and Coastal Forests of Tanzania and Kenya circa 2000 to circa 2010 Final report Karyn Tabor, Japhet J. Kashaigili, Boniface Mbilinyi, and Timothy M. Wright Table of Contents Introduction .................................................................................................................................................. 2 1.1 Biodiversity Values of the Eastern Arc Mountains and Coastal Forests ....................................... 2 1.2 The threats to the forests ............................................................................................................. 5 1.3 Trends in deforestation ................................................................................................................. 6 1.4 The importance of monitoring ...................................................................................................... 8 Methods ........................................................................................................................................................ 8 2.1 study area ............................................................................................................................................ 8 2.1 Mapping methodology ........................................................................................................................ 8 2.3 Habitat change statistics ..................................................................................................................... 9 2.4 Map validation
    [Show full text]
  • Lake Malawi Destination Guide
    Lake Malawi Destination Guide Overview of Lake Malawi Occupying a fifth of the country, Lake Malawi is the third largest lake in Africa and home to more fish species than any other lake in the world. Also known as Lake Nyasa, it is often referred to as 'the calendar lake' because it is 365 miles (590km) long and 52 miles (85km) wide. Situated between Malawi, Mozambique and Tanzania, this African Great Lake is about 40,000 years old, a product of the Great Rift Valley fault line. There are fishing villages to be found along the lakeshore where residents catch a range of local fish including chambo, kampango (catfish), lake salmon and tiger fish. The export of fish from the lake contributes significantly to the country's economy, and the delicious chambo, similar to bream, is served in most Malawian eateries. Visitors to Lake Malawi can see colourful mbuna fish in the water, while there are also occasional sightings of crocodiles, hippos, monkeys and African fish eagles along the shore. The nearby Eastern Miombo woodlands are home to African wild dogs. Swimming, snorkelling and diving are popular activities in the tropical waters of the lake, and many visitors also enjoy waterskiing, sailing and fishing. There are many options available for holiday accommodation at the lake, including resorts, guesthouses and caravan or camping parks. All budgets are catered for, with luxury lodges attracting the glamorous and humble campsites hosting families and backpackers. Cape Maclear is a well-developed lakeside town, and nearby Monkey Bay is a great holiday resort area. Club Makokola, near Mangochi, is also a popular resort.
    [Show full text]
  • Conservation Biology and Controlling International Status of the African Wild Trade in Endangered Dog, Lycaon Pictus Species
    U PDATE IncludingEndangered a Reprint Species of theTechnical latest USFWS Bulletin School of Natural Resources and Environment August 7994 Vol. 7 7 No. 70 THE UNIVERSITY OF MICHIGAN In this Issue Conservation Biology and Controlling International Status of the African Wild Trade in Endangered Dog, Lycaon pictus Species Resilience and Resistance: Old Growth Forests and the Relevance for Conservation Puerto Rican Parrot Biology and Management Conservation Biology and Status of the African wild dog, Lycaon pictus by - Joshua R, Ginsberg - The African wild dog (Lycaon Causes of Decline Loss of habitat and direct persecu- pictus) was once found from Senegal to tion by humans were probably respon- South Africa. Inhabiting a wide range of A number of explanations and hy- sible for initial declines and local extinc- ecosystems, from deserts to the alpine potheses have been invoked to explain tions. Morerecently, other factors which meadows of Mount Kilimanjaro (re- the pan-African decline in Lycaon num- may have led to local or regional de- viewed in Fanshawe et al. 1991 ; Ginsberg bers (Fanshawe et al. 1991). Wild dogs clines in numbers include competition andMacdonald 1990),Lycaon wasprob- occur at low densities relative to other with other carnivores (Frame 1986; ably found in all environments except large predators. For example, while Sinclair, in press); direct conflict with true rainforests. Well over a hundred lions frequently occur at densities of one humans (Childes 1988; Hines 1990; thousand wild dogs, or five times that lion per five square kilometers (Schaller Malcolm 1979); disease (Creel et al., in many, may have lived in Africa at the 1972), wild dog densities average one press; Burrows et al.
    [Show full text]
  • Dynamic Strategies for Tourism in the Udzungwa Mountains
    Paving the Way: Dynamic Strategies for Tourism in the Udzungwa Mountains 1 Contents INTRODUCTION ........................................................................................................................................... 3 BACKGROUND ............................................................................................................................................. 3 SITE DESCRIPTION ........................................................................................................................................ 4 A STRATEGIC TOURISM DEVELOPMENT PLAN FOR UDZUNGWA MOUTNAINS NATIONAL PARK ............... 6 IMMEDIATE TOURISM DEVELOPMENT GOALS (0-12 months) ................................................................ 8 Marketing ........................................................................................................................................... 8 Clientele ............................................................................................................................................ 11 Infrastructure ................................................................................................................................... 11 SHORT-TERM TOURISM DEVELOPMENT STRATEGIES (1-5 years) ............................................................. 12 Marketing ......................................................................................................................................... 12 Clientele ...........................................................................................................................................
    [Show full text]
  • Using Natural Fertilizers in Miombo Woodlands by Emmanuel Chidumayo
    ISSUES 'IN AFRICAN BIODIVERSITY THE BIODIVERSITY SUPPORT PROGRAM IYwmber 2, May 1999 Using Natural Fertilizers in Miombo Woodlands By Emmanuel Chidumayo Introduction Miombo woodlands grow on the ancient central African plateau and its escarpments. They form a swathe across the continent from Angola to Mozambique, and extend from lhnzania and southern Congo in the north, to Zimbabwe in the south. Scientists distin- guish miombo from other savanna woodland and forest formations by the presence of legume trees belonging to the genera Brachustegia, Julbernardia, and Isoberlinia. The climate in the miombo zone is subhumid, characterized by a short seasonal rainfall rang- ing from 650 mm to 1,400 mm, occurring from November to March, and a long dry sea- son (April to October/November). Miombo is divided with the wetter type (with > 1,000 mm of rainfall) occurring in the north, and drier type (with < 1,000 mm) (White 1983) occurring in the south of the miombo zone. Miombo occurs on geologically old and acidic (pH 4-6) soils with low fertility. A charac- teristic association between miombo tree species and ectomycorrhizal fungi significantly increases mineral uptake from the soil. There is higher species diversity in miombo woodlands and associated wetlands or dambos than, for example, acacia woodlands. Miombo is of outstanding international importance for the conservation of plants and birds, many of whichare endemic to the region. It provides seasonal habitat for two large, spectacular antelope in Africa, the roan and sable. Miombo trees are typically highly resilient to the annual fires that sweep across the region, and resprout rapidly after anthropogenic disturbance; however, woodland regeneration can be stalled or prevented if trees are uprooted and the connection with ectomycorrhiza is disturbed.
    [Show full text]
  • Africa's Freedom Railway
    AFRICA HistORY Monson TRANSPOrtatiON How a Chinese JamiE MONSON is Professor of History at Africa’s “An extremely nuanced and Carleton College. She is editor of Women as On a hot afternoon in the Development Project textured history of negotiated in- Food Producers in Developing Countries and Freedom terests that includes international The Maji Maji War: National History and Local early 1970s, a historic Changed Lives and Memory. She is a past president of the Tanzania A masterful encounter took place near stakeholders, local actors, and— Studies Assocation. the town of Chimala in Livelihoods in Tanzania Railway importantly—early Chinese poli- cies of development assistance.” the southern highlands of history of the Africa —James McCann, Boston University Tanzania. A team of Chinese railway workers and their construction “Blessedly economical and Tanzanian counterparts came unpretentious . no one else and impact of face-to-face with a rival is capable of writing about this team of American-led road region with such nuance.” rail power in workers advancing across ’ —James Giblin, University of Iowa the same rural landscape. s Africa The Americans were building The TAZARA (Tanzania Zambia Railway Author- Freedom ity) or Freedom Railway stretches from Dar es a paved highway from Dar Salaam on the Tanzanian coast to the copper es Salaam to Zambia, in belt region of Zambia. The railway, built during direct competition with the the height of the Cold War, was intended to redirect the mineral wealth of the interior away Chinese railway project. The from routes through South Africa and Rhodesia. path of the railway and the After being rebuffed by Western donors, newly path of the roadway came independent Tanzania and Zambia accepted help from communist China to construct what would together at this point, and become one of Africa’s most vital transportation a tense standoff reportedly corridors.
    [Show full text]
  • Tanzania Environmental Threats and Opportunities Assessment
    TANZANIA ENVIRONMENTAL THREATS AND OPPORTUNITIES ASSESSMENT November 2012 This Report was produced for review by the United States Agency for international Development (USAID). It was prepared by the Environmental Threats and Opportunities Assessment Team under contract to the US Department of Agriculture Forest Service – International Programs. Cover photo: Rice fields in Mkula Village, Kilombero Valley, Morogoro Region. Water from the Udzungwa Mountains National Park is used by the village to irrigate two crops of rice per year. Photo by B. Byers, June 2012. TANZANIA ENVIRONMENTAL THREATS AND OPPORTUNITIES ASSESSMENT November 2012 AUTHORITY Prepared for USAID-Tanzania. This Tanzania Environmental Threats and Opportunities Assessment is made possible by the support of the American People through the United States Agency for International Development (USAID) under the terms of a Participating Agency Partnership Agreement (PAPA) No. AEG-T- 00-07-00003-00 between USAID and the USDA Forest Service International Programs. Funds were provided by USAID/Tanzania and facilitated by the USAID Bureau for Africa, Office of Sustainable Development, Economic Growth, Environment and Agriculture Division (AFR/SD/EGEA) under the Biodiversity Analysis and Technical Support (BATS) program. The contents of this report are the sole responsibility of the ETOA Team and do not necessarily reflect the views of USAID or the United States Government (USG). PREPARED BY ETOA Team: Bruce Byers (Team Leader), Zakiya Aloyce, Pantaleo Munishi, and Charles Rhoades. TABLE
    [Show full text]
  • Ecological Report on Magombera Forest
    Ecological Report on Magombera Forest Andrew R. Marshall (COMMISSIONED BY WORLD WIDE FUND FOR NATURE TANZANIA PROGRAMME OFFICE) Feb 2008 2 Contents Abbreviations and Acronyms 3 Acknowledgements 4 Executive Summary 5 Background 5 Aim and Objectives 5 Findings 6 Recommendations 7 Introduction 9 Tropical Forests 9 Magombera Location and Habitat 9 Previous Ecological Surveys 10 Management and Conservation History 11 Importance of Monitoring 14 Aim and Objectives 15 Methods 15 Threats 17 Forest Structure 17 Key Species 18 Forest Restoration 20 Results and Discussion 21 Threats 21 Forest Structure 25 Key Species 26 Forest Restoration 36 Recommendations 37 Immediate Priorities 38 Short-Term Priorities 40 Long-Term Priorities 41 References 44 Appendices 49 Appendix 1. Ministry letter of support for the increased conservation of Magombera forest 49 Appendix 2. Datasheets 50 Appendix 3. List of large trees in Magombera Forest plots 55 Appendix 4. Slides used to present ecological findings to villages 58 Appendix 5. Photographs from village workshops 64 3 Abbreviations and Acronyms CEPF Critical Ecosystem Partnership Fund CITES Convention on the International Trade in Endangered Species IUCN International Union for the Conservation of Nature and Natural Resources TAZARA Tanzania-Zambia Railroad UFP Udzungwa Forest Project UMNP Udzungwa Mountains National Park WWF-TPO Worldwide Fund for Nature – Tanzania Programme Office 4 Acknowledgements Thanks to all of the following individuals and institutions: - CEPF for 2007 funds for fieldwork and report
    [Show full text]
  • Miombo Ecoregion Vision Report
    MIOMBO ECOREGION VISION REPORT Jonathan Timberlake & Emmanuel Chidumayo December 2001 (published 2011) Occasional Publications in Biodiversity No. 20 WWF - SARPO MIOMBO ECOREGION VISION REPORT 2001 (revised August 2011) by Jonathan Timberlake & Emmanuel Chidumayo Occasional Publications in Biodiversity No. 20 Biodiversity Foundation for Africa P.O. Box FM730, Famona, Bulawayo, Zimbabwe PREFACE The Miombo Ecoregion Vision Report was commissioned in 2001 by the Southern Africa Regional Programme Office of the World Wide Fund for Nature (WWF SARPO). It represented the culmination of an ecoregion reconnaissance process led by Bruce Byers (see Byers 2001a, 2001b), followed by an ecoregion-scale mapping process of taxa and areas of interest or importance for various ecological and bio-physical parameters. The report was then used as a basis for more detailed discussions during a series of national workshops held across the region in the early part of 2002. The main purpose of the reconnaissance and visioning process was to initially outline the bio-physical extent and properties of the so-called Miombo Ecoregion (in practice, a collection of smaller previously described ecoregions), to identify the main areas of potential conservation interest and to identify appropriate activities and areas for conservation action. The outline and some features of the Miombo Ecoregion (later termed the Miombo– Mopane Ecoregion by Conservation International, or the Miombo–Mopane Woodlands and Grasslands) are often mentioned (e.g. Burgess et al. 2004). However, apart from two booklets (WWF SARPO 2001, 2003), few details or justifications are publically available, although a modified outline can be found in Frost, Timberlake & Chidumayo (2002). Over the years numerous requests have been made to use and refer to the original document and maps, which had only very restricted distribution.
    [Show full text]
  • Combining Airborne Laser Scanning and Landsat Data for Statistical
    Egberth et al. Carbon Balance Manage (2017) 12:8 DOI 10.1186/s13021-017-0076-y RESEARCH Open Access Combining airborne laser scanning and Landsat data for statistical modeling of soil carbon and tree biomass in Tanzanian Miombo woodlands Mikael Egberth1* , Gert Nyberg2,6, Erik Næsset3, Terje Gobakken3, Ernest Mauya3, Rogers Malimbwi4, Josiah Katani4, Nurudin Chamuya5, George Bulenga4 and Håkan Olsson1 Abstract Background: Soil carbon and biomass depletion can be used to identify and quantify degraded soils, and by using remote sensing, there is potential to map soil conditions over large areas. Landsat 8 Operational Land Imager satel- lite data and airborne laser scanning data were evaluated separately and in combination for modeling soil organic carbon, above ground tree biomass and below ground tree biomass. The test site is situated in the Liwale district in southeastern Tanzania and is dominated by Miombo woodlands. Tree data from 15 m radius feld-surveyed plots and samples of soil carbon down to a depth of 30 cm were used as reference data for tree biomass and soil carbon estimations. Results: Cross-validated plot level error (RMSE) for predicting soil organic carbon was 28% using only Landsat 8, 26% using laser only, and 23% for the combination of the two. The plot level error for above ground tree biomass was 66% when using only Landsat 8, 50% for laser and 49% for the combination of Landsat 8 and laser data. Results for below ground tree biomass were similar to above ground biomass. Additionally it was found that an early dry season satellite image was preferable for modelling biomass while images from later in the dry season were better for modelling soil carbon.
    [Show full text]