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| View of the landscape |
The Coastal Forests of East Africa are a globally recognised area of great biological importance and diversity. Many species are endemic to these forests, for example 44% of plants are endemic to the coastal forests and 40% of plant genera are confined to a single forest patch. Forests only 100 km apart may have an 80% difference in their plant species.
Unfortunately, the majority of the original coastal forests have been decimated. Of the original 291,250 km2, only 10 % (29,125 km2) of natural vegetation remains. This is distributed across more than 400 forest fragments which, ecologically speaking, leads to a slow death since there are no corridors for wildlife. Making matters worse, the forest fragments are typically completely un-managed and subject to intense local use for charcoal, timber, and other products. In light of all this, we wanted to see what remains before it is too late!
Information is extremely sparse so we relied on forestry surveys and google maps to identify forest reserves close to Pangani in Tanga Region. We settled on Msumbugwe and Kibubu Forest Reserves, the former a bit south of the Pangani River and the latter a bit north. We also visited Zaraninge forest, which is located in the more formally protected Saadani National Park, written about in this blog entry.
The Msumbugwe forest was a massive disappointment. Although the area shows up as very green on google maps, it is evident the forest has been cleared of big trees and what remains is a dry and hot area filled with shrubs. There was a large and well maintained road bisecting the reserve with multiple trails leading to tree falls. We walked on several of these trails but after an hour or so, we turned back without having seen much of anything.
We later went to Kibubu Forest Reserve, which is a former WWF managed site. WWF had a big investment in coastal forests but has since removed themselves from the project in the Tanga Region. Kibubu Forest had some nice patches of forest but appeared to have a much more formalized charcoal operation. Huge areas were clear cut with massive burning pits for charcoal. Once again there was an extensive network of trails with evidence of firewood gathering and charcoal burning.
In Kibubu we saw a motorcycle with a passenger come and turn around as soon as they saw our car. When we exited we were met by a group of people that said they saw our car come in and they inquired what we were doing in the forest. We are technically supposed to get a permit to enter the forest but it was obvious that the group was anxious. It probably didn't help we have a WWF sticker on our car, which made them even more nervous. We had a tense but cordial conversation where they said they had a permit to take charcoal while I commented that the cutting seemed like too much.
Having worked with communities bordering conservation areas, I truly struggle with these types of situations. The forests provide income opportunities to people without an education or other economic opportunities. Absent of income generating opportunities or incentives to not cut the forest, what is to be expected? I don't think for a second that I would act differently in their situation and thinking about conservation in general is something that is afforded to those who have their basic needs taken care of. It is why I believe that education and economic development (and possibly carbon credits) are the only ways to conserve, not just gazetting an area and policing it. It is a shame that they are left in a kind of no mans land whereby locals are in fear of extracting and there are no land use management plans or things of that nature. I have written to WWF to try to understand why they pulled out of that area but the lack of information on the internet leads me to believe it may be opening pandoras box....
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| Charcoal pit |
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| Big clear cut opening in the forest |
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| Hiking! |
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| A very cool tree; dark smooth wood with a paper like bark and spines |
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