Coastal Forests of Eastern Africa

Biodiversity
Flagship Species
Threats
Conservation

Scattered along the coastal margins of eastern Africa are a chain of relict forest and thicket patches set within savanna woodlands, wetlands, and increasing areas of farmlands and fallow. These forested areas are typically tiny and fragmented, but contain remarkable levels of biodiversity, which often varies dramatically between forests. During the past twenty years, studies of the Coastal Forests of Eastern Africa have resulted in this forest mosaic being recognized as a globally important conservation priority in a number of major analyses completed for this region (Stattersfield et al. 1998; Olson and Dinerstein 1998; Myers et al. 2000; Burgess et al., in press).

The northern boundary of this hotspot, as defined here, is located in the remaining small patches of coastal (riverine) forest along the Jubba and Shabelle rivers in southern Somalia (Madgwick 1988; Clarke 2000a). In Kenya, the hotspot is confined to a relatively narrow (up to 40 km) coastal strip, except along the Tana River, where it extends some 120 km inland to include the forests of the Lower Tana River. In Tanzania, the hotspot runs along the coast with coastal forest patches such as Rondo up to 80 km from the sea. There are also some outliers located up to 300 km inland at the base of the Udzungwa Mountains of the Eastern Arc mountain chain (Burgess et al. 1998), and minute patches up to 325 km inland in northern Mozambique (Timberlake et al. 2004).

The southern boundary of the Coastal Forests of Eastern Africa is more problematic. White (1983) previously mapped the vegetation of coastal Somalia, Kenya, Tanzania, and Mozambique as far south as Inhambane within his Zanzibar-Inhambane Regional Mosaic. The World Wildlife Fund (WWF) divided the Zanzibar-Inhambane Regional Mosaic of White (1983) into the Northern and Southern Zanzibar-Inhambane Coastal Forest Mosaic ecoregions, with the boundary between the Northern and Southern ecoregions in southern Tanzania and the Southern ecoregion extending to Maputo in southern Mozambique (Olson et al. 2001; Burgess et al., in press). Clarke (1998b) defined an entirely new phytogeographical region, the Swahilian Regional Center of Plant Endemism from Somalia to northern Mozambique, and a Swahilian-Maputaland Regional Transition Zone from northern Mozambique to just north of Maputo. For the purposes of this chapter, the Coastal Forests of Eastern Africa Hotspot includes the Northern and Southern Zanzibar-Inhambane Coastal Forest Mosaic ecoregions, and the Zambezian Coastal Flooded Savanna as defined by WWF (Burgess et al., in press), such that the Limpopo River forms the southern boundary of the hotspot. This corresponds, roughly, to the Swahilian Regional Center of Plant Endemism and the Swahilian-Maputaland Regional Transition Zone of Clarke (1998b). The hotspot also includes all islands lying immediately offshore, including Zanzibar, Pemba, Mafia, and the Bazarruto Archipelago off Mozambique, such that the total land area covered by this hotspot is around 291 250 km².

Much of the region covered by this hotspot was formed from the deposition of marine sediments since the break-up of Pangea (Clarke and Burgess 2000), with younger sediments closer to the coast. Over the past 30 million years, tectonic activity has resulted in the formation of low ridges and swells, which has caused the shoreline to move in and out from its present position, with the subsequent uplifting and erosion of sediments. Faulting associated with the development of the Great Rift Valley also affected the region, with one such fault isolating Pemba Island through the formation of a deep-water marine trench.

Climatically, the hotspot is largely tropical, although it is almost subtropical in the southern reaches. The climate is characterized by high temperatures (23°C or more north of the Limpopo River) and high humidity, by incidental sunlight with little seasonal or annual variation, and variable rainfall. There are two rainy seasons (long, April-June; short, November-December) in the north, merging into one (November-April) in the south. Rainfall ranges from 2 000 mm/year (Pemba and Mafia) down to 500 mm/year in northern Kenya and 800 mm/year in parts of southern Tanzania/northern Mozambique, although average rainfall in most of the coastal forests is between 900 and 1 400 mm/year. Dry seasons can be severe and El Niño effects dramatic. Current daily, monthly, and annual rainfall fluctuations are thought to be more significant than those of the Quaternary Period, which apparently were less severe along the eastern African coast than elsewhere on the continent (Clarke 2000b).

The vegetation of this hotspot is characterized by a complex mix of moist forests (for example, at the base of the Eastern Arc Mountains) and drier forests with coastal thicket, fire-climax savanna woodlands, seasonal and permanent swamps, and littoral habitats. The littoral vegetation includes mangrove vegetation along some parts of the coast, especially in sheltered bays and along river mouths. This complexity is partly natural, although the influence of anthropogenic activities over thousands of years is believed to have been vital in shaping the “natural” vegetation now found in the area. Trees dominate the coastal forest flora, with some of the more abundant species being Afzelia quanzensis, Albizia spp., Bombax rhodognaphalon, Combretum schumannii, Croton spp., Cussonia zimmermannii, Cynometra spp., Dialium spp., Diospyros spp., Grewia spp., Hymenaea verrucosa, Manilkara spp., Millettia stuhlmanni, Nesogordonia holtzii, Ricinodendron heudelotii, Scorodophloeus fischeri, Sterculia appendiculata, Sorindeia madagascariensis, Xylia africana, and Zanthoxylum spp. Lianas are also common as, too, are shrubs, herbs, grasses, sedges, ferns, and various epiphytes. Most coastal forests are found up to 500 m above sea level, although in Tanzania they occur up to 1 030 m on Handeni Hill, but this is highly unusual (Burgess and Clarke 2000).

The distinction between the coastal forests and the Eastern Arc Mountains has been a matter of some debate (e.g., Lovett et al. 2000), and J. Lovett (pers. comm.) has argued that the boundary between the two forest types is continuous and can not be resolved. A gradation between the two forest formations is found at the eastern base of the East Usambara, Uluguru, Udzungwa, and Nguru ranges. The altitudinal separation is generally placed between 500 and 800 m (e.g., White 1983). Other coastal forests are not contiguous with mountain forest habitats and are often separated from the mountains further inland by hundreds of kilometers of drier Zambezian woodlands. Furthermore, the flora has affinities with that of West Africa, suggesting an ancient connection with the Guineo-Congolian lowland forests (Lovett and Wasser 1993; Clarke et al. 2000).

Biodiversity

Studies generally indicate that, for all taxonomic groups, the region of highest endemism within this hotspot stretches from northern Kenya to southern Tanzania (probably extending into northernmost Mozambique), with other parts being somewhat impoverished biologically, although additional survey work in Mozambique may yet reveal an unknown wealth of biodiversity. At a finer scale, two important subcenters of endemism can also be recognized. The first straddles the border between Kenya and Tanzania —the “Kwale-Usambara” local center of endemism—, while the second is found in southern Tanzania —the “Lindi” local center of endemism (Burgess et al. 1998; Clarke 2001). Narrow ranges and disjunct distributions typify the endemic species. There is also a huge turnover of species between forest patches, especially in the less mobile species. For example, forests that are only 100 km apart can differ in 80% of their plants (Clarke et al. 2000), and 70% of their millipedes (Hoffman 2000).

The entire Coastal Forests of Eastern Africa Hotspot contains an estimated 4 050 plant species within around 1 050 plant genera, of which 1 750 plant species and 28 genera are endemic; most of the endemic genera are monotypic. Around 70% of all endemics (1 225 species) and 90% of the endemic genera have been recorded from forest habitats; 92% of all Swahilian endemic species are recorded from closed canopy vegetation types (forest, woodland, bushland, and thicket). Indeed, the lowland forest habitat is the most biologically valuable, with at least 554 endemic plant species and 18 of the 28 described endemic genera confined entirely to it (Clarke et al. 2000; G.P. Clarke, unpubl.). The forested habitats probably contain no more than 750 plant genera, given that their endemic species are distributed among 495 genera. The non-forested vegetation of the coastal strip of eastern Africa (i.e., swamp, wooded grassland, coastal margins) is also important, with at least 812 endemic plants and members of 10 endemic genera recorded from it. Some 47% of the region's endemic species have been recorded from non-forest vegetation, which covers at least 275 000 km² of land (0.3 endemic plants per 100 km² of habitat), whereas the coastal forests cover a total of 6 259 km² (8.8 endemics per 100 km² of habitat) (Burgess et al. 2003b). Clearly, it is the forest patches that have the highest biodiversity importance per unit area. In addition, approximately 40% of the endemic plants are confined to a single forest (for example, the Rondo Forest area in southern Tanzania, has 60 endemic species and two endemic genera, and the Shimba Hills, Kenya, have 12 endemic species) (Clarke et al. 2000; Clarke 2001).

Similarly, these forest patches are important in terms of vertebrate diversity and endemism. Birds are represented by 636 species, of which 12 species are endemic. Pemba Island, which is considered an Endemic Bird Area (EBA) by BirdLife International (Stattersfield et al. 1998) contains four endemic bird species: the Pemba white-eye (Zosterops vaughani), Pemba green-pigeon (Treron pembaensis), Pemba sunbird (Nectarinia pembae), and Pemba scops-owl (Otus pembaensis). There is one bird endemic to the Lower Tana River, the Tana River cisticola (Cisticola restrictus), and other endemics are mainly found in the mainland coastal forest remnants of Kenya and Tanzania, namely the yellow flycatcher (Erythrocercus holochlorus), Sokoke pipit (Anthus sokokensis, EN), Clarke's weaver (Ploceus golandi, EN), and Mombasa woodpecker (Campethera mombassica). One endemic is found in coastal grasslands in Kenya, the Malindi pipit (Anthus melindae). At the extreme south, small parts of the Southeast African Coast EBA also fall within this hotspot, but bird endemics are lacking from the coastal forest habitats of most of Mozambique.

There are 198 mammal species recorded from this hotspot, of which 11 are endemic (Burgess et al. 2000). Endemic mammals include Aders' duiker (Cephalophus adersi, EN), Pemba flying fox (Pteropus voeltzkowi, CR), Kenyan wattled bat (Chalinolobus kenyacola), Dar es Salaam pipistrelle (Pipistrellus permixtus), golden-rumped elephant shrew (Rhynchocyon chrysopygus, EN), Tana River red colobus (Procolobus rufomitratus, CR), Tana River mangabey (Cercocebus galeritus, CR), Zanzibar red colobus (Procolobus kirkii, EN), two galagos (Rondo galago, Galagoides rondoensis, and Diani small galago, G. cocos). In addition, there is a recently described species of horseshoe bat (Rhinolophus maendeleo) described from the Amboni Caves in Tanga District in Tanzania. These endemics are confined to the region from northern Kenya to southern Tanzania, and northernmost Mozambique.

Among the remaining terrestrial vertebrates, some 250 reptile species are recorded, of which 54 are endemic. A single genus, Scolecoseps, is endemic, represented by three species. In addition, there are 116 amphibian species, of which seven are found nowhere else: the Tana River caecilian (Boulengerula denhardti), Loveridge's snouted toad (Mertensophryne micranotis), Mafia Island toad (Stephopaedes howelli, EN), Loveridge's toad (S. loveridgei), Usambara toad (S. usambarensis, EN), Shimba Hills banana frog (Afrixalus sylvaticus, VU), and Shimba Hills reed frog (Hyperolius rubrovermiculatus, EN). Both the Usambara toad and Loveridge's toad are recently described species, the latter representing an endemic genus. A new genus of Kassina-like frog has recently been found in the Jozani Forest on Zanzibar and awaits description (C. Msuya, pers. comm.).

This hotspot has a moderately diverse fish fauna with 219 species. Of the 34 families represented, the minnows (family Cyprinidae) are dominant (43 species in five genera), followed by the killifishes (Nothobranchius spp.) in the family Aplocheilidae, for which about 75% of the 33 species present are endemic to the hotspot.

While endemism within vertebrates is moderately impressive, rates of endemism are much higher in invertebrate groups such as millipedes (80% of all the forest species) and mollusks (68%) (Burgess and Clarke 2000). Interestingly, in the dragonflies there is a Gondwana relict species (Coryphagrion grandis) that has its nearest relatives in Central and Southern America (Clausnitzer 2001).

Flagship Species

The mosaic of habitats comprising this hotspot still support considerable populations of large herbivores such as elephants (Loxodonta africana, EN), especially in the larger protected areas and wilderness regions of southern Tanzania and northern Mozambique. Other African flagship species also occur, including the African wild dog (Lycaon pictus, EN), lion (Panthera leo, VU), leopard (P. pardus), and black rhinoceros (Diceros bicornis, CR) in the Selous. But, despite this megafauna, flagship species in the coastal forests are typically comprised of the diurnal and nocturnal primates, some ancient groups of mammals, endemic birds, and plants.

Among the plants are a few species of African violets (Saintpaulia spp.). Although these plants are globally cultivated as house plants, hardly anyone in the developed world knows that they originate in Tanzanian and Kenyan forests. There are now 40 000 cultivated varieties of the African violet, forming the basis of a retail trade of some $100 million, and they all come from just three of these species (Baatvik 1993). The coastal forests also contain 11 species of wild coffee, of which eight are endemic (Clarke et al. 2000). None of these have been exploited as commercial crops.

The Tana River mangabey and Tana River red colobus are both restricted to the Tana River region in Kenya. A 1994 survey indicated that there were still some 1 100–1 300 red colobus and 1 000–1 200 mangabeys in the Tana River, confined to small patches of gallery forests. The Zanzibar red colobus has an estimated population of 1 000–1 500 individuals, mainly living in and around the Jozani Forest, but also in a number of village forests in close association with people. It is not hunted by the Muslim inhabitants of this island and has become a significant tourist attraction.

Detailed field studies using vocalizations and penile morphology (Bearder 1999; Bearder et al. 2003) have also revealed unexpected diversity among nocturnal prosimian primates (Grubb et al. 2003). The Zanzibar galago (Galagoides zanzibaricus) is found in northern coastal Tanzania, the Rondo galago is found in the southern Tanzanian forests, Grant's galago (G. granti) in the northern Mozambique forests, and the Diani small galago ranges from northernmost Tanzania into the Kenyan coastal forests (Bearder et al. 2003). These animals, whose diet includes the gums of trees, are representatives of an ancient group of primates which seems to have its center of diversity in the forests of eastern Africa.

Another ancient mammal group with endemic species in the eastern African forests is the elephant shrew or sengi (Macroscelidae). Four species occur, including the endemic golden-rumped elephant shrew in Kenya, sonamed because of its unmistakable yellow rump and found only in a narrow coastal strip in southeastern Kenya, and the black and rufous elephant shrew (Rhynchocyon petersi, EN), found in the coastal and Eastern Arc Mountain forests of Tanzania. Finally, Aders' duiker is confined to woodland in Arabuko-Sokoke Forest (where it is extremely rare and perhaps extirpated) and thicket forest on Zanzibar Island, particularly the Jozani Forest.

The endemic bird species form the focus of considerable interest for local and visiting ornithologists, as well as numbers of ecotourists in Kenya. The most notable of these are the Sokoke scops-owl, found in Arabuko-Sokoke Forest in Kenya and the East Usambaras in Tanzania, and Clarke's weaver, which is largely confined to Arabuko-Sokoke. Other ornithological delights include the Sokoke pipit and the four endemic bird species on Pemba Island.

An amphibian species of great interest is the endemic Loveridge's snouted toad, the only member of its genus. This species is remarkable in that it is one of the very few amphibian species that breeds by internal fertilization, but lays eggs (instead of giving birth to live young). It lays its eggs in very small water-filled holes and crevices (including snail shells).

Fishes living in the temporary swamps and floodplains of the coastal areas of this hotspot have evolved remarkable adaptations to withstand desiccation. The air-breathing lungfishes Protopterus amphibius and P. annectens can aestivate as adults for over a year at a time in ‘U’-shaped cocoons underneath the dried-up mud. The annual killifishes have a very short life cycle, and grow quickly in food-rich temporary water bodies. They lay their eggs in the mud and they die when the pool dries up, but the eggs survive and hatch when the rainy season begins (Hrbek and Larson 1999).

Threats

The main proximal threats to this hotspot include expanding agriculture, charcoal burning and fuelwood, uncontrolled fires, unsustainable logging, human settlement, and destructive mining practices (Younge et al. 2002). All three of the countries of the hotspot are included among the poorest nations in the world (World Bank 2002). Basic subsistence activities, such as agriculture, occupy most of the people living within the hotspot, except for a small proportion in the larger cities (Mombasa, Tanga, and Dar es Salaam) and those engaged in coastal tourism activities (mainly in Kenya). Poverty, and the consequent reliance on “free” forest resources, drives much of the forest degradation in the coastal zone.

The most important threat facing the natural habitats of eastern Africa, and the coastal forests, is the expansion of agriculture. In general, the soils of coastal eastern Africa are poor and can only support subsistence agriculture. In the past, these soils were ranked as “useful for tree crops or game ranching.” Coastal agriculture thus involves short-term shifting cultivation concentrating on food crops such as cassava, maize, and some banana, pawpaw, and coconut. The average human population increase is 2.5%–3.5% per annum, and the demand for additional farmland is increasing every year. Plantations of coconut, sisal, and cashew nut also occupy considerable areas of coastal land, and have been responsible for the removal of lowland coastal forest and other natural habitats.

Charcoal is the major cooking fuel for urban Tanzanians, especially in Dar es Salaam. Burning woody plants growing in natural vegetation produces most of this charcoal, hence it is a major cause of habitat loss close to Tanzanian coastal towns and alongside main roads leading to them. In places other than towns and roads, this threat is much less important as local people use firewood for cooking, but the collection of firewood is also often unsustainable and poses a threat to the forests.

Although fires are a natural phenomenon in eastern Africa, the majority that occur nowadays are started by people, who use the fire to clear farmland, to drive animals for hunting, to collect honey, and to reduce tsetse flies in an area. Fire can invade lowland coastal forest and thicket patches, and frequent fires can convert this vegetation to fire-adapted “miombo” woodlands. This results in a loss of the narrowly endemic coastal forest specialist species and their replacement by wide-ranging and common species typical of the huge Zambezian region of eastern and southern Africa.

Logging using pit-sawing techniques occurs in almost all coastal forests where timber trees remain (many forests have already been logged to exhaustion), regardless of their protection status. Although some of this logging is undertaken using licenses obtained from the relevant authorities, much is believed to be illegal. Timber harvesting is occurring in northern Mozambique (Burgess et al. 2003a) and southern Tanzania (from the Rufiji River southwards) (Milledge and Kaale 2003). This involves the harvesting of large logs for export as roundwood, reputedly to the Far East. Much of this timber is from miombo woodland elements in the coastal mosaic, but another part of it comes from the coastal forests themselves. In Kenya, the large logs are mostly already gone, and timber extraction concentrates on carving-wood species, particularly Brachylaena huillensis (although much of that used in Kenya comes across the border illegally from Tanzania).

Despite their low per capita incomes, the countries of eastern Africa are endowed with a wealth of mineral resources. In coastal regions these include gas, gemstones, iron, titanium, limestone, and kaolin. In coastal Kenya, Tanzania, and Mozambique, titanium occurs in coastal sands —the mining of this ore would destroy the natural vegetation and the species that live there. Kenyan Government approval has recently been given to a Canadian-based multinational (Tiomin Inc.) to start mining titanium in the Kwale area. Other deposits are under Arabuko-Sokoke forests. High-grade silica sands for glass manufacture are also mined from deposits in Msambweni, while iron and manganese are mined on a small scale in the Kwale Kaya forests of coastal Kenya. There are also extensive areas of limestone along the coast. In some other coastal forests of Tanzania (e.g. Ruvu Forest Reserve, lowland Ulugurus), there are rubies and other precious stones. The mining of these resources has destroyed large areas of natural habitat.

Due to the impact of these threats, total habitat loss in the hotspot is estimated at around 65% of the original area, based on analyses of land cover maps and the degree of conversion to agriculture or urban land classes (Burgess et al., in press). The loss of forest habitat is probably greater than this, and only fragments remain of what were once large forest patches scattered in climatically suitable positions along the coast (Burgess and Clarke 2000). As such, we estimate that no more than 10% of the original vegetation can be considered to remain intact. Embedded within the remaining natural and human-made habitats are at least 400 separate patches of lowland forest, covering around 6 259 km² (Younge et al. 2002). The remaining forest includes around 2 km² in the Jubba River of Somalia, 787 km² of Kenya, 692 km² of Tanzania, and at least 4 778 km² in Mozambique.

The legal setting of the remaining forest patches varies dramatically along the coastline. Some forest patches are found within large protected areas and are little threatened (e.g., within the Selous Game Reserve or Sadaani National Park in Tanzania). Other forests are simply remote and thus largely unthreatened (e.g., some of the forests of northern Mozambique and northern Kenya). Many forests are found within government Forest Reserves managed by District and Central Government forestry authorities, and surrounded by variable densities of rural people who use natural resources to survive. The most extreme pressures on coastal forest habitats are found in the narrow coastal strip of Kenya, particularly around Mombasa and around Dar es Salaam. A few forests (e.g. Pugu, Kazimzumbwi, Vikindu, and Pande) are being engulfed within the rapidly expanding Dar es Salaam urban metropolis. Site-specific levels of threat have been assessed for 101 coastal forests in Kenya and 103 coastal forests in Tanzania (Younge et al. 2002). Almost all the forests are under some threat, with 57% judged to be highly threatened and 32% very highly threatened. The levels of threat are very similar in Kenya and Tanzania, but are believed to be far lower in Mozambique.

Conservation

An analysis of the World Database on Protected Areas reveals that protected areas cover approximately 17% of the hotspot. However, when one considers only those protected areas that have a higher level of protection (i.e., those in IUCN categories I to VI), this coverage drops to 9%, and even lower, to 4%, when only protected areas in IUCN categories I to IV are included. The two largest protected coastal forests in Kenya are Arabuko-Sokoke, with a minimum area of 417 km² and Shimba with 63 km², while in Tanzania there are no protected coastal forests larger than 40 km² (Younge et al. 2002), although the Matundu Forest Reserve in the lowlands of the Udzungwa Mountains contains larger areas of coastal forest/Eastern Arc transition habitats and some of that is included within Udzungwa Mountains National Park. In Mozambique, there are large patches of coastal forest habitats and the new Quirimbas National Park may contain larger areas of coastal forest than Arabuko-Sokoke.

Within the Kenyan area of the hotspot, there is one National Park, a 6-km² area to the northwest of Arabuko-Sokoke Forest. This “National Park” is, however, somewhat of an anomaly, contains no closed forest, and exists only on paper. There are also four National Reserves (Shimba, Tana River, Boni, and Dodori) that fall under the jurisdiction of the Kenya Wildlife Service (KWS). Many of the other Kenyan forests are within Forest Reserves. As mentioned above, the largest is Arabuko-Sokoke, which for the last 10 years has been under multi-institutional management (KWS, FD, Kenya Forestry Research Institute [KEFRI], and the National Museums of Kenya, [NMK]). The effectiveness of management has been variable over time, but has generally been better than in the other 17 Forest Reserves within the Kenyan coastal forest belt. National Monument status has been given to 39 out of nearly 50 of the sacred Kaya forests in Kenya (Younge et al. 2002), but the level of protection gained from this status is below that of the Forest Reserves. An additional National Monument at Gede Ruins is not a Kaya. There are numerous Local Government or County Council Forests, but the protection of these forests is very poor. A large proportion (nearly 40%) of the Kenyan coastal forests fall into this category or are totally unprotected (Younge et al. 2002).

In Tanzania, most closed forests are within Forest Reserves (80 sites), the majority as national Forest Reserves under central government control and a smaller number as local-authority Forest Reserves under district control. On the ground, the little management and protection that does take place is done by District Natural Resource staff except in the Tanga Region, where “catchment” staff also manage some coastal forest sites. Most of the other sites (20) are unprotected and found on Village or General Land (Younge et al. 2002). Two more sites, Zaraninge and the former Mkwaja ranch, are being incorporated into the new Sadaani National Park. Some forest and thicket patches are also found in the Selous Game Reserve, and within the terrestrial portions of Mafia Island and Dar es Salaam Marine Parks.

The coastal forests close to Dar es Salaam face the biggest conservation challenges. Over the past decade, significant areas of the Pande Game Reserve (Burgess and Hipkiss 2002) and Pugu, Kazimzumbwi, and Ruvu South Forest Reserves have been either heavily degraded or entirely destroyed by charcoal burning and fuelwood harvesting. Parts of the Kazimzumbwi and Vikindu Forest Reserves have also been encroached by farmers who, despite the interventions of senior government officials, have remained within the reserves. Further to the south, in Rufiji District, Namakutwa-Nyamuete, Kiwengoma, Muhoro, Ruhoi River, and Tongomba-Kilwa Forest Reserves, together with three proposed Village Forest Reserves (Tawi, Mbwara, and Nambunju) and the Kichi Hills Local Authority Forest Reserve, are being heavily logged for valuable timber species. Logging is also reported further south in Lindi and Mtwara Districts, with the majority of the logs being exported from Tanzania as roundwood. The export of roundwood from Tanzania is a recent development of questionable legality and, although the government issued a ban on such export trade in early 2004, the ban has been revoked.

In Mozambique, conservation has become a higher priority over the past few years, following the cessation of the civil war in 1992 and a period of reconstruction in the country. The Quirimbas National Park in Cabo Delgado Province was declared in 2002 and covers coastal forest habitat, in addition to marine areas and extensive miombo woodlands (Burgess et al. 2003a). Further south, a large Ramsar site was declared in 2003 within the Zambezi Delta. The Mozambique Government is also working to manage its Forest Reserves that cover some areas of coastal forest habitat, and to map the remaining areas of high forest for future management.

The management and protection of forests throughout the hotspot have suffered from inadequate stakeholder involvement, conflicts of interest, and corruption. Where forests are gazetted, the boundaries tend to be respected, but the forests themselves suffer steady degradation. The levels of protection achieved on the ground are strongly dependent on local factors such as proximity to urban areas, pressure for land, ease of access, presence of valuable timber, and the capacity and morale of local forestry officers. In Kenya, BirdLife International (through its local partner, Nature Kenya) has been involved with conservation of the Arabuko-Sokoke Forest for over 10 years, and WWF has also provided assistance to the conservation of the Kaya Forests for the same length of time. In Tanzania, WWF, the Wildlife Conservation Society of Tanzania, and the Tanzania Forest Conservation Group have also been working with the government to conserve important coastal forest patches for more than a decade, joined more recently by CARETanzania and the IUCN forest program. Significant funding for coastal forest conservation has been made available by the Finnish International Development Agency (Global Finland) in the East Usambaras and Mtwara Region, by the Danish International Development Agency (DANIDA) in Kilwa and Lindi Districts of the Lindi Region, and by the Global Environmental Facility (GEF) in Jozani on Zanzibar. Further south in Mozambique, WWF has assisted the Mozambiquean Government in developing the new Quirimbas National Park.

In both Kenya and Tanzania there is a general move towards using various forms of Participatory Forest Management for forest conservation, which is now receiving significant funding from DANIDA in Tanzania. This methodology engages the rural population in the conservation process in the hope that an exchange of forest user rights for community management responsibilities and ownership (where appropriate) will lead to better protection by the people who often know best what is going on in the forests. Although this hope is widely held, it has not yet been scientifically tested within the region, but various projects are exploring the approach, particularly in Tanzania.

Currently, about $4 million per annum of external funding is spent within the hotspot on conservation or related development activities (in addition to that spent by governments in the region). Bilateral donors are the largest single source of funding, with a considerable portion of financial assistance being routed through conservation NGOs in cooperation with government departments (CEPF 2003). Most government funding is allocated to salary support, and few funds are available for conservation activities on the ground. Private investment for conservation in the coastal forests is also small.

Looking to the future, over the past couple of years a program coordinated from the WWF office in Nairobi has brought together representatives from the three countries supporting large areas of these habitats, Kenya, Tanzania, Mozambique. This process has developed a common vision on the way forward for conservation in the coastal forests region (Younge et al. 2002; WWF-EARPO 2002). National coastal forest task forces have also been formed and have assisted in developing an ecoregionwide approach to the conservation of these forests. The national task forces have also assisted in developing conservation proposals and sharing experiences.

Recent data gathering, funded through the Critical Ecosystem Partnership Fund (CEPF), has further refined the conservation priorities in the hotspot and has brought together a broader network of stakeholders (Nature Kenya and WCST 2003; CEPF 2003). Many of the NGOs active in conservation in the coastal forests of eastern Africa are now seeking funds to implement the findings of these two processes, in collaboration with bilateral aid donors, the government protected area management authorities, and the local populations living around the forest remnants. In particular, WWF-Tanzania aims to apply landscape approaches to conservation so as to enhance the connectivity of fragmented coastal forest patches in the lowland Usambaras (in partnership with Tanzania Forest Conservation Group), Gendagenda-Msubugwe-Saadani National Park, Matumbi-Kichi Hills, and Rondo-Noto-Chitoa. Other NGOs active in the region have similar plans to work on landscape-scale conservation initiatives in the coastal forest area.

In conclusion, the Coastal Forests of Eastern Africa Hotspot contains many important patches of lowland forest habitat, which face great threats from an expanding population hungry for land and natural resources. The important forests are primarily managed as Forest Reserves by impoverished forestry departments at the District level, where the primary focus is on income generation to support District development projects. Conserving these forests and the species they contain presents a serious conservation challenge and one that will require the input of external funding and expertise for some time to come.

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