A Forest in Crisis: The Udzungwa Scarp of Tanzania
The Udzungwa scarp in Tanzania is in danger of losing even more of its wildlife
Waterfall in the Udzungwa Mountains. Marc Veraart / CC BY (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/2.0)
Conservation in the Udzungwa Mountains
A recent study published by the Zoological Society of London has found that the tropical forested area of the Udzungwa Scarp, a nature reserve in the Udzungwa Mountains of Tanzania, is suffering from a bad case of the humans.
The decimation of the wildlife in this area has been caused by widespread illegal hunting, able to occur due to decades of inadequate conservation management. The authors of this study state that ‘conservation efforts in most tropical [protected areas] are still inadequate, as management is not always effective’.
As hunters target animal populations outside protected areas, those that remain become increasingly rare. As a result, hunters move in on wildlife in protected areas, with those with the least enforcement of conservation laws suffering most.
This results in what is known as a ‘paper park’, parks that are conservation areas on paper only, with very little conservation efforts actually taking place.
The importance of the udzungwa mountains
The Udzungwa Mountains have many endemic species of plants and animals, meaning species that are only found in this area of the world, like the gray-faced sengi (pictured below), which has only recently been discovered to science.
The recently discovered to science gray-faced sengi, endemic to the Udzungwa Mountains. Автор: Francesco Rovero (MUSE) - собственная работаit, CC BY-SA 4.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=92350665
These mountains are also home to plenty of threatened and rare species, including the endangered Abbott’s duiker and Sanje mangabey, making these mountains even more valuable to protect.
The threatened uzungwa scarp
The Uzungwa Scarp is an area of forest that has experienced decades of mismanagement and a lack of protection, despite its protected area status. Here, trees are logged, snares are placed, fires are started, and animals shot.
The Uzungwa Scarp is close to a similar area of forest; the Mwanihana forest, which is also a protected area. However, unlike the Uzungwa Scarp, this forest has had decades of very good conservation management. In Mwanihana, law enforcement is present and active, and very little disturbance occurs.
One of the big differences between the two areas, is the presence of villages around the outside. Mwanihana forest has villages along only one side, while the Uzungwa Scarp is completely surrounded by people.
Sanje mangabey, an endangered species found in the Uzungwa Scarp. Jens Klinzing / CC BY (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0)
The budget for protecting Mwanihana has typically been around 400 times greater than that allocated for the protection of the Uzungwa Scarp, which only has one member of permanent staff for protection compared to Mwanihana forest’s 70+.
The importance of the uzungwa scarp
Many large mammal species had been lost from the Uzungwa Scarp, including the African bush elephant, African buffalo, and leopard. The loss of these, and other, species can have big effects on the make up of an ecosystem.
This can be for lots of different reasons, including tree species that are commonly grazed by particular animals being able to grow in their absence. These trees can then outcompete other tree species, which alters the type and density of fruit available, which in turn can impact the bird species present, etc. Everything in every single ecosystem is linked, and a change to any element can have a massive impact.
Leopards can no longer be found in the Uzungwa Scarp. Image by Michael Siebert from Pixabay.
Tackling conservation issues in the Uzungwa Scarp
An area of concern in tropical environment conservation management is the focus on increasing the size of protected areas, rather than ensuring that the ones that already exist are properly managed.
In 2017, the Uzungwa Scarp was upgraded from a forest reserve to a nature reserve, which should increase the amount of law enforcement in the area, so there is hope for its future preservation.
If you would like to contribute to the preservation of this amazing landscape and all its inhabitants, you can donate to Wild Planet Trust. Your donation could go towards supporting the conservation of the Uzungwa Scarp by helping local communities find solutions to protect this area, as well as fund law enforcement patrols.
