The Coastal Forests of Eastern Africa

The Coastal Forests of Eastern Africa

By: Kadra, Jacob, and Daniel

Threats

Why is it a hotspot?

• Uncontrolled fires
• Invasive Agriculture
• Unsustainable and illegal logging
• Poor governance and protection of gazetted forests
• Unplanned developments including tourism, oil and gas, bio-energy and mining.

• Rich in vegetation
• Favorable climate that is able to accommodate the needs of a very diverse and populated area.
• However, many of those animals are endangered and threatened by humans (urbanization).

General Overview

• One of the continent’s most biologically diverse areas .
• Eastern Africa countries all share a coastline as well as a myriad of essential and key natural resources and forests , allowing them to support a rich, diverse ecosystem.

Overview cont.

• Made up of unique combinations of habitats, ranging from coastal forests and savannah woodlands to mangroves and marine habitats.
• 260,000 sq km from southern Somalia, through Kenya, Tanzania and much of Mozambique.

Conservation Efforts

Since the 1990's, WWF, or The World Wide Fund for Nature, has supported management and conservation projects to help preserve the Coastal Forests of Easten Africa.

• In 2011, WWF made Lake Niassa a freshwater reserve, to protect it from illegal fishing and pollution.
• WWF also seeks to halt illegal logging in the area's coastal forests, as many diverse/endangered species live and rely on the area for resources, as well as shelter.

Species Found

• 4,050 vascular plant species (1,750 are endemic).
• 633 bird species (11 are endemic)
• 200 mammals (11 of these are endemic)
• 250 reptile species (50 are endemic)
• 85 amphibian species (6 are endemic)
• 220 fish species (30 are endemic)

Lungfish

(Protopterus amphibious)

• Lungfishes can survive for months under the dried mud of floodplains.
• Loss of floodplain habitat through damning of major rivers.
• Classified as data deficient so not much is know about fish.

Pemba green-pigeon (Treron pembaensis)

• Located on solely Pemba island off the coast.
• Small population in decline.
• Loss and degradation of both primary and secondary habitat is occurring.
• Smallish, arboreal, pigeon.

Golden-rumped elephant shrew (Rhynchocyon chrysopygus)

Endangered/important Species

• Largest species in the African elephant shrew family.
• Lives in pairs (male and female)
• Long, flexible snout
• Threatened by forest clearing for agriculture.
• Restricted to remaining pockets of suitable forest in coastal Kenya.

Rondo dwarf galago (Galagoides rondoensis)

• Nocturnal Primate
• Weights less than 100g
• Critically endangered- located in several forest fragments.
• Found in coastal dry forest and scrub in forest patches
• Threatened by logging of remaining forests.

• Pemba green-pigeon (Treron pembaensis)
• Rondo dwarf galago (Galagoides rondoensis)
• Golden-rumped elephant shrew (Rhynchocyon chrysopygus)
• Snouted toad (Mertensophryne micranotis)
• Lungfish (Protopterus amphibious)

Snouted toad

(Mertensophryne micranotis)

• Found in Kenya and Tanzania.
• 24 mm or about 1 in long
• Reproductive fertilization is internal.
• Affected by the loss of its habitat for agriculture, wood extraction and human settlement.

• http://www.eoearth.org/view/article/150652/
• http://www.wwf.org.uk/where_we_work/africa/ast_africa_forest/
• http://coastalforests.tfcg.org/
• http://www.worldwildlife.org/places/coastal-east-africa

Works Cited