Binggeli, P. (1989) Report on a visit to
Tanzania - 11th March - 8th April 1989. Unpublished Manuscript. 4 pp.
This unpublished report was written following
a visit to Tanzania in 1989. It includes comments on a workshop
held at Morogoro (Section 2) and field observations made in the Amani
region with special reference to Maesopsis (Sections 3 &
4). Various suggestions concerning the conservation of the East
Usambaras are made in Section 5.
1 Introduction
From the 13th to 17th March 1989 I attended the workshop of
The Usambara Integrated Forest Project at Sokoine University of
Agriculture, Morogoro, where I gave a paper entitled "Tree species
invasions and sustainable forestry in the East Usambaras" jointly with
Alan Hamilton. Following the workshop I visited the East Usambaras for
2.5 weeks, to look at the changes which had occurred since my first
visit in early 1987, as well as investigating various areas of the
Amani region I had yet to discover. Towards the end of my stay it was
felt that enough interesting observations had been made to justify a
written report. Furthermore being a painter and decorator, and also a
part-time self-financed Ph.D. student, I do not have the constraints
and vested interests the majority of people interested in the East
Usambaras may have. That includes people working for governments, aid
agencies, universities, and conservation organisations. What follows
are my personal views and reflect some of my philosophical and ethical
beliefs which include:
a. saving natural environments, including tropical rain forests,
b. support sustainable development of the third world,
c. advance knowledge, including free transfer of information and ideas and
d. aim at multi-disciplinary and cooperative ventures, Some points
which I shall raise in this report, will I hope, be of some use to some
of the people interested in the East Usambaras, and perhaps stimulate
further discussion.
2 Workshop of the Usambara Integrated Forest Project
Having never participated in a conference before I have
nothing to compare the workshop with, but nevertheless the following
remarks may be made.
2.1 Meeting
The meeting was well run and attended. Apart from the
unavoidable poor command of English and numerous strong accents,
comprehension of what the different speakers were trying to convey was
lade even harder by the bad acoustics of the room and low voice of most
participants. A system of loudspeakers is essential at any future
meeting.
The field meeting to the Ngurus was most attractive, but in
practice with such a large number of participants and with such a range
of ages and physical capacities. It was in fact impractical. We never
reached the natural forest, but saw some beautiful scenery and observed
a good example of deforestation caused by agricultural encroachment.
Several people I met had reservations about the location of
the meeting. They wondered why the workshop was organised in Morogoro
and not in Tanga, as a meeting in Tanga would have given people
actually working and living in the area a chance to join in. Also, the
absence of representatives from Forest Division, IUCN workers, and tea
estates lent that the Meeting turned out to be primarily academic.
2.3 Achievements and shortcomings of the meeting
The meeting obviously kept people's interest in the future of
the East Usambaras well alive. Even for some people, like myself, it
stimulated further thoughts and activities. It has also a good
opportunity to get to know people who have been involved in the
Usambaras.
However, as a result of the meeting it is clear that despite
some improvements there is still a lack of coordination on all horizons
including that between scientists, between Tanzanian forest managers
and scientists, between field workers and scientists and between aid
agencies.
For instance numerous scientists are solely interested in
their own particular study without trying to integrate their research
protocol with other researches, or collecting and presenting data which
may be of use to other disciplines.
Aid agencies do not seem interested in cooperating and in
coordinating their respective efforts. Their own national interests and
justifications of their aid effort to their home population seem to
come first. Also there seem to be a tendency for them to keep "parts of
Tanzanian territory" to themselves.
On the Tanzanian side it seems that there are no clear
guidelines as to what particular interests and wishes the Tanzanian
government, scientists, and people have. More initiatives should
emanate from inside Tanzania, for instance from Forest Division.
Finally, it was difficult to see how this research- orientated workshop related to the April 1988 management- orientated one?
2.4 Resolutions
Few disagreements between the various sides arose after the
resolutions were proposed and very rapidly all people present agreed to
them without reservations. This was possibly due to the fact that no
practical decisions were taken apart from a call for regular meetings
of a similar nature. Surely there is a need for urgent action and
decision making? The lack of commitment and action observed at the
meeting was due mainly to one single important factor. Several
interested parties were not directly represented or absent and
included: IUCN/EEC, Finnida, Forestry Division, Dept. of Agriculture
and tea estates. Also the absence of a leading figure who could be
called upon to act as a referee/coordinator/instigator and who would
have no connections with donors or receivers.
2.5 Communication
The publication of the proceedings of the workshop will I
undoubtedly be a major tool in sustaining communication. However, steps
should be taken to further improve communications between all the
people involved in the Usambaras, thus including aspects on
conservation, ecology, systematics, forestry, agroforestry, agriculture
and sociology. In order to achieve this, it is suggested that the
production of a regular (bi-yearly?) newsletter giving information on
who's doing what, publications and report produced, visits and so on,
would help. Somebody based at Lushoto might be the most suitable
individual for setting up such a newsletter. Because publications
relating to the East Usambaras are often hard to trace or obtain,
people should submit copies of all their material to the following
organisations:
1. Library of the Oxford Forestry Institute, University of Oxford,
South Parks Rd, Oxford OXI 3RB (which also means the insertion of an
entry in Forestry Abstracts),
2. Institutions in Tanzania, including Morogoro and Lushoto, In
addition steps should be taken to set up a collection of East Usambaras
material at the Amani Library. For instance different specialists
should produce files of photocopies of particular subjects which could
be easily consulted by visitors
3 Visit to the East Usambaras, Amani region
My trips around the Amani region allowed me to make the following observations:
3.1 Kwamkoro Forest Office
The officers' situation has not changed in the past two years.
It is as if nobody realizes that their work and commitment are
essential to the present and future conservation of the forests of the
East Usambaras. They still have virtually no access to available
information on the East Usambara forests. Lately some of the Finnish
material has been sent to them, but until then the only outside
information they had received was advertising catalogues offering
mechanized logging machinery with emphasis on computerisation to reduce
operating costs! No transport has yet been made available to the
officers to monitor the 2200 ha of their Forest Reserve. FINNIDA
funding should provide this essential direct support. However, the
Forest Officer's house is due for completion soon thanks to IUCN.
Despite their isolation and lack of resources the Forest Officers were
most helpful in showing me around some of the forests and still show
very keen interest in their forests and their conservation,
3.2 Various activities carried out
During excursions to several Forest Reserves, casual
collections of fungi encountered on fallen logs was carried out. This
small collection should enable us to have a small idea of the taxonomic
diversity of the East Usambaras fungus, l group of which very little is
known at present. Small wood samples of known long-lived forest species
were gathered. An estimate of their age will be obtained, as this is an
essential piece of information in understanding forest dynamics and
predicting yields in forests managed on a long- term sustainable basis.
3.3 General observations
3.3.1 Deforestation
Widespread forest clearance has occurred over the two years
since 1987. Large areas have been cleared following land degradation
caused by cardamom cultivation leading to soil exhaustion and erosion.
A hopeful sign is that IUCN has managed to convince some villages to
maintain some of its land under forest cover, giving hope that sole
forests will survive in addition to existing Forest Reserves (F.R.).
3.3.2 Boundary planting
Old boundary plantings, demarcating Forest Reserves from public land, seem to be quite thin in some areas and include a lot of
Maesopsis which should removed.
New planting has been carried out, but apart the number of
saplings produced, there is no information available on how many metres
of boundaries have been planted and how successful establishment has
been. But it is clear that there are problems with Eucalyptus survival. The choice of species to be planted is questionable see later.
Encroachment of Forest Reserves by local farmers seems to be a
problem and seems to stem from poor boundary planting. Some farmers
have, in some areas, planted cardamon inside Forest Reserves. IUCN
approach has been to change the boundary in favour of the farmers, This
situation is rather worrying because it is illegal and it sets a
precedent for further forest encroachment. This is a new type of forest
destruction, although it is slow at present, which could get out of
hand in the future. It is ironic that such destruction appears to be
supported by IUCN.
3.3.3 Proposed Nature Reserve
It is clear that the safeguarding of the proposed Nature
Reserve will only come about with good planning and quick action. Such
a suggestion is supported by field observations. On many sides of the
Nature Reserve there are no buffer zones with agricultural land and it
has been observed that the area is now still being used as a source of
wood. On the Western side of the Amani-Sigi Forest Reserve trees up to
40cm in diameter had been cut for house pole production. At the Eastern
end of the Kwamkoro Forest Reserve (along the river Ngurue)
encroachment of the forest was noticed in the form of cardamom
cultivation. Pressure can only get worse in future.
There will also be a need for a clear demarcation between the Nature Reserve and the area set aside for sustainable forestry.
Observations support past suggestions that the natural forest is under threat from
Maesopsis invasion. For example on a ridge of the Amani-Sigi
F.R. Maesopsis were observed about every 50 m and in some old gaps up to 6 individuals were recorded.
Maesopsis is more common on the ridge than on the slopes because of higher disturbance in the past half century.
Agriculture seems to have been practiced inside the Amani-Sigi
F.R. up to the very top of the mountain. Several large clearings were
observed where no trees regenerate (vegetation mostly consists of Aframumum), and where large areas of the surrounding
forests are clearly secondary in structure (low canopy height, few
large trees, lots of Dracaena and no humus layer under canopy).
3.3.4 Logged forests
Some of the Kwamkoro F.R. logged areas and Maesopsis plantations were visited. In heavily logged forest, apart from
Maesopsis and some Trema, there is no regeneration taking place, some areas being simply large extents of
Lantana and climber tangle. In less heavily logged forest, there is plenty of
Maesopsis
but there has also been some regeneration of other tree species. In
those areas canopy closure will soon occur, but it is impossible as yet
to determine whether primary forest tree species will regenerate.
In Maesopsis plantations, nothing has happened and no
silvicultural programme to be implemented has been finalised.
Experimentation on how to convert them into hardwood forest to be
exploited on a sustainable basis should be carried out as soon as
possible. My paper, "Tree species invasion and sustainable forestry in
the East Usambaras" (co-authored with A.C. Hamilton and given at the
Morogoro workshop) could be a basis to such a programme. In the forest
where logging took place in 1986 and where some care was taken at
leaving some large trees standing, it appears that fewer Maesopsis has become established. There also far less climber-tangle (i.e.
Lantana),
Such weedy vegetation prevents regeneration, suggesting a much faster
recovery time of the forest community. Mr E. Assey (Forest Officer at
Kwamkoro) reported that Ocotea is regenerating both from suckers and seeds.
3.3.5 Conversion of Maesopsis plantations
Following the paper given at the Morogoro workshop and
discussions with the Kwamkoro Forest Officers, it was agreed that some
experimental work should be put forward and submitted to Forest
Division for approval. The aim is to find a management technique which
is environmentally sound, and which keeps casts of harvesting and
post-harvesting to a minimum. It is intended to, in conjunction with
the Forest Officers, produce proposals on this matter in the near
future. If and whenever the go ahead for the logging and conversion of
the Maesopsis plantation comes about, we will then have the necessary information to successfully implement a plan on a large scale.
To implement our proposed silvicultural method for logged forest and converted
Maesopsis
plantations, the canopy gap size will have to be kept to a minimum. For
very large trees, it might be necessary to cut some of the larger
branches or even the whole crown before felling the tree.
3.3.6 Regeneration of Cephalosphaera
It has been observed that when mother trees are left in sufficient number, there is adequate regeneration of
Cephalosphaera in not too heavily logged Maesopsis plantations and in forests where the understorey has been cleared for cardamon cultivation.
In old Maesopsis plantations (those planted in the 1960s) young
Cephalosphaera were observed under Maesopsis canopy and mature specimens were recorded nearby. It is believed that no
Cephalosphaera underplanting was carried out. It was noted that young
Cephalosphaera became established in humus-poor soil, such as under
Maesopsis,
and even on mineral soil of old logging tracks. It is not known how far
the seeds are dispersed, and therefore how many mature female trees
must be left to have extensive regeneration. However squirrels seem to
be active dispersers of Cephalosphaera, they carry the large seeds in their
mouths and only eat its outer layer, which may cause no loss of
viability. Regeneration of other hardwood species was generally not
noticeable with the exception of Tabaernamontana. In case the usual pattern of
deforestation typical of the East Usambaras (sequence of cardamom,
pitsawing, bananas, all trees killed, and annual crops, i.e. cassava)
could be halted after the end of the cardamom productive cycle there
should be little problem in getting Cephalosphaera to regenerate.
3.3.7 Pitsawing
The ban on pitsawing in some forest Reserves, particularly in
the southern part of the East Usambaras, appears to be properly
enforced. It has been noticed that when the ban was declared parts of
the logs were left behind and have yet to be sawn and removed. However
it appears that in other parts of the range, on public land for
instance, pitsawing is out of control as existing legislation is not
enforced. Forest Officers are clearly aware of the situation, some even
have vested interest in the business and this seems to be also the case
of some of their superiors. Loggers have also been cutting trees on tea
estate land which is presently a hot issue as several tea estates have
pending court cases against them.
4 IUCN/EEC
Only a few general and some specific comments will be made here.
It is impressive to see the changes which have occurred since
1987 when nothing was being done to preserve the environment and manage
resources on a sustainable basis. Now there is hope that some long-term
solutions and management strategies will be achieved. The future of
both peoples lives and forest survival depends on it, but clearly the
intended 3 year duration of the project is too short to make the system
self-perpetuating and an extension (without a break in activity) is
essential.
Despite its evident success the project is beset with problems and numerous deficiencies.
1. Its economics are appalling, with money running out all the
time, meaning that energy is put into asking for it instead of working
in the field. Also some workers actually run the project on their own
money when the funds run out. This seems to be a typical IUCN venture
as far as funding is concerned, where administrators don't seem to care
too much about the well-being of their field-workers, including their
efficiency and moral.
2. The IUCN/EEC project has yet to tackle the chief cause of
deforestation, i.e. cardamom cultivation, the major source of cash for
a large proportion of the local population. A solution to this
important problem has to be found as soon as possible, either in the
form of sustainable cardamom cultivation or alternative crops of
similar economic value must be found and promoted.
3. As mentioned earlier, the proposed forest Nature Reserve
has very poor buffering, even some encroachment and logging. IUCN
should put more emphasis on the agricultural area near the proposed
Nature Reserve, as the pressure on the forest will increase with
decreasing soil fertility, increasing soil erosion, increasing
population pressure, and chronic shortage of fuelwood and building
poles on public land. As mentioned earlier cardamom cultivation and
tree cutting are already observed. Boundaries also contain a fair
proportion of Maesopsis which is invading the forest and is a threat to rare species,
Maesopsis should be removed or at least should be coppiced before it starts producing seeds.
4. It seems that IUCN has a rather cavalier attitude towards
exotic species, particularly their invading potential and that is quite
clear as far as tree species are concerned. Worldwide it is well known
that species invasions have become one of the major threats, not only
to natural habitats but also to man-made ones. Often, introduced
species have produced short-term financial advantages, but turn out to
be catastrophes in the long-term. It has been observed that little has
been done to curb the Maesopsis invasion, and that several IUCN staff at
Amani seem to be in favour of keeping it, when other species could be
economically more valuable and not have environmentally deleterious
impacts on the ecosystem. It was noted that boundary planting is
proceeding with species such as Cedrela, which are already invading the forest. Also
there are talks about widespread introduction of species with high
reproductive potential for agroforestry purposes. Lessons from the past
in the East Usambaras and worldwide have so far bean taken very
lightly. Surely IUCN, whose major concern is to protect the environment
and favour present and future resources, should be aiming at
eradicating invaders wherever possible, or at least controlling them.
Instead it seems to favour the spread of invading species and also
introduce new ones!
5 The future
Hereafter I shall put forward a few suggestions but I wish to
stress that they are only complementary to plans made for the East
Usambaras by Forest Division, IUCN, Silvestria and Finmap with funding
from FINNIDA and NORAD. The following points I feel need particular
emphasis and complementary suggestions.
1. Need for further cooperation. There is clearly a
lack of cooperation between IUCN, Forest Division and the Dept of
Agriculture as well as other Aid organisations. Lots of promises are
lade, but in reality little is being achieved. For instance there has
been very little Finnish involvement in the East Usambaras in terms of
financial aid or projects since the management plan was completed. It
is not entirely clear why it is the case, since FINNIDA have declared
themselves willing to support the implementation of the plan. The IUCN
Nairobi office appears ambivalent about the plan and the full- scale
involvement of FINNIDA, yet anybody interested in forest conservation
should welcome such a change in attitude. A Forest Division project to
carry out the full management plan, complementing the continuing IUCN
project, could attract funding from FINNIDA.
2. Buffer zone. The need to set up buffer zones between
the proposed Nature Reserve and agricultural land will include the
matter of compensatory payments to farmers and is a critical issue.
Such compensation can only be feasible with an input of foreign money.
Around Forest Reserves and particularly the Nature Reserve special
attention should be paid to the local population's wood supply both in
terms of fuel and building poles as to relieve pressure on the forests.
3. Development of tourism. Tourism in the Amani region
has good potential, and could have positive effects on both biological
conservation and the local economy. This is the case because the region
has several kinds of resources within a small area with great
attractiveness and ease of use. They are:
Botanic Garden. Linked with its rehabilitation emphasis
on fruit trees could be a place including tasting for tourists.
Epiphytic orchids and other local flowering plants could also be
attractive. A collection of native trees and shrubs should be made.
Saintpaulia. Being a very popular house plant,
this would draw a large number of visitors. However several conditions
must be fulfilled. The various species of Saintpaulia must be preserved, both in the wild and
in the Botanic Garden. Using natural rocks a collection of the
different species should be set up within the Botanic Garden. To
protect the various species in their natural habitats, the few areas
where Saintpaulia occurs should be located, the
involvement of Forest Officers is to be considered. Further steps
should be taken to protect and possibly maintain the sites (for
instance the site in the Maesopsis plantation at Kwamkoro could easily be
wiped out). There is need for further information on the ecology of the
different species.
Nature Reserve. Some virgin forest safaris could be set
up. These are currently being advertised in the USA for Central America
and are bound to become more popular. The fact that the Amani-Sigi and
Kwamkoro area contain the tallest African tropical trees makes the
place most attractive. The designation of the Nature Reserve as a
Biosphere Reserve under the UNESCO Man and Biosphere programme would
further highlight its importance.
Frogs. A well-known diversity with easy access.
Library. This is an important resource because Amani is
a perfect spot for reading and is an essential back up for people
interested in natural history. To be attractive the library needs to
have relevant books, and files dealing with the various aspects of
interest (i.e. Saintpaulia, flowering plants, birds, history, etc ...), and such files should contain photocopies (bound) unless originals are available.
Other aspects of tourism don't have to be expanded upon as
they are pretty well known. These include good climate, scenery, easy
access to the sea and also sole interesting historical value. These
aspects will need little further development.
Perhaps even more potential lies with the educational tourism
for undergraduates (usually from the USA), who pay to come as a group
and study the forests, conduct small research projects, etc. This is a
growing field and Amani, with the development of a good research
station, has a fair potential for it.
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