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Spotted Ground Thrush Breeds on the Rondo Plateau (Holsten et al. 1991) and should be searched for on the Noto Plateau.

East Coast Akalat A locally common resident of the forest interior on the Rondo Plateau and at Litipo and Chitoa. Probably referable to the nominate race from coastal Mocambique rather than S. g. sokokensis from north of the Rufji River.

Southern-banded Snake Eagle A low density but widespread species throughout the district, often seen well away from forest habitats.

Plain-backed Sunbird The nominate race is locally common in coastal thicket and forest.

Reichenow’s Batis Known from only very few coastal forests in which it is quite common.

Rondo Green Barbet If future molecular work confirms this population warrants full specific status then these forests will become a full Endemic Bird Area.

East African Coast 20 species (74%) out of a country total of 27.

Other threatened / endemic wildlife

Many of these forests are still seasonally utilised by populations of Elephant, even the north end of Litipo FR held a small herd as recently as February 1996. Most coastal forests contain endemic plants and rare and localised populations of small mammals, amphibians, reptiles and probably many thousands of invertebrates. Clark (1995) lists known values for 6 coastal forests in Lindi Region. Burgess et al. (1998) summarise the biogeographical importance of this area. There are at least 100 endemic plants in the area (N.D. Burgess pers. comm.).

Conservation issues

During the 1950’s the Steel Brothers, a British timber company, removed up to 9,000 cubic metres of Mvule Melicea excelsa per annum from the natural forest of the Rondo Plateau. There was no naturally occurring water on the plateau and therefore very few people. Other forests would have been exploited even earlier but at least their integrity was maintained until well into the 1980’s. As the philosophy of Ujama (collective villages) has unwound people have begun drifting back into the bush in search of "new" land. This has brought them within daily reach of many forest reserves that were previously too far away to disturb on a regular basis. The pressure is now on and long term solutions must be found to prevent the ever accelerating levels of degradation these forests now face.

The problems affecting each forest will vary but will inevitably follow a similar pattern of over exploitation as the natural habitat and soils outside them become unproductive. Erikson et al. (1993) detail conservation concerns for Rondo, Litipo and Chitoa forest reserves.

Recommendations

Multidisciplinary surveys are required of all unvisited forests in Lindi District. Concentrated effort would result in the discovery of many life forms presently unknown to science.

After twenty years of travelling throughout Tanzania in search of birds and their habitats we have seen many depressing sights. Certainly more than enough to realise that the rate of habitat degradation we are witnessing signals the end of planet earth as we and our forbears have known it. One of the very few bright moments was walking into the plantation of Mvule on the Rondo Plateau on a wet February morning. The sights, sounds and smells were of a rich tropical coastal forest. Perhaps here was one of the answers we were searching for.

There are no short term answers, we must look for long term ones and all of them evolve around protection of water supplies and growing trees. No water, no life, it really is as simple as that. We need to grow trees to protect water sources but we also need to grow trees for fuel, timber, shelter, fodder, medicine and as an export crop with a high local labour content. Not simply raw material for someone else’s factories.

The Mvule plantation on the Rondo Plateau was planted in 1957, not a single tree as been grown since then. The commercial name for Mvule in the developed world is Iroko, taken from its West African name. This is a highly valued timber, in effect green gold, and totally renewable. The problem is really rather simple, the development of Tanzania since independence has been driven by the world’s aid agencies and these seem incapable of developing long term projects. Tropical hardwoods are a long term crop. If even a small part of the aid flowing into Tanzania since 1963 had gone into indigenous hardwood plantations Tanzania would now be reaping the considerable benefits. It may well be too late but it is certainly worth a try. Not just a few hundred hectares as on the Rondo but many hundreds of thousands of hectares throughout the coastal belt. Mvule grows well up to an altitude of 1200m but at these higher elevations the growth is too slow for commercial purposes. In the coastal lowlands the first thinnings would provide useful timber (and significant local employment) at 15 to 20 years, a second thinning at 40 years and a final cut at 60 years would turn some of the most valuable timber in the world into highly prized furniture for export.

However, the real prize would be the long term protection of biological richness within Tanzania’s coastal forests and a renewable resource for the Tanzanians of the future.

Funding such a huge long term effort without financial returns for the first 40 years is well beyond the resources available to developing nations. However, if multilateral lending agencies combined with corporate bodies seeking to offset CO2 emissions there can be no doubts that such funds are available.

Bagger, J., Halberg, K. and Nnyiti, P.Y. 1990. Observations of birds in Rondo and Litipo forests, south east Tanzania. Danish-Tanzania ICBP Expedition Report. Zoologisk Museum. University of Copenhagen. Copenhagen.

Burgess, N.D., Clarke, G.P. and Rodgers, W.A. 1998. Coastal forests of eastern Africa: status, endemisim patterns and their potential cause. Biological Journal of the Linnean Society 64: 337-367.

Clarke, G.P. 1995. Status Reports for 6 Coastal Forests in Lindi Region, Tanzania. Frontier-Tanzania Technical Report No. 18, The Society for Environmental Exploration, U.K. / The University of Dar es Salaam, Tanzania.

Eriksen, T., Halberg, K. and Petersen, F.S. 1993. A proposal for a Conservation Initative for Rondo, Litipo and Chitoa forests, Lindi District, Tanzania. Danish Ornithological Society. Copenhagen.

Eriksen, T., Halberg, K., Lehmberg, T. and Petersen, F.S. 1994. A survey of Bird Life in five coastal forests of south-eastern Tanzania, 1993. Danish Ornithological Society. Copenhagen.

Faldborg, J., Halberg, K., Brammer, F. and Eriksen, T. 1991. Observations of Birds and Mammalas in six coastal forests of Tanzania. Preliminary Report of the Danish ICBP Expedition 1990. Zoologisk Institut, University of Copenhagen, Copenhagen.

Fottland, H. 1996. Tanzania Forest Reserves, Status 1996. Catchment Forestry Report 96.8. Division of Forestry and Beekeeping. Dar es Salaam.

Holsten, B., Braunlich,A. and Huxham, M. 1991. Rondo Forest Reserve, Tanzania: an ornithological note including new rescords of the East Coast Akalat Sheppardia gunningi, the Spotted Ground Thrush Turdus fischeri, and the Rondo Green Barbet Stactolaema olivacea woodwardii. Scopus 14(2): 125-128.

There is an extensive bibliography in Clarke (1995) that lists 139 references, many related to forests in Lindi Region.