Where ten years ago an intact forest stood proud, today there may be bare land, not always useful even for farming. Forests, as classically perceived, are found only in the mountainous areas of Tanzania. These are the moist montane forests of the Eastern Arc, famed for their biodiversity and representing one of the world s 25 identified hot-spots of threatened concentrations of biodiversity and endemism. However, ninety-five percent of Tanzania s forest resource is dry woodland, and mainly of the miombo class. Although this is a lower canopy and less dense forest type, it too is invaluable, known throughout the southern third of Africa for its multitude of wood and non-wood products and other services, including pasture for livestock and a main habitat for wildlife.
Woodlands also are critical for water catchment.
In Tanzania, this is particularly clear where woodland exists in hilly zones. People settle and farm lower areas, and depend upon the streams that originate from springs rising in the wooded hills above them. Time after time, villagers experience the same losses when these woodlands lose quality or are cleared. Not only do forest products, pasture and wildlife habitat diminish, the springs dry up and remarkably quickly. With the rainy season, floods tear down bare hills, bringing soils with them.