Northern Zanzibar–Inhambane coastal forest mosaic

Northern Zanzibar–Inhambane coastal forest mosaic, also known as the Northern Swahili coastal forests and woodlands, is a tropical moist broadleaf forest ecoregion of coastal East Africa. The ecoregion includes a variety of habitats, including forest, savanna and swamps.
The ecoregion extends along the East African coast from southern Somalia through Kenya to the Lukuledi River in Tanzania, which forms its southern boundary. It also encompasses the Zanzibar Archipelago, including Unguja (Zanzibar), Pemba, and the surrounding smaller islands.
The ecoregion is bounded on the east by the Indian Ocean. It transitions to drier open woodlands and shrublands to the north and west: the Somali Acacia–Commiphora bushlands and thickets in the north, the Northern Acacia–Commiphora bushlands and thickets and Southern Acacia–Commiphora bushlands and thickets west of the central portion, and the Eastern miombo woodlands to the southwest. To the south, it borders the Southern Zanzibar–Inhambane coastal forest mosaic across the Lukuledi River.
The coastal forest mosaic is made up of several different forest and woodland types, including:
About 3000 plant species are native to the Zanzibar–Inhambane region. Several hundred are endemic.
190 forest tree species are recorded in the region, of which 92 are endemic. 25% of forest species are shared with the Guineo-Congolian region of central and western Africa, 15.3% with the subtropical Maputaland coastal forest mosaic to the south, 4.7% with Madagascar, and 3.7% with the highland Afromontane region. Endemic genera include the monotypic Brochoneura and Grandidiera. The genera Ludia, Stuhlmannia, and Bivinia are native to the Zanzibar–Inhambane forests and to Madagascar. The genera Hirtella and Hymenaea are native to the Zanzibar-Inhambane region and to the tropical Americas, and are not found elsewhere in Africa.
The ecoregion is home to ten endemic species of birds. Four are restricted to the island of Pemba – the Pemba green pigeon (Treron pembaensis), Pemba sunbird (Cinnyris pembae), Pemba white-eye (Zosterops vaughani), and Pemba scops owl (Otus pembaensis). The remaining six are found on the mainland. The Tana River cisticola (Cisticola restrictus) is found in the lower Tana River of Kenya. Four endemic species are found in mainland coastal forest remnants – the little yellow flycatcher (Erythrocercus holochlorus), Sokoke pipit (Anthus sokokensis), Clarke's weaver (Ploceus golandi), and Mombasa woodpecker (Campethera mombassica). The Malindi pipit (Anthus melindae) is endemic to the coastal grasslands in Kenya. The ecoregion corresponds to the East African coastal forests endemic bird area.
18.4% of the ecoregion is in protected areas. The VECEA team estimated that 7.9% of the 88,640 km of coastal mosaic in Kenya and Tanzania is within protected areas explicitly designated for biodiversity, species, or landscape protection (IUCN protected area categories I through IV), and 14.8% is in areas designated for both protection and sustainable human use (IUCN protected area categories V and VI).
Protected areas within the ecoregion include Arabuko Sokoke Forest Reserve and National Park, Arawale National Reserve, Boni National Reserve, Dodori National Reserve, and Shimba Hills National Reserve in Kenya, and Jozani-Chwaka Bay National Park, Saadani National Park, Mafia Island Marine Park, part of Udzungwa Mountains National Park, and the eastern portion of Selous Game Reserve in Tanzania.