The Nguu Mountains are a mountain range in Tanga Region of Tanzania . The Nguu Mountains are part of the Eastern Arc Mountains . The mountains are covered in woodland, grassland, and forest.
26-523: The Nguu Mountains are a dissected range covering area of 1591 km. The highest elevation is 1550 meters. The range lies in the watershed of the Wami River and its tributaries. The Nguru Mountains lie to the south, across an expanse of hilly country. The Maasai Steppe lies to the north and west. The Nguru mountains intercept moisture-laden winds from the Indian Ocean, which provide most of
52-409: A hot, tropical climate with a wet summer from November to March and a long winter drought. The woodlands are vulnerable to fire, particularly at the start of the summer. The predominant tree is miombo ( Brachystegia spp.), along with Baikiaea woodland. Despite the low rainfall and relatively nutrient-poor soil the woodland is home to many species. The miombo and other vegetation in and around
78-558: A large portion of the ecoregion is covered by Selous Game Reserve , the largest protected area in Africa. There are areas of Eastern Miombo woodland in Tanzania south of Selous, in the regions of Ruvuma and Lindi . In Mozambique the region is contained within the sparsely populated Niassa and the inland areas of Cabo Delgado , Nampula and Zambezia . 32.3% of the ecoregion is in protected areas. Selous Game Reserve (44,000 km )
104-524: Is a major element of conservation in this ecoregion, along with Ruaha National Park (14506.7 km ), Niassa Reserve (42,000 km ), and other national parks in Mozambique which suffered during the civil war and are in a state of reconstruction. Smaller protected areas lying mostly within the ecoregion include Mikumi National Park (3233.88 km ) in Tanzania and Gilé National Reserve (2100 km ) in Mozambique. Even outside protected areas
130-658: Is a river located in Pwani Region , Tanzania . The headwaters of the Wami and its tributaries originate in the Eastern Arc Mountains of Morogoro Region . The river then flows northeastward through of Pwani Region to empty into the Indian Ocean west of Zanzibar Island. The Wami drains a catchment of 43,946 km². The catchment extends through four ecological regions. Coastal forests extend along
156-531: Is located on the East African Plateau , extending from inland south-eastern Tanzania to cover the northern half of Mozambique, with small areas in neighbouring Malawi . They are a section of the belt of miombo woodland that crosses Africa south of the Congo rain forests and the savannas of East Africa. The ecoregion covers an area of 483,900 square kilometers (186,800 sq mi). It is bounded by
182-502: Is mysteriously absent from the Eastern Miombo woodlands, and the long dry season and poor soils do not support the large herds of herbivores found further north in Tanzania. Large carnivores in the region include lion ( Panthera leo ), leopard ( Panthera pardus ), cheetah ( Acinonyx jubatus ), spotted hyena ( Crocuta crocuta ) and side-striped jackal ( Canis adustus ). The African wild dog ( Lycaon pictus ) population of
208-541: Is the N'hambita Community Carbon Project in the Sofala Province of Mozambique. This was developed as a result of the increasing concern about global climate change, and the recent evolution of carbon markets, paired with a need for poverty reduction and alternative livelihoods where rural communities lack the resources to prevent environmental degradation. These carbon markets are part of the ' Payments for Ecosystem services ' (PES) system and in this case finance from
234-667: Is the dominant tree, with Albizia gummifera and other species. An analysis of satellite images taken between 1999 and 2003 found 188 km of the mountains were still covered in evergreen forest. The mountains have several Catchment Forest Reserves which preserve lowland and submontane forests: Derema CFR (3,928 ha), Kilindi CFR (4,299 ha), Kwediboma CFR (285 ha), Mbwegere CFR (368 ha), Mkongo CFR (985 ha), Mkuli CFR (2,931 ha), Nguru North CFR (14,042 ha), Pumila CFR (1,062 ha) and Rudewa CFR (556 ha). 5°33′15″S 37°28′20″E / 5.55417°S 37.47222°E / -5.55417; 37.47222 Wami River The Wami River
260-677: The Northern and Southern Zanzibar-Inhambane coastal forest mosaic to the east along the Indian Ocean , and by the Zambezian and mopane woodlands in the Zambezi lowlands to the southwest, and by Lake Malawi to the west. To the north and northwest, the forested Eastern Arc Mountains separate the eastern miombo woodlands from the Southern Acacia-Commiphora bushlands and thickets of central Tanzania. The region has
286-518: The Indian Ocean coast. Further inland, woodlands and seasonally-flooded grasslands cover the plains of the central catchment. These plains are bounded on the northwest by the Rubeho , Ukakuru , Nguru , and Nguu mountains, some of the Eastern Arc ranges. The Eastern Arc Mountains intercept moisture-laden winds from the Indian Ocean, and receive more rainfall than the surrounding lowlands. Most of
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#1732787060692312-505: The Selous Game Reserve is the largest known population on the continent The region is also rich in bird life, including the near-endemic Stierling's woodpecker as well as other species like vultures , fish eagle , kingfisher , yellow billed stork and plover . Reptiles include common crocodiles while the endemics are the two sub-species of the spotted flat lizard , and the chameleon Chamaeleon tornieri (although
338-538: The area was covered by extensive rainforest . During a cooler and drier period some ten million years ago, the lowland forests were converted to savanna , leaving the mountain ranges as "islands" where the tropical forests continued to flourish. The long-term persistence of a humid climate and the isolation of each mountain range has led to a great deal of endemism , and a very diverse flora and fauna. The Nguu and other Eastern Arc mountains have extremely high biodiversity with numerous endemic species (more than 25 percent of
364-405: The eastern portion of the mountains, although many have been cleared for cultivation. They have a flora similar to the humid Zanzibar–Inhambane coastal forests further east, with Milicia excelsa and Khaya anthotheca as dominant trees. The forests from 1000 to 1500 meters elevation are principally evergreen submontane forests, with characteristic Afromontane species. Newtonia buchananii
390-425: The others in the Eastern Arc, are made up of ancient crystalline Precambrian rocks that were uplifted over millions of years along fault lines. The most recent period of uplift started 30 million years ago, but the fault system and uplift process may be far older. Soils derived from these ancient rocks are not as fertile as the younger volcanic soils of mountains to the north and west. About thirty million years ago,
416-592: The project. The Plan Vivo System is used, which was pioneered, and has run successfully in Mexico for over 10 years in the Scolel Te project. Plan Vivo projects are registered and reviewed under standards developed by the Plan Vivo Foundation. Producers who sign up to the scheme must agree to manage their land according to their plan vivo , a long term land management plan evaluated and registered by
442-467: The rainfall in the mountains. Most of the rainfall occurs in the November-to-May wet season, although mist and light rain occur at higher elevations during the dry season months. Rainfall is higher on the southern and eastern slopes, and lower in the mountains' rain shadow to the north and west. Temperatures are cooler and rainfall is higher at higher elevations. The Nguu Mountains, along with
468-409: The rainfall occurs in the November-to-May wet season, although mist and light rain occur at higher elevations during the dry season months. The mountains' windward eastern and southern faces receive more rainfall the northern and western slopes. These rains sustain montane forests as well as the Wami's tributary rivers and streams. The Eastern Arc forests are important to both sustaining and moderating
494-629: The region have historically a variety of food and cover for several miombo specialist endemic bird and lizard species as well as more widespread mammals including herds of African elephant (Loxodonta africana) , giraffe , Burchell's zebra (Equus burchelli) , wildebeest (Connochaetes taurinus) and hippopotamus (Hippopotamus amphibius) and antelopes including greater kudu (Tragelaphus strepsiceros) , eland (Taurotragus oryx) , impala (Aepyceros melampus) , Roosevelt sable antelope (Hippotragus niger) and Lichtenstein's hartebeest (Sigmoceros lichtensteinii) (Campbell 1996). The roan antelope
520-464: The river Wami hydrological station of Mandera (in m³ / s ) (Calculated using the data for a period of 30 years, 1954–84) Eastern miombo woodlands The Eastern miombo woodlands (AT0706) are an ecoregion of grassland and woodland in northern Mozambique , southern Tanzania , and southeastern Malawi . These species-rich savanna ecosystems cover wide areas of gentle hills and low valleys containing rivers and dambo wetlands. The region
546-612: The rivers' flow. The seasonal Kinyasangwe River extends west of the Eastern Arc mountains to Dodoma , draining the southern portion of the semi-arid Maasai Steppe , which is in the rain shadow of the Eastern Arc Mountains. Only after leaving the Mkata River basin on the northern edge of the Mikumi National Park is its name Wami. Due to deforestation and climatic changes in the region
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#1732787060692572-676: The runoff decreased. Near its mouth the Wami River forms the southern border of the Saadani National Park , the only coastal national park in Tanzania. The river flow observed over 30 years (1954–84) in Mandera a town about 50 km above the mouth. The at Mandera observed average annual flow during this period was 60.6 m³ / s fed by an area of about 82% of the total catchment area of the River. The average monthly flow of
598-747: The sale of carbon offsets is used to incentivise and sustain activities which increase carbon sequestration and protect existing carbon stocks in forests. The N'hambita project was launched in 2003 as a collaboration between the environmental company Envirotrade Ltd. and the University of Edinburgh . To date (Jan 2009) the project has engaged 1350 farmers or 'producer's in agroforestry and woodland restoration and conservation activities. Those involved have benefited from staged payments, continued technical support and have been encouraged to become involved in other micro-finance initiatives, such as beekeeping and carpentry, using miombo tree species planted within
624-519: The validity of this last species classification has been questioned). The ecoregion is thinly populated by humans, partly due to tsetse fly and the Mozambique Civil War , but the miombo woodlands are important to the livelihoods of the rural people, who depend on the resources available from the woodland. The wide variety of species provides non-timber products such as fruits, honey, fodder for livestock and fuelwood. In Tanzania however
650-493: The vertebrate species). The Nguu mountains mark the northernmost extent of the Eastern miombo woodlands . Drier Northern Acacia–Commiphora bushlands and thickets lie to the north and west. The mountains support enclaves of forest, mostly between 1000 and 1550 meters elevation. The forests vary in species composition with elevation and the direction of the slope. Pockets of lowland forest are found below 1000 meters elevation in
676-636: The woodlands have remained comparatively intact due to the sparse human population. However the woodlands are being slowly cleared for farmland and pasture throughout. There is little commercial logging except for the African blackwood ( Dalbergia melanoxylon ), whose timber is highly valuable. Poaching of elephant and rhino are a threat, especially in Mozambique. Many areas of miombo woodland are still managed in traditional ways, with slash and burn farming systems dominating, but in some areas alternative land management practices are being promoted. One such example
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