The conservation of the forest resources of eastern Africa: past influences, present practices and future needs - Biogeography and Ecology of the Rain Forests of Eastern Africa - page 313

sidered, muli-species and muli-age plantaions
of natural species should be attempted. Gaps in
forest cover, giving grass and shrub communiies,
may have a major importance for wildlife and pat-
tens of species diversity. The Ngorongoro
mountain forests for example have major
elephant, rhino, buffalo and bushbuck popula-
ions dependent on the frequent grassy clearings.
Unless there is some compelling reason to create
tree cover (fire pressure, erosion, major catch-
ment) then gaps should be maintained. Monitor-
ing, however, should ensure that gaps are not
spreading.
In the long term, species reinroducion could
be considered, for example Polyceratocapus
(Annonaceae) to the East Usambaras where it has
not been collected for years, from the Uzungwas,
where it has recently been discovered. Examples
could be considered for animal species as well.

peripheral buffers or village woodlots. Ecologi-
cally oriented sustainable development or
'ecodevelopment' pracices to improve agri-
cultural produciviy at village level will reduce
land pressure in the long run. Agro-forestry, stall
feeding, improved crop varieies, etc. are all major
possibiliies. Educaion remains the key behind all
these proposals and educaional programmes
should be carefully designed at communiy level,
appealing to schoolchildren, women, and elders of
each tribal unit. These ideas were elaborated in a
demonsraion conservaion proposal now being
implemented by IUCN/EEC in the East Usam-
baras (Wardell, 1990) and elsewhere in Tanzania.
These are discussed in a later secion.
A second set of indirect inputs is into the
development of indusrial hardwood plantaions
to remove pressure on the limited natural forest
areas. This policy is slowly being introduced in
Tanga Region, where teak is being promoted as
an altenaive to Usambara imber, and in the
Kilombero valley of Morogoro Region. Tanzania
teak has a ready export market to India, provides a
valuable saw and peeler log and the thinnings
serve as poles.

Buer zone, peple, education and politis

Bufe s or people
Conservaion oriented forest management cannot
stop at the edge of the Forest Reserve; indeed, the
most pressing and difficult task ahead is to take
management acions and benefits to the people
outside the core conservaion areas. Sumardja
(1984), wriing of Indonesia, states: 'how to com-
bine goals of nature conservaion with the
material needs of the people, especially those
adjacent to the reserve is the biggest quesion
mark for managers.' People's interests and
objecives of reserves must be brought closer
together, and this can only be done in a well-
managed buffer zone separaing core resources
from settlement.
This of course is a key component of the 'Man
and Biosphere' (MAB) programme of UNESCO,
where

Forest restoration
The restoraion of degraded forest land may be an
important component of conservaion pracice.
Whilst such land may take centuries to redevelop
even a part of past levels of diversity, such restora-
ion will have many more immediate values, such
as improved catchment capability and soil
stabilisaion. Reafforested or restored land can act
as corridors for geneic ransfer and parial habitat
for many forest species. The new forest resources
will allow some form of resource availabiliy for
local villagers, alleviaing pressure on more
important natural forests.
Reafforestaion measures can create fire bar-
riers or, by removing grasslands, reduce fire risk.
Village plantaions will keep human populaions
out of the natural forest, a policy used to good
effect on the periphery of the Nyungwe Forest in
South Rwanda. Whether gaps in natural forest
should be planted is more debatable; if natural
regeneraion can cope, then arificial planing
should be avoided. Exoics should not be con-

Protected areas should be seen as part of an
integrated system of acion for environmental
care in a region. They should not be isolated
islands. Mutual linkages between peoples &
resources must be recognized and taken into
account. The buffer zone is a major tool of such
a system.

(Thelen & Child, 1984)