Safe Haven

More than 1000 species unique to an area slightly larger than Rhode Island in the Eastern Arc Mountains of Tanzania and Kenya have been document, two new studies suggest.

This remaining habitat in the Eastern Arcs has the highest concentration of endemic animals in Africa and is increasingly endangered by complex threats.

"The wild areas of the Eastern Arc Mountains are pockets of Eden--the last remaining safe havens for over 1000 plants and animals found nowhere else on Earth and some with ancient lineages stretching back in time over millions of years," said lead author of the two studies, Neil Burgess from World Wildlife Fund and University of Cambridge. "Side by side, these species and their human neighbors struggle for survival as more and more people need more and more farmland for food."

One study found that the Eastern Arc Mountains are exceptionally important for conservation because at least 96 animals, 832 plants and hundreds of invertebrates--including 43 butterflies--live only there and nowhere else on earth. Another 71 animals are found only within a limited range including these mountains and nearby areas.

A further 15 new animals have recently been found that are still in the process of being described by scientists including several new chameleons. Over the next two years, surveys will continue and new discoveries are expected in remote and poorly known areas.

The same conditions that give life to these plants and animals support a dense and growing human population in one of the poorest countries in the world, according to the second study. With most local people dependent on agriculture, inefficient farming methods and a growing need for food lead to farmland expansion, sometimes across the boundaries and into existing reserves.

Effective conservation in the Eastern Arc Mountains requires finding solutions to the livelihood needs of these poor, rural populations and sufficient funds to establish and adequately manage a network of protected areas.

---LiveScience Staff

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Credit: Burgess/WWF