Eastern Arc Mountains and Coastal Forests of Tanzania and Kenya ...

The major social trend in both countries is urbanization. Africa’s cities are growing faster withlower economic growth than any other region of the world (USAID 2000). Between 1975 and2000, the percentage of the population living in urban areas in Tanzania increased from 15percent to 25 percent (Mariki et al. 2003). In Kenya this percentage was estimated at 33 percentin 2000 and is projected to reach 48 percent in 2020 (USAID 2000). The population of Nairobihas grown by 600 percent since 1950 and is currently around 4.5 million although it wasoriginally designed for a population of 1 million (USAID 2000). Poor immigrants to the city areforced to live in slum areas, where there is little sanitation or fresh water and where rents areabsurdly high for the quality of accommodation that is provided. The fact that urbanisation isnonetheless proceeding at such a high rate indicates that people (particularly the youngergeneration) see little future for themselves in the rural areas. A major social consequence ofurbanisation is the weakening of traditional customs and obligations, including those associatedwith the extended family. City life also leads to later marriages and less traditional lifestylesamong the youth.Religion is extremely important in the lives of both urban and rural Kenyans and Tanzanians. InTanzania 45 percent are Muslims and 45 percent are Christians, with 10 percent havingindigenous beliefs. In Kenya, the majority (40 percent) are Protestant, 30 percent are Catholic, 20percent are Muslim and an estimated 10 percent hold indigenous beliefs (USAID 2002a, b). Inboth countries the proportion of Muslims is much higher on the coast. Even in recent times, therehas been tolerance between faiths and the few religious clashes that are reported arise from intradenominationalstruggles.Both Kenya and Tanzania are ethnically diverse with more than 120 different local languages inTanzania and more than 40 in Kenya (USAID 2002a, b). Ethnic differences have played a largerole in Kenyan political and economic alliances, but this has not been the case in Tanzania. Thisis mainly because of a more even spread of ethnic origins in Tanzania, which prevented any onetribe from dominating national affairs. In both countries, ethnic differences are less important tothe younger than the older generations. The official language is Kiswahili in Tanzania andEnglish in Kenya, but both languages are widely understood in both countries. In Kenya,Kiswahili is the predominant language of the coast. Literacy rates for the official languages are67 percent (Tanzania) and 59 percent (Kenya) (USAIDa, b).SYNOPSIS OF CURRENT THREATSThe overriding problem facing the Eastern Arc Mountains and Coastal Forests hotspot isdegradation, fragmentation and loss of the only remaining habitat for many known (andunknown) globally threatened species. This is the result of many factors, such as growing humanpopulation exerting pressure on forest resources and land; poverty leading to unsustainable useof forest resources; under-resourced government institutions; a legacy of outdated environmentalpolicies and legislation; and lack of political will. The hotspot is dominated by a large andexpanding economically impoverished human population. Despite the high biologicalimportance, legal protection for important areas in the hotspot is either weak, lacking altogetheror poorly enforced. Most sites lack strategic management and action plans. On the positive side,these problems are widely recognized and various initiatives (including institutional, policy andlegislative reforms) have been launched to address them.38