More on the Pare Mountains from Jim Lovett

Eastern Arc Mountains Forests and Fauna

(Endemic = native to an area, and to be found in just/only that area,
or something like that.)

In the Eastern Arc Mountains, a great percentage – maybe 50% - of the
plant species and a much lesser percentage of the fauna are considered
to be endemic. In particular the African violet is considered to be
indigenous to just this area. Endemics are to be found in all of the
habitats; rocks, heathland, grasslands, forests and the wetlands.
The endemism includes mammals, birds, amphibians, butterflies and
reptiles. Some of these species have very small distributions, i.e.
are confined to extremely localised areas. Most of the endangered
species are not only forest dependent; they are dependent on the
primary forest which itself is under great pressure, having suffered
extensive clearance for agriculture, cooking and house building – the
building bricks in the Pare mountains are fired on site, ingenious.
These species would appear to be connected to both Madagascar and West
Africa, the biodiversity having developed with their long period of
isolation. Rather in the same way that has been observed in the
Galapagos islands.

Now…  in the same way that the vast number of water bodies in Ireland
led to considerable flooding since there was no overall control and
subsequently no one to actually dig a ditch. The same problem is
occurring here with regard to forest management, or should I say
multiple management. There’s the national park department, the
national monument department, the forest department and many more...
and then there’s a local dimension to all this also with county
councils and the local council all firing up new policies and pulling
at each other, the very same as we find at home in Ireland. Meanwhile
the burning continues and the forests diminish. Same as it ever was.