By Viola Clausnitzer: Mahale Mountains
The Eastern Arcs have many endemic species, but these are mainly old endemics (at least for dragonflies), who have been conserved in the old and very stable environment. The Albertine Rift is younger then the Eastern Arcs and hence does not have so many old endemics, but hosts
1) still a high number of new endemics and
2) has a high diversity because of the merging point of the Congo Basin
and the Victoria Basin. I doubt, that the biodiversity (in terms of
species numbers) is in general higher in the Eastern Arcs compared
to the Albertine Rift (at least definitely not for dragonflies - e.g. total number of dragonflies known from Uganda is 233 and of
Tanzania is 183 - a survey in Mahale will increase the number for Tanzania, a survey in the Eastern Arcs not or only little).
One point we need to discuss is the accessibility of the area (this is also a matter for Klaus). I do not understand, whether a lot of money should be spend for an area, for which 1) a lot of information is already available and 2) a lot of other donors and agencies are already busy. I think it should be more "sexy" for EDIT to start in new areas, which cannot be easily done in other ways. But maybe I am entirely mistaken.
Best wishes, Viola
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By Patricia Mergen
Dear Erik
Thanks for this very valuable information.
If it turns out that Tanzania is getting too expensive, would it be possible to have similar practical information about Kenya so that we can evaluate several options concerning feasibility and costs ?
I had a closer look this WE at the report on the Biodiversity Project on Taita hills and went through some recent publications of the Journal of East African Natural History published by the East African Natural History Society and the National Museum of Kenya with the assistance of the Africamuseum in Belgium. Several scientists have been trained to multidisciplinary Biodiversity Assessments at the Zoology Department of the Kenyatta University and at the Centre for Biodiversity of NMK during the Tatia Hill project and collaboration is ongoing. So this is an option we may not want to neglect for narrowing a site within the Eastern Arc option
Patricia
By Erik Verheijen
Dear all,
Concerning the research permits: indeed projects cannot operate without ALL necessary permits for any site in Tanzania (COSTECH, TAWIRI, TANAPA). My own recent experience with TAFIRI shows that you may in addtion need to negociate a MoU, a process that can take a while (3-6 months) without any guarantee of success.
In addition, getting the research clearance and the residence permits requires the presence of all participants, and this can take up to weeks in some cases. All that time you are not allowed to travel to your destination and you are essentially stuck in Dar. In any case it is vital to have either a very reliable local counterpart who is willing to do whatever he/she can to minimize the chances of being stuck with a whole team in Dar for a unnecessarily long time. Another strategy is tto send someone ahead to submit and guide the joint application in COSTECH and elsewhere (TAWIRI, admittedly, very expensive, I will check with colleague with projects on terrestrial faunas there if there is really no alternative strategy to apply for valid research permits).
On Mahale as a site: getting there is indeed more problematic than one might think. I know from people who occasionally use this way to travel to Kigoma (indeed only about 300 euro) that its schedule is rather unpredictable. Besides that, it is not a big plane, travelling with a big party can be problematical (there are always other people who urgently need to be on the same plane). The best alternative, the train (Dar-Kigoma) is not always on time either, and delays can be uncomfortably long (last year I have been stuck on a comparable train (traject Dar-Lusaka) for well over 24 hours).
Best wishes
Erik
By Viola Clausnitzer: Mahale Mountains
Dear all,
It is also time to introduce myself in the inspirating discussions.
working for the last 10 years mainly on taxonomy/phylogena of afrotropical Galerucinae (leaf beetles), the "usual" hot spots of diversity turned out along the Albertine Rift, Eastern Arc forests and isolated montains in East Africa (in this direction from more to "less" diverse, see also attached paper). Mahale might be the hottest spot, and studies there might be most exting in terms of species number and new species, but the other sites in discussion might be also worth to get more intensively studied.
Unfortunately, I cannot attend to the workshop in two weeks (will be in Rwanda), but I have sent some pp-pages to Viola, and she will present these.
Bets wishes
Thomas
By Viola Clausnitzer
Dear all,
I wonder whether Mahale is really that remote. You will need to take a flight from Dar to Kigoma (around 300 Euro) and a ferry from Kigoma to near Mahale (25 USD), where a TANAPA boat will pick the people up. All other sites need a journey by car, which is even more expensive (if cars are hired) and also time consuming.
As this project cannot opperate without ALL necessary permits for any site in Tanzania (COSTECH, TAWIRI, TANAPA) this problem will be the same for every site. Park fees are not due anymore with this permits.
I am copying this mail to Marry Seddon as well, who has done a lot of Mollusc surveys all over Tanzania.
Best wishes,
Viola