APPENDIX 4 (Study sites).

Appendix 4.1. Notes on map errors (this is a longer version than the printed version.)

Map errors sometimes led to much confusion and loss of time when we tried to explain the local villagers where we wanted to go. The following notes can hopefully save future visitors to our study areas for such problems.

Kimhandu area (1:50.000 map number 201/1, updated 1982). The names of the two villages "Nyamigadu A" and "Nyamigadu B" should be interchanged, and it is better to use the synonym "Wembela" for Nyamigadu A (the village shown as "Nyamigadu B" on map 201/1). The area shown as Kimhandu Hill on the 1:50.000 map has the local name Nongwe, and if you ask the villagers where Kimhandu is they will point towards a peak on the high, sharp ridge that forms the watershed between the Msuluzi area and the Wembela/Nyamigadu area. The latter peak is about one kilometer south of Nongwe. Lanzi area (1:50.000 map number 201/1, updated 1982). It appears that several small streams in the area are called Sinzine by the local villagers. Tegetero area (1:50.000 map number 183/3 updated 1970) The big stream called Zira on the 1:50.000 map is called Kitala by the locals. The stream called Zira by local people appears to be a small tributary of Kitala.

Appendix 4.2. Notes on the occurence of local paths inside the forest and access to the areas.

Moving around in a forest it is by far easiest to follow the local paths, of which a number intersects the forest reserves. However, the villagers are often quite unwilling to inform newcomers about the occurence of such paths, possibly because they are aware that their activities inside the forest reserves (except walking through it to visit families etc. in other villages) are illegal. This fact sometimes led us to enter the forest away from paths, leading to waste of time. The following notes can hopefully facilitate planning for future visitors to our three main study areas.

Kimhandu: There is a relatively good footpath from Wembela village running northeast through the forest reserve to Ukwama village. At a junction between two ridges (at 2000 m) this path ramifies, the right path leading to the western part of the Ukwama village area, the left path reaching the eastern part of the Ukwama village area close to the lower forest reserve boundary. A smaller path runs from Ukwama village up to the Nongwe area (Kimhandu Hill area, 2635 m). A fast walking person (without luggage) can walk from Ukwama to the Nongwe area in approximately 1.5 hours. Lanzi: There is a path from Lanzi village up to the forest edge near the stream Sinzine and continuing through the forest (as a narrow path) up to a large meadow area next to the Mgeta River at c. 1860 m. The path ramifies into a few other paths, but these are seldom used and regrowth is commencing in some places. There is a path from Nyingwa village up to the northern end of the Lukwangule Plateau. Possibly, it is connected to a path to the Tchenzema Mission on the western side (the latter was followed on 28 and 29 October by JF and JK at the Tchenzema side). Tegeteros: Two wide and well used paths intersect the study area: One runs southwards (after having crossed a pass) from Morningside to the village Rukwe which is situated south of the forest reserve. At 1530 m the Morogoro-Rukwe footpath is crossed by another big footpath, the Luhungo-Kinole/Bagiro/Tegetero trail. This last trail runs east-west and connects Luhungo village west of the forest reserve with the villages Bagiro, Kinole and Tegetero east of the forest reserve (branching in the eastern end). Walking fast, it should be possible to walk from Tegetero village to Morogoro city in one day, following first the path towards Luhungo and then turning right towards Morningside at the junction. The paths are used for visiting families in other villages and for carrying market items to and from Morogoro. We met people on these paths now and then near the Tegetero-2 camp and probably others passed unnoticed.

Access to the Kitandulu area and to the Wembela and Ukwama villages. There are two ways of reaching this area by car and we tried both. From Morogoro city you can drive to Singiza Mission by car following the Morogoro-Kisaki gravel road to Dakawa where you turn right and follow a dirt track to Singiza Mission. From Singiza (440 m) there are several foottracks to the small highland villages near the southernmost part of the Uluguru South F.R. (c. 1500 m). The walk uphill from Singiza to the Kitandulu on the southwest area (1540 m) took us seven hours. After a few days in the Kitandulu area we moved to the gradient along the Msuluzi River (above Ukwama village) where we spent the rest of the month. We left the Msuluzi area by walking from Ukwama village (1430 m) to Kolero village to where there is a good road. Given the present road conditions we recommend the route via Kolero. There is a big weekly market in Kasanga. Access to Lanzi village. Leaving the Morogoro-Kisaki road a bit north of Matamba village, it is possible to drive all the way to Lanzi (900 m). Access to Lanzi by foot is principally via a footpath from Matamba (cirka two hours of walk). This path is frequently used by the locals when they go shopping or visit family in Matamba and Morogoro. From Matamba you can catch the Kisaki bus to Morogoro and it is also possible to travel in the small Landrovers that currently run between Morogoro and Matamba. Access to Kinole and Tegetero villages. Leave the Morogoro-Kisaki gravel road a few kilometres before Matamba and follow the road towards Lanzi. After some kilometres you turn right, now heading towards Kinole (connected with Sangasanga village and probably the most safe/correct name to be used if one wants to go to this area) where the road ends. From Kinole we walked to the Tegetero mission from where we entered the forest. Future visitors should note that it is much easier to follow the Kinole-Luhungo path into the forest. We used that path to Kinole when leaving the forest. The Tegetero villagers are currently constructing a road (for cars) from Tegetero Mission to Kinole village, meaning future possibilities to go by car all the way to Tegetero. The road is being dug without using machines by most of the villagers who work on the project each Monday (Monday is the common Villagers Working Day of Tegetero). There is daily connection from Kinole village to Morogoro city with small Landrover taxis (same type as the ones mentioned earlier between Morogoro and Matamba). Kinole has a large market with lots of small stands and at least one big weekly vegetable market day.

Appendix 4.3. Notes on the position of field stations.

The position of our camps is shown on the maps in the introductory section of this report. Below we give some extra details, which will hopefully make it possible for future visitors to the areas to know reltatively exactly where we camped. For many of the earlier ornithological surveys in the Eastern Arc it is a general problem that the exact localities for the study or the collection of specimens has not been described. Kimhandu-6 (1540 m): Our first camp in the Kimhandu area was in a forest section with the local name Kitandulu, at 1540 m, not far from the Nyamigadu B village (Nyamigadu A on the topographic map). It was not part of our plan to spend time here but because of the interchange of the names Nyamigadu A and B on the 1:50.000 m maps the local porters led us on a "wrong" path, and since it was late we decided to make a preliminary camp in the Kitandulu for a few days before continuing to the Msuluzi River where we had planned to work. Kimhandu-1 (1520 m): Situated close to Msuluzi River on a steep slope. Kimhandu-2 (1710 m): This camp was on a sharp ridge some 500-700 m south of Msuluzi River using one of its tributaries as water source. The tributary joins Msuluzi River at 1600 m. Kimhandu-3 (1940 m): Situated very close to the Wembela-Ukwama path (branch to western part of the Ukwama area) c. 500-1000 m north of the branching point (see Appendix 4.2). Several ridges meet in the area which has the character of a plateau. Kimhandu-4 (2145 m): Situated well north of Msuluzi River (the river is far down in the valley and not audible or visible from this camp) next to the path from Ukwama village to Nongwe Peak (on the 1:50.000 topographic map this peak is called Kimhandu Hill, reaching 2634 m). A wide stream with the local name Kipalu runs close to the path here. The area around the camp and mistnets was relatively flat, almost plateau-like, on a wide ridge. Kimhandu-5 (2520 m): Situated at the spring of Msuluzi River. There is a large meadow (shown on the 1:50.000 map) with tall alpine grass and scattered but impenetrable bushes. The local name of the highest top (2634 m) and the areas in its vicinity is Nongwe (see Appendix 4.1). Lanzi-1 (1710 m): Situated 200 m inside forest next to a stream with the local name Sinzine (remark: from what we could find out also other small streams in the area are called Sinzine) and next to the path we arrived by (path from Lanzi village to meadow at 1860 m). Lanzi-2 (1920 m): Situated along the same path as Lanzi-1 on a long and relatively narrow ridge, 25 minutes of walk from Lanzi-1 and 1-2 hours of walk from Lanzi-3. Lanzi-3 (2110 m): To reach this station you have to cross the river Mgeta at a big meadow at 1860 m. From this meadow we followed Mgeta River upstreams for c. 700 m, then crossed it and walked in a narrow tributary for a few hundred meters north before following the ridge up to the camp area. Camp was at 2000 m, 20 minutes walk from the working area at 2110 m. Tegetero-1 (1345 m): Situated around 1 km south of the east-westwards oriented path from Tegetero to Luhungo (see Appendix 4.2) and therefore also some distance south of the Kitala River (see Appendix 4.1). 1-2 hours of walk from Tegetero village. Tegetero-2 (1535 m): Situated at the junction between the Morningside-Rukwe and the Luhungo-Kinole/Bagiro/Tegetero path. Tegetero-3 (1710 m): Situated next to the Luhungo path near an area where you cross three small streams. Tchenzema: No camps in the forest, staying overnight at the mission in Tchenzema. Kigurunyembe: Camped inside forest at 700 m and surveyed forest and edge habitats from 600 to 850 m in the forest strip.

Appendix 4.4. Illegacies observed in the forest reserves during the survey (new section not part of the printed version).

Below we give information on illegal activities observed in the forest reserves during our survey. In general the local people probably avoid visiting the forest while there are “strangers” working there.

Kimhandu area: Generally we saw few trails or cutmarks on the tree trunks, except in the lowest parts. On a walk in lower forest parts in the Ukwama area up to 1-1.5 km north of Msuluzi River the general impression was that the lower parts of the forest here were of secondary character (though spectacular locally): Many cutmarks and tree stumps from felled trees, and hardly any Camphor Ocotea usambarensis left in the lowest parts. Gunshots were heard on a single occasion from the lower part of the forest near the Msuluzi river. We were told that the shots were fired by a person hunting Blue Monkeys Cercopithecus mitis. This species is hunted because of the damage it does to the crops, e.g. maize and beans. On the grassy meadow at 2520 m many old and now unused traps were found. Lanzi area: (Quite a lot of clearing had taken place recently at the lower forest edge. Near Mdogo stream somewhat north of our Lanzi-1 station an area of around one hectare was seen with lots of big trunks felled recently, the area having been burnt also. The area had clearly been felled for agricultural purposes. We are not sure, however, whether the clearing took place inside or just outside the forest reserve). Hunters with dogs were heard near our camp at 2000 m. A fireplace and a levelled sleeping place used by hunters were found next to a big rock not far from the 2110 m station. Here were also tracks of an old camp established years ago. An area at 2110 m, c. 500-700 m², had been cleared for herbs and apparently prepared for planting bangi (local name for marijuana and the like). This bangi field was several hours of walking from the nearest human settlement but close to the above mentioned hunters sleeping place. It was also close at some very big forest glades with bracken, well inside forest, indicating that years ago there might have been some human settlement and cultivation in this very remote area (probably before the establishment of the forest reserve? Accoding to Lyamuya et al. 1994 there were people living inside the forest reserves before the gazettement of the reserves. These people were forced to move out of the forest). Tegetero area: Six strong snares made of nylon rope were found near the Tegetero-3 station. Some big trees had been felled, one of them (> 70 cm diameter) had been felled only for honey harvesting. Pole cutting takes place. (Some old pitsawing holes were seen). (A lorry was seen leaving the Kinole village with timber. Unfortunately lack of time restricted us from finding out where the timber came from). Tchenzema: Strong disturbance inside the forest, much cutting and no big trees. People are aware that the forest is protected but cut what they can. The forest guards live far away and do not usually come to see how people manage the forest.

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