The Pande Game Reserve (''Hifadhi ya Akiba ya Pande'', In

Swahili Swahili may refer to: * Swahili language, a Bantu language officially used in Tanzania, Kenya and Uganda and widely spoken in the African Great Lakes. * Swahili people, an ethnic group in East Africa. * Swahili culture, the culture of the Swahili p ...

) is a

protected area Protected areas or conservation areas are locations which receive protection because of their recognized natural or cultural values. Protected areas are those areas in which human presence or the exploitation of natural resources (e.g. firewood ...

located in Mabwepande ward of

Kinondoni District Kinondoni District, officially the Kinondoni Municipal Council (''Halimashauri ya Manispaa ya Kinondoni'', in Swahili language, Swahili) is one of five Districts of Tanzania, districts of the Dar es Salaam Region of Tanzania. The district is bord ...

and Mbezi ward of

Ubungo District Ubungo District, officially the, Ubungo Municipal Council (''Halimashauri ya Manispaa ya Ubungo'', in Swahili) is one of five districts of the Dar es Salaam Region of Tanzania. The Kinondoni District and Kibaha of the Pwani Region border the dis ...

Dar es Salaam Region Dar es Salaam Region () is one of Tanzania's 31 administrative regions and is located on the east coast of the country. The region covers an area of . The region is comparable in size to the combined land and water areas of the nation state of Ma ...

Tanzania Tanzania, officially the United Republic of Tanzania, is a country in East Africa within the African Great Lakes region. It is bordered by Uganda to the northwest; Kenya to the northeast; the Indian Ocean to the east; Mozambique and Malawi to t ...

that covers an area of . It was established as a Forest Reserve in 1952 under the British colonial occupation. The reserve is located entirely inside the region of Dar es Salaam, making it the largest land protected area in the urbanized region. with and is bordered by five villages: Msumi, Msakuzi, Mabwepande, Mpiji Magoe, and Mbopo. It is located 80 m to 186 m above sea level, 45 km northwest of the city center, and 16 km from the Indian Ocean.

Etymology

The

Zaramo The Zaramo people, also referred to as Dzalamo or Saramo (''Wazaramo'', in Swahili language, Swahili), are a Bantu peoples, Bantu ethnic group native to the central eastern coast of Tanzania, particularly the Dar es Salaam Region and Pwani Regio ...

phrase ''Mabwe Pande'', which translates to "stones of Pande" in English, is the source of the name Pande Game Reserve. It is rumored that cutting stones into little pieces for trade took place inside the Reserve Area a very long time ago. As a result, Mabwe Pande was given to the location where that activity took place.

Geography

The

Eastern Arc The Eastern Academic Research Consortium, or "Eastern Arc", is a regional research collaboration between the University of East Anglia, the University of Essex, the University of Kent and the University of Sussex. The four partner institutions ar ...

/ Coastal Forest

Biodiversity Biodiversity is the variability of life, life on Earth. It can be measured on various levels. There is for example genetic variability, species diversity, ecosystem diversity and Phylogenetics, phylogenetic diversity. Diversity is not distribut ...

Hotspot, one of the world's top priority regions for biodiversity conservation, includes Pande Game Reserve. The area of Pande closest to the city of Dar es Salaam has also been designated by Birdlife International as an "Important Bird Area." The reserve was first declared a forest reserve in 1952, and in 1990, Government Notice No. 461 upgraded the reserve's conservation status to that of a game reserve. Through this deal, the Tanzania Wildlife Management Authority took over administration of it from the Forest Division.

Threats

According to

IUCN The International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) is an international organization working in the field of nature conservation and sustainable use of natural resources. Founded in 1948, IUCN has become the global authority on the status ...

threat categories, Pande is home to two endangered, one vulnerable, and four near-threatened animal species. The three taxa that are believed to be strictly unique to Pande—Tricalysia bridsoniana var. pandensis, Shirakiopsis sp. nov., and Leptactina sp. A of FTEA—are among the plants of conservation concern. The

bat Bats are flying mammals of the order Chiroptera (). With their forelimbs adapted as wings, they are the only mammals capable of true and sustained flight. Bats are more agile in flight than most birds, flying with their very long spread-out ...

population in the reserve is very diverse. An excellent example of an Eastern African Coastal Forest was Pande in the past. The forest has been mined since the 1950s for

charcoal Charcoal is a lightweight black carbon residue produced by strongly heating wood (or other animal and plant materials) in minimal oxygen to remove all water and volatile constituents. In the traditional version of this pyrolysis process, ca ...

, poles, and lumber. The majority of the large trees have been cut down, and the forest area appears to have decreased by about 60%. In other places, large tracts of grass and weeds that are kept in check by periodical fires have taken the place of forests. As a result, some species within the reserve, including the black-and-white colobus, the

plain-backed sunbird The plain-backed sunbird, also known as blue-throated sunbird (''Anthreptes reichenowi'') is a sunbird. The sunbirds are a group of very small Old World passerine birds which feed largely on nectar, although they will also take insects, especially ...

, and two absolutely unique plants, look to be on the verge of extinction. Despite the availability of project staff, transportation, and other resources, the reserve continues to deteriorate.

References

Protected areas of Tanzania Ubungo District Kinondoni District {{africa-protected-area-stub