Current view: Text account
Site description (2001 baseline):
Site location and context
The site comprises two small, forested areas on the outskirts of the city of Dar es Salaam: Pande Game Reserve (1,226 ha) to the north-west of the city and Dondwe forest (area unknown) to the south. Pande covers a low sandstone ridge 16 km from the Indian Ocean and 6 km from the Dar es Salaam to Bagamoyo road. Four distinct tree-species assemblages have been described. The remaining forest is surrounded by fire-maintained grassland and secondary scrub. Dondwe forest is rather ill-defined and is not mapped. The forested area so far identified is centred on an open prison and a private farm. Parts of Dondwe flood seasonally.
See Box and Tables 2 and 3 for key species.
Circaetus fasciolatus is a low-density resident in both forests. There are several recent records of
Anthus sokokensis from Dondwe whilst
Zoothera guttata is a regular passage migrant and
Sheppardia gunningi a low-density resident. Forest species at Pande include
Apaloderma narina,
Smithornis capensis,
Dicrurus ludwigii,
Phyllastrephus flavostriatus,
Neocossyphus rufus and
Erythrocercus holochlorus. The avifauna of Dondwe forests is similar to that of the nearby Pugu Hills forests (TZ047) and includes the usual species found north of the Rufiji Delta including the locally endemic
Trichastoma rufipennis puguensis.
Non-bird biodiversity: Three endemic plants and two near-endemics are known from Pande.
Pressure/threats to key biodiversity
Dondwe requires careful mapping to identify remaining forest and discussions held with owners and stakeholders, with a view to it being given protected status. The fate of Pande forest has been a regular local news item for at least 15 years and it is now nominally protected as a Game Reserve. During the 1980s and early 1990s Pande was used as a source of charcoal, fuelwood and timber by members of the armed forces. By 1990 most of the large trees had been removed and smaller ones were regularly being cut.
Recommended citation
BirdLife International (2024) Important Bird Area factsheet: Pande Game Reserve and Dondwe Coastal Forests (Tanzania). Downloaded from
https://datazone.birdlife.org/site/factsheet/pande-game-reserve-and-dondwe-coastal-forests-iba-tanzania on 23/12/2024.
