Mahale National Park is the anchor of the ecosystem that is home to 800+ chimpanzees – the largest and most viable chimpanzee population in Tanzania. This forest also offers refuge for many other species as well as benefit to local villages. Today it is very in-tact, but farming and timber extraction are the leading pressure that are leading to deforestation. The steep forested mountains lead directly down into the crystal clear waters of Lake Tanganyika. Lake Tanganyika holds 17% of the worlds freshwater, has 1/3 of the world’s freshwater fish diversity and is the longest and 2nd deepest (to Lake Baikal) lake on earth.
This place is probably one of the more remote and under-served areas of Tanzania. There is no cell phone coverage and people have a 22 hour boat ride to the district capital. There is a small clinic but medicine and trained staff are infrequent. There is a secondary school but no teachers. The villages suffer from a lack of maternal health care with frequent birth related deaths. We are working there with the Government and a local conservation organization to understand and map potential impacts of climate change on the vegetation, wildlife and people. We will probably increase efforts here to develop a freshwater and forest conservation project that may include protection mechanisms which bring benefit and share revenue with local communities.
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