WWF moves to tackle rampant deforestation in Tanzanian mountains

Dar es Salaam, Dec 10 The World Wide Fund for Nature (WWF) in Tanzania announced that it has signed a contract with two civil society organisations aimed at tackling rampant deforestation and degradation of the east African nation's Usambara Mountains.

The conservation agency said in a statement that WWF Tanzania's National Forest Program has through its Trillion Trees Project signed the contract with 4H Tanzania and Friends of Usambara in a new step to tackle rampant deforestation and degradation of the mountains, reports Xinhua news agency.

WWF Tanzania's Forest Program will be implemented north of the Usambara Mountains where the landscape's ecosystem is being impacted by deforestation and degradation, said the statement.

It said deforestation adversely affects communities as the Usambara Mountains covering 3,500 square km is a fundamental source of food and water, underlining its significance for human wellbeing and the national economy.

The Usambara's are a part of the ancient Eastern Arc chain which mountains stretch in a broken crescent from the Taita hills in southern Kenya down to Morogoro and the southern highlands.

They are estimated to be at least 100 million years old and the rocks forming them may be as much as 600 million years old.

The mountains are home to an exceptional assortment of plants and animals and represent one of the highest degrees of biodiversity on the continent.

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