40% of Tanzania’s remaining forests covering 5,350 km2 are found in these mountains. It is a critical water catchment area which supplies water to Tanzania’s main regional economic hubs and stores 152 million tons of carbon.

Today, more than 70% of the forests have been lost and high population density (200-400 people per km2 ) continues to put pressure on the forest and its natural resources. Demand for firewood, building materials, farmland, mining, logging and poaching are some of the drivers of ecosystem degradation and loss. Only in 2000, 3,450 km2 of tropical forest was lost.