10 August 2010
Sequential forest degradation spreading from Dar es Salaam
In a new paper published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences in the USA, researchers from the CMEC and colleagues in the UK, USA and Tanzania have shown how the expansion of Dar es Salaam in Tanzania has caused sequential waves of forest degradation spreading out from that city. The first wave removes high value timber, the second waves takes the lower value timber, and the final wave converts the remaining woody material to charcoal as a cooking fuel for the residents of the city. These waves fit economic theory and have caused the loss of forest condition, standing carbon and biodiversity values in one of the worlds hotspots for biological diversity.