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Londorosi entrance gate
Londorosi entrance gate of the Mount Kilimanjaro National Park
Background - Mt. Kilimanjaro National Park
 
Geographical Location

The national park and forest reserve occupy the whole of Mount Kilimanjaro and its surrounding montane forests. They lie in the north of Tanzania, between Moshi and the Kenyan border. The national park comprises the whole of the mountain above the tree line, and six forest corridors which stretch down through the montane forest belt.

The whole complex lies at 2°50'-3°20'S, 37°00'-37°35'E.

Area

The area is of 75,353 ha, surrounded by a forest reserve of 92,906 ha.

Date and history of establishment

Mt Kilimanjaro and the surrounding forests were declared a game reserve by the German colonial government in the early part of this century. The area was further gazetted as a forest reserve in 1921. This designation was confirmed by the legislation of subsequent administrations. Part of the area was reclassified as a national park in 1973 by Government Notice 50. It was then added to the UNESCO World Heritage List in 1989.  
 
Geology
 
Kilimanjaro is a volcanic massif which last showed signs of major activity in the Pleistocene. It is not only the highest mountain in Africa, rising 4,877 m above the surrounding plains to 5,895 m, but also one of the largest volcanoes in the world, covering an area of some 388,500 ha.

The complex is part of the East African Rift Valley.

There are three main volcanic peaks of varying ages lying on an east-south-east axis, and a number of smaller parasitic cones. To the west, the oldest peak, Shira, rises to 3,962 m, though only the western and southern rims remain. The remains of the northern and eastern flanks are covered by material from Kibo, which has led to the formation of a relatively flat upland plateau covering some 6,200 ha between the two peaks. The rugged erosion-shattered peak of Mawenzi lies to the east, at an altitude of 5,149 m.

Kibo, which is the most recent in origin and still shows signs of minor fumarole activity in the centre, consists of two concentric craters with an ash pit in the middle. The highest point on the mountain is on the southern rim of the outer crater, the opposite sides of which are some 2 km apart.

Kibo still retains permanent ice and snow, although the area covered has been diminishing for some years, and one glacier extends down to 4,500 m. Mawenzi also has patches of semi-permanent ice, and substantial accumulations of seasonal snow and ice. Evidence of past glaciation is present on all three peaks, with morainic debris found as low as 3,600 m.
 
 
Climate diagramme for Moshi, which is located 831 metres above s
Climate diagramme for Moshi
Weather and climate
 
The climate of Mt. Kilimanjaro is characterised by two rainy seasons - one that lasts from March to June, and another during November and December.

The climate is determined by temperature and precipitation, which is strongly dependent on altitude. Moshi lies south of the Kilimanjaro and has yearly precipitations of 95.5 cm.

The rainfall on Kilimanjaro varies with altitude and exposure to the dominant wind from the Indian Ocean. The Maasai Steppe south of Kilimanjaro has 50 cm in annual precipitations. It reaches a maximum of 300 cm annually at 2,100 metres on the central southern slope.

Rainfall decreases at higher elevations:

2100 m: 300 cm
2400 m: 270 cm
2700 m: 210 cm
3000 m: 150 cm
4000 m: 50 cm
5000 m: 25 cm

Mt. Kilimanjaro is a critical water catchment for both Tanzania and Kenya. High rainfall and extensive forests give Mt. Kilimanjaro its high catchment value. About 96% of the water flowing from Mt. Kilimanjaro originates from the forest belt.

Water is also piped from the forest to supply traditional furrow irrigation systems. These provide water to the villages and in particular to the coffee and banana plantations in the densely populated areas on the southern slopes. This area has a population of over one million inhabitants. There are also major springs, most of them in the Moshi District, such as Kiwaramu, Nkotima, Nkamakoe and Nkwakundi.

Mt. Kilimanjaro is the single most important hydrogeographical feature in the region, and its catchment influences the unique dynamics of the semi-arid lands that surround it.
 
 
Flora and fauna
 
Flora

The forest belt is the most important habitat of Mt. Kilimanjaro in terms of ecosystem and species diversity. On the southern slopes, nearly 740 plant species have been recorded in the forest alone, accounting for about 50 per cent of all recorded plant species in the vegetation zones of the southern slopes. In total there may be over 900 species in the forest belt and 2,500 species for the whole mountain.

The diversity of the flora in the Forest Reserve is greatest at 1900 m on the southern slope, where one can find nearly 300 species, whereas the highest diversity of vascular plants on the southern slopes of the mountain occurs at 1,300 m, with about 750 species.

Fauna

A recent study recorded about 140 species of mammals for Mt. Kilimanjaro, a number far exceeding the diversity known for Mt. Kenya (Gathaara, 1999). Among them, 87 species are regarded as pure forest species. The Black Rhinoceros is now extinct in the area, as are possibly the Reedbuck and Klipspringer. Twenty-four antelope species are recorded in the area, as well as 25 species of carnivores and 7 species of primates. The forest is home to the largest known population of Abbot's duiker, which is globally threatened. There are also 25 species of bats (Chiroptera).
 
 
People
 
The Chagga people inhabit the lower southern slopes of Kilimanjaro. The Chagga cultivate banana gardens in the former forest zone with coffee as a cash crop. They often cultivate two kinds of land. High up on the mountain slope is the kihamba land, where they build homes, plant bananas and coffee, and keep cattle. On the lower slopes, immediately above the savanna-covered plain, there are fields where annual crops, including maize, beans and millet, are grown, and cattle pastured.

Banana plants take three years to become established. They are used as food, in the making of beer, and as fodder for the animals. The stems of the banana trees are very succulent and are fed to the cattle. This saves on the amount of water that needs to be given to the cattle, but means that the banana stems are not available as much for the coffee.

The kihamba land is owned by the family. It may be divided among the sons, or, according to the older law, the larger share is taken by the youngest son. This was the custom because the older children were thought to be in a better position to make their own kihamba if the father died.

The result of the customary law of inheritance and the fourfold increase in population has been to break down the old holdings (about 12 - 16 ha for a family) to an average of 1.6 ha. Some are very much smaller than this. A typical 1.6 hectares holding in the Marangu district might have about 200 banana plants and 600 to 800 coffee bushes interplanted.
 
 
Tourism
 
The total number of tourists attempting to climb Kilimanjaro more than doubled between 1986-87 and 1996-97 to about 20,000.
 
 
Landsat images
 
Landsat images from 1984 and 2000 are provided in the worksheet.

Kilimanjaro GIS

Andreas Hemp, Associate Researcher of the Department of Plant Physiology University of Bayreuth, Germany, has granted us the use of a GIS of the Mt Kilimanjaro Forest.
 
 
Image processing software
 
The image processing software LEOWorks 3.0 can be used to analyse satellite images. LEOWorks 3.0 is a fairly simple tool suitable for basic analysis of the images.

Download LEOWorks
 
 

 


Kilimanjaro
Introduction
Exercises
GIS exercises
Links
The World Factbook - TanzaniaUnesco World Heritage ListThreats to Mt. Kilimanjaro forests (UNEP study)Monitoring weather and climate from space
Eduspace - Software
LEOWorks 3
Eduspace - Download
Kilimanjaro.zip (7.4 Mb)Vegetation zones on Mt KilimanjaroKilimanjaro GIS files (584 Kb)
 
 
 
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