Marc Baker Safaris

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Baker & Anderson 2005

The Status of Shoebill and Wattled Crane in the Malagarasi-Moyovosi-Ugalla Ramsar Site.

Report to SIMMORS

The Malagarasi-Moyovosi Ramsar site (MMR) is considered one of the most important wetlands in Tanzania, both economically and in terms of its rich and varied biological diversity. The wetland itself is a mosaic of floodplain, permanent and seasonal rivers, marsh and swamp, covering an area of approximately #, from 3º 30’ S to 6º 30’ S, a distance of 350km. The area that is seasonally inundated along the Moyovosi, Malagarasi and Ugalla rivers, is clearly defined by open nutrient rich grassland with a mosaic of Brachystegia woodland and Borassus palm in the areas that may flood for short periods of time. The marsh (defined by permanent water and dominated by Papyrus and Miscanthidium) is found predominately along the edges of the permanent river systems and in shallow lakes within the central drainage basin. It is this habitat that is important for globally significant numbers of wetland birds and for species of restricted range which have specific habitat requirements. The Ramsar boundaries follow the Moyowosi and Kigosi Game Reserve Boundaries in the north and the Ugalla Game Reserve in the south, with a complex of Game controlled areas (GCA’s) and forest reserves comprising the bulk of the remaining 30.2 million hectare site.

Summary of previous ornithological study

The Tanzanian Wildlife Conservation Monitoring Unit (TWCM) has been carrying out aerial surveys of the Game Reserves with the Ramsar site over the past 10 years in order to provide the wildlife division with population estimates for hunting quotas. Although the main focus has been on counting large mammals, data has also been collected on Shoebill, with more recent surveys including summary counts of; Wattled Crane, Goliath Heron, Saddle-bill Stork, Crowned Crane, Pelican and Fish Eagle. Although this methodology is not designed to count wetland birds, it does give us some indication of population levels for this large wetland site, which would otherwise remain an avifaunal enigma.

In 1992, a survey of the Moyovosi and Kigosi Game Reserves as well as Gombe and Luganzo Game Controlled Areas, was carried out by the Frankfurt Zoological Society (TWCM)(Jones and Hill, 1994) for the Director of Wildlife. This survey was conducted to provide a complete overview of the wetland eco-system, both concentrations and populations of wildlife as well as issues relating to the conservation and sustainable utilisation of the area. An element of the aerial surveys in 1992 carried out by TWCM focused on Shoebill and Wattled Crane habitats and recorded five Shoebill per square kilometre in areas of flooded grassland (Jones and Hill, 1994). Using data collected during aerial surveys in 1992, population estimates of some wetland bird populations were calculated, the results of which are summarised below.

Table #. Summary of wetland bird population estimates (Jones and Hill, 1994).

In January 1995, the first co-ordinated count of the major wetlands of Tanzania was conducted by the Wildlife Conservation Society of Tanzania (WCST) (Baker, 1996). This included land based counts of the Moyovosi and Kigosi Game Reserves and Ugalla River Game Reserve. These counts resulted in two species being counted in sufficient numbers to qualify (biologically) the site as a Ramsar area under the defined Ramsar 1% levels; Great White Egret (Jan 95’ Count: 802, 1% level: 300) and White-winged Black Tern (Jan 95’ Count: 2,408, 1% Level: 2,300) (Baker, 1996). In addition to these two species, a further 10 species of wetland birds were counted in sufficient numbers at this site as to qualify (Ramsar 1% level) if the area had been counted more thoroughly (Baker, 1996). Although subjective, this is an important consideration and outlines how much we do not known about the avifaunal diversity at this wetland site and its biological potential.