DAR ES SALAAM, July 4 -- KAZIMZUMBWI Nature Forest Reserve covers about 48.8 square kilometres in Pugu and Kisarawe districts, approximately 20 kilometres southwest of Dar es Salaam.

Together with the neighbouring Pugu Forest Reserve, it forms one of the last remaining fragments of the ancient East African coastal lowland forest, an ecosystem regarded as one of the oldest surviving tropical forest types in the world.

Often described as the lungs of Dar es Salaam, Kazimzumbwi filters the citys air, regulates water resources and provides an important green refuge for millions of people.

Established as a forest reserve in 1936, it shelters giant bamboo, the iconic Mpugupugu tree and a wide variety of wildlife, including the endangered eas...