Sedimentation and Vegetation Colonization in Shah Tours Gully after Rehabilitation, Kilimanjaro, Tanzania

Abstract

The Shah Tours gully, rehabilitated under the auspices of the project on Reducing Land Degradation in the Highlands of Kilimanjaro Region, is showing signs of recovery, only one year after rehabilitation. Check dams of stone and wire gabions, and sandbags, measuring 1.0 m high filled up with sediments at a rate of approximately 10.9 t ha^-1 yr^-1. Considering that the average depth of gully is 3.0 m, it is projected that it will take 2 more years for sediments to fill up the gully, if more layers of check dams are added to the existing ones. With respect to colonization by vegetation, there is 100% cover mainly by herbaceous layer (grasses and herbs), but also some shrubs and trees in the gully bed, which was rocky and devoid of plants before rehabilitation. These results will be crucial in planning for other gully-rehabilitation works in the Kilimanjaro region.

Keywords Kilimanjaro ecosystem, land degradation, soil loss, rehabilitation, sediment deposition, vegetation colonization