Amani flatwing  (Amanipodagrion gilliesi)

The Amani flatwing is now critically endangered due to destruction and degradation of its habitat (1). There has been almost complete destruction of low-altitude forest across East Africa, mainly for conversion to agricultural land (3), and the few remaining forests of the Eastern Arc Mountains where this species is found are under considerable pressure (5). While the main, viable subpopulation of Amani flatwings is relatively safe within the Amani-Sigi Forest Reserve, any other subpopulations within the vicinity are either already extinct or on the verge of extinction as a result of human encroachment, forest destruction and water pollution. Even the protected population leads a relatively precarious existence, containing fewer than an estimated 250 mature individuals (1).

The Eastern Arc forests of Tanzania contain many endangered species found nowhere else on Earth, but remain under serious threat from an encroaching human population and are in immediate need of conservation action (5). Fortunately, the stream around which the one remaining viable population lives is protected within a forest reserve in the East Usambara Conservation Area, and is therefore relatively safe from any immediate danger (3). Nevertheless, any changes to this stream could result in the extinction of the species, and it has been advocated that an extensive survey of the whole area is urgently needed to locate any further remaining populations (1).