News published 29 November 2024

Mount Mulanje is an ancient mountain range in southern Malawi, which sharply rises from 800m above sea level (a.s.l). to a high point of 3,004m a.s.l. and a plateau at around 2,000m a.s.l. This plateau region, like other similar ranges in South East Africa, is cut off which restricts the movement of plants and animals. It therefore acts as an island, creating a space for endemic flora and fauna to thrive and is therefore very important for biodiversity. 

BGCI has collaborated on the conservation of this area with local partners from the Mount Mulanje Conservation Trust, WeForest, and the Malawi Department of Forestry, since 2016 on projects, funded by the UK governments Darwin Initiative. Recent trips by Alex Hudson, the current project leader, with restoration expert collaborators from Chicago Botanic Garden and The Morton Arboretum in the US, were eye opening regarding the very real threats to the mountain ecosystem and the challenges that need to be overcome. Alex tells us more about his time visiting the project.  

A smokey descent

After six days collecting data from restoration plots on the plateau, we were descending a steep passage through thicker forested areas, aptly named ‘The Jungle’ path. I was in the middle of our group and in an open bending section, I could see the lead group ahead, approaching another bend. With alarm, I noticed smoke billowing up in front of them. The vegetation was burning. With the flames forming below, this meant that we were in a dangerous position, as winds whip fire upwards quicker than it burns down. This was not lost on the team. Panic, assessment, and communications up and down the group ensued. Thinking quickly, Ibrahim Mitole, a local mountain expert, shouted to retreat. Running uphill, hearts pumping, we gathered in a thick forested area, a temporary reprieve, although not for our porters, who raced off to identify a safe route to avoid the flames.  

Traversing out of the forest into already black vegetation provided safety – it would not burn again. In shock, and all breathing heavily, we watched the fire sweep by through the path we had just left behind us, thankful to the local team who had rapidly got us out of there without issue. 

On the way down, we passed some young men with dogs in a nearby dried riverbed, who ran off when challenged by John Nyetula Zingale, a Forestry Officer in our group. They were believed to be the fire instigators, and John said later that small animals, such as rodents and small antelopes, flee the fire and are then caught by the dogs. This is just one way fire is used locally that can easily get out of hand in the long dry season (July-November). When this happens large swathes of natural vegetation are burnt and destroyed. Escaped embers from cooking fires, fires set to uncover lost felled Mulanje Cedar logs, or retribution following local disagreements, can also cause these frequent and devastating wildfires in the area.  

Fire was extremely noticeable on the plateau across the 6 days of my visit, with half the restoration plots now just blackened soot and heavily melted tags, with two fires that had to be extinguished as they were starting to collect data at plots. 

That was the equivalent of around 2,700 Critically Endangered Mulanje Cedar saplings gone in an instant. The Mulanje Cedar tree itself was a dominant giant tree of the afro-montane forest in the plateau, as little as 15 years ago. Its loss is therefore a loss to the ecosystem but with it gone, loggers are moving on to less valuable species instead, which could lead to a loss of these unique montane ecosystems.

With over 500,000 individuals planted outside of the plots since 2018, many more Mulanje Cedar trees are likely to have met a similar, fiery fate. The intensity and frequency of fires every year is severely impacting the landscape and stopping vital recovery and restoration processes, whether natural or implemented by conservationists. In 2025, new trial plots are to be established with Mulanje cedar trees surrounded by fire tolerant thicket forming native species, to test their ability to protect seedlings from fires. This trial was funded by a Global Botanic Garden Fund Global Conservation Consortia grant. 

Livelihood challenges

It is important to remember that fire uses are linked to livelihoods in this rural poor part of one of the least developed countries in the world (172 of 193 on the Human Development Index). Local challenges were made worse by a currency devaluation in 2023, combined with two devastating wet seasons, with the region being hit by tropical cyclones that reached the mountain and washed away whole communities and fields of crops. During these trying times, the local people rely on the mountain, and fire, to get them through.  

Other livelihoods

The impacts that biodiversity has on other potential livelihood options are clear, for example, for tourists the risk of an experience with fire, like ours, can keep people away from the region.  

Investment in strategies is lacking, particularly when compared with iconic fauna that are also considered Critically Endangered. An estimated US$10-20 million per year, and US$5-10million is estimated to be spent on the African Forest Elephant (Loxodonta cyclotis) and Northern White Rhino (Ceratotherium simum ssp. cottoni) each year; with a maximum of just US$500,000 used for the Mulanje Cedar tree and Mount Mulanje conservation each year. 

Providing sustainable livelihood options to take people away from the damaging practices is one strategy that could help to halt the damage of fires. In our Darwin Initiative project, a collaboration between BGCI, Mount Mulanje Conservation Trust, WeForest, and FairWild, we are looking at new novel product developments that could relieve some pressures and support the restoration of Miombo woodlands in the reserve. 

Kate Chanthunya, the local coordinator for new developments, has developed 7 new products, from juices to dried fruit bars, that incorporate 4 wild harvested native species and is testing them in local interested shops and markets. Over 250 people (192 women) have been trained to sustainably collect fruits and store and process them hygienically to feed into a new industry. A further 290 women are being trained in alternative livelihoods activities – paper and briquette making, and soap and candle production – to provide them with other options to destructive practices they are forced to do to the natural forests. 

Additionally, community members are employed as seed collectors, with support from Raheela Ahmed at MMCT, all trained by the Forestry Research Institute of Malawi. Forty-two people (21 women) have mapped, monitored and collected seeds of 8 target species, so that over 25,000 fast growing native fuelwood plants can be used in agroforestry planting, with farmers supported by WeForest for the coming wet season (December to March).

At the same time, WeForest has trained 52 local community scout patrols that patrol the reserve confiscating illegal materials and deterring illegal harvesting. They have also carried out managed prescribed burning of over 260 hectares of Miombo, early in the season to reduce the flammable materials available in the height of the dry season and so reduce wildfires ferocity and destruction. Finally working with communities on new bylaws and to raise awareness of options for the future to nudge the natural regeneration process to kick in. These hopefully mark the beginning of a new chapter where we can successfully address the challenges that have been faced in recent years. Watch this space!  

Associated videos

A fire raging on the way down the mountain.

Local women demonstrating briquette production.