Mafinga Hills, Zambia
Forest restoration for nature, water and people
Location
Muchinga province, northeast Zambia
Project partners
The Wildlife and Environmental Conservation Society of Zambia (WECSZ)
Restoration approaches
Assisted Natural Regeneration; active planting
Species
Four known endemic and five near-endemic species
Fauna
Blue Swallow; African Crowned Eagle; Nchisi Pygmy Chameleon
The mountain habitat found in the Mafinga Hills of wet, dry and hill miombo, afromontane and riparian forests and montane grasslands is rare in the country.
Although net deforestation in the district is not high yet, it is widespread throughout, and is especially worrying inside the National Forest Reserve and along the rivers due to chitemene (slash-and-burn agriculture).
The project aims to restore a naturally functioning forest landscape surrounding and including the Mafinga Hills by setting up a community forest covering approximately 1500 ha in the Mwenechifungwe Chiefdom.
Why and how we're working here
Montane and riverine forest patches are degrading, and man-made fires from illegal activities on the plateau are impacting biodiversity and reducing the ability of soils to retain water.
The project's impact on
people and nature
Our restoration here will safeguard the water catchment of the Luangwa River, protect the biodiversity of the Mafinga massif and the Luangwa valley, and ensure that the farming communities neighbouring the massif have an increased resilience to climate change.
Explore the interactive map
Updates from the Miombo Belt Regeneration programme
Progress reports
