Mount Mulanje, Malawi
Restoring forest to protect water and biodiversity
Location
Mulanje, Malawi
Project partners
The Forest Department; Cedar Energy
Restoration approaches
Assisted Natural Regeneration; enrichment planting
Species
Widdringtonia whytei (Mulanje cedar)
Fauna
Nadzikambia mlanjensis (Mulanje pygmy chameleon)
Although the Mount Mulanje Forest Reserve has been officially protected since 1927, severe deforestation and degradation have taken place.
This has had a direct effect on the disappearance or sharp decline of species like the Mulanje Cedar tree and the Mulanje chameleon, which cannot be found anywhere else in the world.
The reserve will be restored with two types of forests – montane and miombo. Alternative job opportunities and sustainable livelihood schemes created for the thousands of families living around it.
Why and how we're working here
3.4 million hectares or a third of Malawi used to be covered with forests. Today, 65% of that has already been cleared, a tenth of which in the last 10 years alone. This trend is likely to continue due to a rapid population increase: Malawi has quadrupled its population in the past 40 years.
The project's impact on
people
Neighbouring communities have used the forest for construction wood, firewood and charcoal. To reduce pressure on the forest and its endemic flora and fauna, the project will create employment and develop alternative sources of income, as well as supporting law enforcement activities to stop deforestation.
