BBS Expedition to Mt. Mulanje, Malawi, June/July 1991

The Plan

Mt Mulanje - a unique ecosystem under threat

Plans are now well advanced for the BBS Expedition to Mt Mulanje. The Mulanje massif is the most impressive mountain region in south-central Africa, rising abruptly  from plains at about 600-700 m to high plateaux and basins at around 1800-1900 m, which are in turn surmounted by rocky peaks reaching almost 3000 m. It forms a biotically isolated 'island', a member of the Afro-Montane archipelago that extends from Ethiopia to the Cape.

The natural vegetation of the lower slopes comprises mid-altitude evergreen forests supporting a great diversity of vascular plants. Bryophytes are locally abundant, particularly as epiphylls in moist ravines. The dissected plateaux are largely covered by rolling grassland, with forests in sheltered hollows protected from fire. Much of the higher altitude montane forest is dominated by Mulanie Cedar, an endemic form of Widdringtonia cupressoides. Epiphytic mosses and hepatics are a conspicuous feature and both are also abundant in high-altitude boulder fields. The vascular flora is reasonably well known and it is clear that isolation has resulted in diversification as around 30 endemic species have been recorded. The fauna is known to be similarly diverse and distinctive. In contrast, Mt Mulanje is bryologically one of the most poorly documented members of the Afro-Montane archipelago.

The forest vegetation has been sadly diminished by a rapidly expanding human population. This is manifest both in encroachment of lowland agriculture into the mid-altitude forests and in exploitation of the timber resource, particularly in the montane Widdringtonia stands. Forest destruction threatens not only the indigenous biota but also water supplies vital to agricultural communities in the lowlands. The epiphytic bryoflora of the natural forests, with its remarkablly high water-holding capacity, may play an important and highly beneficial rôle in regulating water supplies. The area has been managed as a forest reserve since 1927, but this has not afforded adequate protection against forest destruction, much of it illegal, that continues apace. There is thus a move to place the conservation of the Mt Mulanje ecosystem on a more secure footing, perhaps by designating the area as an IUCN Biosphere Reserve.

It is against this background that the Expedition, organized by the Tropical Bryology Group of the BBS has been invited to work on Mt Mulanie by Dr J.H. Seyani, Keeper of the National Herbarium & Botanic Gardens of Malawi at Zomba. It will aim both to document the flora as insurance against the possibility of continuing forest destruction and, more optimistically, to strengthen the impetus for conservation of the biota as a whole.

The BBS Expedition

An eight-man expedition will operate from Zomba, located 70 km from Mt Mulanje, from approximately 12 June to 3 July, 1991, when cool, dry weather may be anticipated. Four periods of three to four days will be spent in the field, based at mountain huts in different parts of the Mulanje massif. These periods will be separated by single days at the base huts for processing specimens. Field work by parties of two or three will cover as wide a diversity as possible of sites, as regards altitude, aspect and vegetation type, and of habitats at each site. Transport will be in a land rover brought from the Univeresity of Namibia by Mr S. Russell, the leader of the expedition, and in a second vehicle available locally. Mr Russell will visit Zomba in April 1991 to coordinate local arrangements with Dr Seyani.

The members of the expedition, listed below, combine considerable bryological expertise with extensive experience in conservation-orientated survey work and related research. Four of the eight members have tropical experience, and three are currently based in Africa.

• Shaun Russell, leader, University of Namibia.
• Royce Longton, UK coordinator, University of Reading.
• Nick Hodgetts, Nature Conservancy Council.
• Liz Kungu, University of Nairobi, Kenya.
• Z.L.K. Magombo, National Herbarium & Botanic Gardens of Malawi.
• Brian O'Shea, British Telecom.
• Ron Porley, Nature Conservancy Council.
• Martin Wigginton, Nature Conservancy Council.

The specific objectives of the expedition are:

1. To make a comprehensive collection of bryophytes from Mt Mulanje.
2. To arrange for the identification of the specimens and the distribution of duplicate sets to appropriate national herbaria, including that at Zomba.
3. To identify sites of special bryological significance.
4. To make observations on the biology of ecologically important, and of rare or threatened species and communities
5. To assist in training local botanists in the collection and systematic study of bryophytes.
6. To publish information on the bryoflora of Mt Mulanje in the local and international literature and to contribute to the Bryologia Africana project.
7. In these and in every other possible way, to promote the conservation of the bryoflora of Mt Mulanje, and of the ecosystem of which it forms part.

Contributions are at present being sought from government, commercial and conservation organizations towards the costs of the expedition, estimated at around £8,000.

R.E. LONGTON

Longton, R.E.. 1991. BBS Expedition to Mt. Mulanje, Malawi, June/July 1991. Bulletin of the British Bryological Society 57: 28-29.