Les forêts inconnues du mont Mabu

Scientists based at the Royal Botanic Gardens at Kew (RBG Kew) led in 2008 the first expedition to the previously unmapped Mount Mabu in northern Mozambique. The expedition is part of RBG Kew’s ongoing work with Mozambique’s government to identify priority areas for conservation in the face of rapid development. Until just three years ago the vast area of forest was known only to villagers nearby. The team ‘found’ Mount Mabu with the help of Google Earth maps in 2005 while looking for sites for a conservation project on land above 1,600m where higher rainfall means there is likely to be forest.
Dr Julian Bayliss, the project’s field coordinator, investigated the unexpected patch of green and used satellite photos to identify a large, unexplored forest. Following a series of scoping trips, in October and November 2008, an international team of 28 scientists and support staff from the UK, Mozambique, Malawi, Tanzania, Belgium and Switzerland hiked into it. They found a wealth of wildlife including pygmy chameleons, Swynnerton’s robin, butterflies such as the Small Striped Swordtail and Emperor Swallowtail as well as three new species, a previously undiscovered species of forest adder and many exotic plants, including a rarely seen orchid…