Mulanje Massif
Mount Mulanje | |
---|---|
Ultra | |
Coordinates | 15°56′59″S 35°35′37″E / 15.94972°S 35.59361°E[1][3] |
Geography | |
Location | Malawi |
Geology | |
Mountain type | Inselberg |
The Mulanje Massif, also known as Mount Mulanje, is a large
Geography
Much of the Massif consists of rolling grassland at elevations of 1800–2200 m, intersected by deep forested ravines. It has many individual peaks reaching heights of over 2500 m, including Chambe Peak, the West Face of which is the longest rock climb in Africa.
The Massif was formed by the intrusion of
The forested slopes of the Massif support a sizeable
The mountain itself is part of the protected
The Massif is popular for hiking and climbing, and has several mountain huts scattered across it which are maintained by the Malawi Mountain Club and the Malawi Forestry Department. Sapitwa peak was first climbed in 1894, and is now the most popular climb on the plateau.
In 2014 the site was unsuccessfully nominated for World Heritage Status.[6]
The human history of the Mulanje Area
According to Chewa legend, the people living in Malawi before their arrival were the Akafula.[7]
Although yet to be found on Mulanje,
The main
The peacefulness came to an end with the
Livingstone's call for help in ending the
From this time, there were also inward migrations of the
Today, these three
European
Climate
The
The Mulanje Massif, because its unique position as a “mountain island” rising more than 2,500 metres above the surrounding plains, is strongly affected by the ITCZ, acting as a rain barrier. This becomes very visible when comparing the annual normal rainfalls, on and around the massif. The plateau level, at around 2,000 metres above sea level, annually experiences more than 2500 mm (100 inches) of rain, however, in the low plains around the foot of the Massif, the annual rainfalls range around 40 inches. In the plains around the Mountain it normally only rains in the rainy season, while it rains year round on the plateau level.
There are still differences in the amounts of rain around the Massif. The south-west face of the mountain around Likhubula, Lichenya and Mulanje Boma is the windward side. This experiences the highest amounts of rain due to the south-east trades of the southern hemisphere that drive the moist air from Zambia and the Democratic Republic of the Congo into the Mulanje region. The north-west face of the Massif experiences lesser rains, due to a rain-shadow effect.
The months of the dry season (May–August) are the coolest months of the year and most suitable for hiking in the massif. The wet season (November–April) is not recommended for hiking in the Massif, as the hiker faces heavy rains on the plateau and high temperatures during the ascent.
Snow is a very rare event. Brief snowfalls are possible but the last major snowfall with ground accumulation was in June 1954. [8]
The Mulanje cedar
The Mulanje cedar (Widdringtonia whytei) was proclaimed the National Tree of Malawi in 1984 by the late president Hastings Banda. This tall tree, W. whytei, was named after Alexander Whyte, a colonial government botanist in Nyasaland. The species was first described in 1894 and it is only found on Mount Mulanje (and Mchese Mountain, depending on if that population is considered conspecific). Scientists disagree about whether this is a distinct species or a giant form of the other cedar found on the mountain, W. nodiflora, which is common across Southern Africa. The cedar forests on Mulanje were estimated in 2004 to have been reduced to a total area of 8.5 km2, half of the estimated original forest cover. This area may have been diminished as a result of continued illegal cutting.
W. whytei is a large evergreen tree, growing up to 40–50 m tall, whereas W. nodiflora is more rounded, with a lower canopy height. On the mountain, the Mulanje cedar is limited to altitudes between 1,800-2,550 m and is normally confined to hollows and valleys where there is some protection from fire.
Cedar timber is pale red, straight grained and pleasantly fragrant. Its major qualities are that it is worked easily and is extremely durable, being naturally resistant to attacks from termites, wood-boring insects and fungi. The sap is poisonous to insects. For these reasons, the timber achieved commercial significance from the 1940s onward, as described by Laurens van der Post in his book Venture to the Interior,[citation needed] becoming a principal resource for building and woodworking. As of 2010 the timber is most used in the making of local arts and crafts, fishing boats for Lake Malawi, and in the construction and decoration of many prestigious buildings.
As the demand for its timber is high, the tree is under threat of extinction. Mulanje cedar is a pioneer species, not a climax species, meaning that it is good at taking advantage of sites that become free of other competing species but it is less successful in open competition. When fire destroys the trees in an area of woodland, Mulanje cedar will normally be the first tree species to re-establish itself. Other species will come in later, but because the cedar is relatively fast growing, it will not face much competition for sunlight.
The Malawi Department of Forestry is responsible for protecting the cedar forests from damaging fires. Each year, at the beginning of the dry season, firebreaks are cleared of vegetation to provide barriers that will impede the advance of wildfires. In addition, controlled early burning is carried out to reduce the build-up of combustible material that might cause intense and damaging fires later in the dry season. For further safety, gangs equipped with fire-fighting equipment are stationed on each of the main plateau areas whenever there is a fire hazard.
As well as providing protection from fires, the Department of Forestry is responsible for controlling the use of the trees for timber. In the past the department issued annual sawing licences but, due to a sharp increase in illegal harvesting, the sawing season has been closed since 2007. However, the illegal market for cedar is strong and cedar harvesting has not yet been stopped. All cedar wood sawn after 2007 is illegal wood, and can be confiscated by the Department of Forestry and the Malawi Police. In 2010 there was a significant increase in law-enforcement action involving armed forestry teams patrolling the cedar forests to stop the illegal pit sawyers.
There has also been a substantial planting programme to reforest Mulanje cedar seedlings in the plastic-covered greenhouses that can be seen across the mountain. In the 2008/09 rainy season, nurseries were established on the mountain to raise over 50,000 seedlings that were then planted out with an estimated survival rate of over 30%. In the 2009/10 season, nursery plans were to raise more than 20,000 seedlings, with an improved planting-out strategy to ensure an even higher success rate.
Conservation of the cedars is not secure. In 2010 the
Visiting Mulanje
Mulanje offers excellent hiking and climbing. The plateau is accessed in 3 to 6 hours by one of several trails. From the plateau, numerous peaks can be climbed. Several huts are maintained by the Mulanje Mountain Forest Reserve and the Mountain Club of Malawi[12] and offer rustic accommodation to hikers and climbers. These include Sombani, Chinzama, Minunu, Tuchila, Chombe, Lychenya, and others.[13] The highest peak, Sapitwa, is best accessed from the Chisepo hut.
References
- ^ a b c "Africa Ultra-Prominences" Peaklist.org
- ^ [1] accessed 2017 March 19
- ^ "Wikimapia - Let's describe the whole world!".
- ^ a b c d Mount Mulanje Global Biosphere Reserve. Mulanje Mountain Conservation Trust.
- ^ GrrlScientist (2 April 2024). "Hundreds Of New Species Discovered On Africa's Isolated Sky Islands". forbes.com. Forbes. Retrieved 10 April 2024.
- ^ UNESCO World Heritage Committee, 38th Session, Doha: Decision : 38 COM 8B.18 Mount Mulanje Cultural Landscape (Malawi)
- JSTOR 29778159.
- ISBN 9780471748335.
- . Retrieved 12 November 2021.
- .
- .
- ^ "Welcome". Mountain Club of Malawi. Retrieved March 5, 2023.
- ^ "Huts". Mountain Club of Malawi. Retrieved March 5, 2023.
- "Mount Mulanje, Malawi". NASA Earth Observatory. Archived from the original on 2004-10-10. Retrieved 2006-05-22.