Mozambique Protects Mount Mabu's "Butterfly Forest" as a Community-Run Conservation Area
A new decree hands stewardship of 9,341 hectares of rare mid-altitude rainforest to the local communities who kept it standing.
Mozambique has formally protected Mount Mabu, the rainforest made famous as the "butterfly forest." A decree published on 24 August by the country's Ministry of Agriculture, Environment and Fisheries created the Mount Mabu Community Conservation Area in Lugela district, covering 9,341 hectares (about 23,000 acres), Mongabay reported.
Stewardship by the people who live there
The area is entrusted to the local communities who have looked after the forest for generations. What is allowed inside will be set out in a community management plan, which has not yet been finalized.
"The community, over a long time, kept the forest standing." — José Monteiro, ReGeCom
Why Mabu matters
- Scientists have recorded more than 200 butterfly types there, and the true number could reach about 250.
- Hundreds of butterflies gather on the 1,700-metre summit each October and November to mate, a behaviour David Attenborough filmed in 2013.
- More than 30 species new to science have been found since 2005, including frogs, chameleons, bats and insects, plus the Mount Mabu forest viper.
- The mountain holds the largest continuous block of medium-altitude forest left in southern Africa, according to Mongabay.
Ecologist Julian Bayliss, whose surveys helped reveal the forest's wildlife, called the decision "a great relief."
What's next
Small-scale farming and logging have encroached on parts of the forest, so the details of the management plan will matter. Local people treat the mountain as sacred, and it has generally stayed well conserved. For now, the decree gives a rare, globally important habitat legal protection, with the community at its centre.
