Miombo Ecoregion Vision Report - Biodiversity Foundation for Africa
Miombo Ecoregion Vision Report - Biodiversity Foundation for Africa
Miombo Ecoregion Vision Report - Biodiversity Foundation for Africa
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MIOMBO ECOREGION<br />
VISION REPORT<br />
Jonathan Timberlake & Emmanuel Chidumayo<br />
December 2001 (published 2011)<br />
Occasional Publications in <strong>Biodiversity</strong> No. 20
WWF - SARPO<br />
MIOMBO ECOREGION<br />
VISION REPORT<br />
2001<br />
(revised August 2011)<br />
by<br />
Jonathan Timberlake & Emmanuel Chidumayo<br />
Occasional Publications in <strong>Biodiversity</strong> No. 20<br />
<strong>Biodiversity</strong> <strong>Foundation</strong> <strong>for</strong> <strong>Africa</strong><br />
P.O. Box FM730, Famona, Bulawayo, Zimbabwe
PREFACE<br />
The <strong>Miombo</strong> <strong>Ecoregion</strong> <strong>Vision</strong> <strong>Report</strong> was commissioned in 2001 by the Southern <strong>Africa</strong><br />
Regional Programme Office of the World Wide Fund <strong>for</strong> Nature (WWF SARPO). It<br />
represented the culmination of an ecoregion reconnaissance process led by Bruce Byers (see<br />
Byers 2001a, 2001b), followed by an ecoregion-scale mapping process of taxa and areas of<br />
interest or importance <strong>for</strong> various ecological and bio-physical parameters. The report was then<br />
used as a basis <strong>for</strong> more detailed discussions during a series of national workshops held across<br />
the region in the early part of 2002. The main purpose of the reconnaissance and visioning<br />
process was to initially outline the bio-physical extent and properties of the so-called <strong>Miombo</strong><br />
<strong>Ecoregion</strong> (in practice, a collection of smaller previously described ecoregions), to identify<br />
the main areas of potential conservation interest and to identify appropriate activities and<br />
areas <strong>for</strong> conservation action.<br />
The outline and some features of the <strong>Miombo</strong> <strong>Ecoregion</strong> (later termed the <strong>Miombo</strong>–<br />
Mopane <strong>Ecoregion</strong> by Conservation International, or the <strong>Miombo</strong>–Mopane Woodlands and<br />
Grasslands) are often mentioned (e.g. Burgess et al. 2004). However, apart from two booklets<br />
(WWF SARPO 2001, 2003), few details or justifications are publically available, although a<br />
modified outline can be found in Frost, Timberlake & Chidumayo (2002).<br />
Over the years numerous requests have been made to use and refer to the original<br />
document and maps, which had only very restricted distribution. Now, 10 years after the<br />
original draft <strong>Vision</strong> <strong>Report</strong> was produced, we are making the report more widely available as<br />
a <strong>Biodiversity</strong> <strong>Foundation</strong> <strong>for</strong> <strong>Africa</strong> (BFA) publication. Only minor corrections or additions<br />
have been made to the original document, and maps from other publications have been added<br />
in.<br />
Another BFA Publication (No. 21, Timberlake et al. 2011) presents a series of maps<br />
showing the areas of biological importance, an output from a BFA consultancy.<br />
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS<br />
We would like to acknowledge the support of WWF SARPO in Harare, particularly Fortune<br />
Shonhiwa, Programme Office <strong>for</strong> the <strong>Miombo</strong> <strong>Ecoregion</strong> visioning process. The maps were<br />
mostly produced by WWF's GIS Unit.
LIST OF CONTENTS<br />
page<br />
PREFACE .................................................................................................................................. 2<br />
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS ....................................................................................................... 2<br />
LIST OF CONTENTS ............................................................................................................... 3<br />
1. INTRODUCTION................................................................................................................. 5<br />
1.1 <strong>Ecoregion</strong> Conservation ................................................................................................ 5<br />
1.2 The <strong>Miombo</strong> <strong>Ecoregion</strong> ................................................................................................ 6<br />
1.3 The <strong>Ecoregion</strong> Conservation Planning Process ............................................................ 8<br />
1.4 <strong>Miombo</strong> <strong>Ecoregion</strong> <strong>Vision</strong> <strong>Report</strong> ................................................................................ 8<br />
2. PHYSICAL FEATURES AND PROCESSES ..................................................................... 9<br />
2.1 Extent and Physical Determinants................................................................................. 9<br />
2.2 Geology ......................................................................................................................... 9<br />
2.3 Landscape Evolution................................................................................................... 13<br />
2.4 Hydrological Processes ............................................................................................... 14<br />
2.4.1 Rainfall Processes ......................................................................................... 14<br />
2.4.2 Characteristics of the Plateau Surface.......................................................... 14<br />
2.4.3 Spatial Distribution of Surface Water .......................................................... 15<br />
2.4.4 Soil–Water Processes ................................................................................... 15<br />
2.5 Biophysical Processes ................................................................................................. 16<br />
3. BIOLOGICAL FEATURES AND SPECIES..................................................................... 18<br />
3.1 <strong>Ecoregion</strong> Boundary.................................................................................................... 18<br />
3.1.1 Inclusions and Exclusions ............................................................................ 18<br />
3.2 Vegetation Types......................................................................................................... 20<br />
3.3 Species......................................................................................................................... 23<br />
3.3.1 Plants ............................................................................................................ 23<br />
3.3.2 Mammals...................................................................................................... 23<br />
3.3.3 Birds ............................................................................................................. 25<br />
3.3.4 Reptiles / Amphibians .................................................................................. 25<br />
3.3.5 Fish............................................................................................................... 26<br />
3.3.6 Invertebrates................................................................................................. 26<br />
3.4 Areas of Evolutionary Significance ............................................................................ 28<br />
3.5 Areas Important <strong>for</strong> Animal Movement and Migration.............................................. 28<br />
4. ECOLOGICAL DETERMINANTS AND PROCESSES................................................... 30<br />
4.1 Ecological Determinants ............................................................................................. 30<br />
4.2 Biophysical Processes ................................................................................................. 30<br />
4.3 Plant Biomass and Herbivory...................................................................................... 31<br />
4.4 Carbon Storage and Sequestration .............................................................................. 31<br />
4.5 Nutrient Cycling.......................................................................................................... 32<br />
4.6 Fire .............................................................................................................................. 32<br />
4.7 Human Interactions ..................................................................................................... 33<br />
5. SOCIO-ECONOMIC FEATURES AND PROCESSES .................................................... 34<br />
5.1 Socio-Economic Context............................................................................................. 34
5.2 Key Socio-Economic Features and Processes............................................................. 34<br />
5.2.1 Socio-Political Factors .................................................................................. 34<br />
5.2.3 Cultural Processes ........................................................................................ 35<br />
5.2.4 Land Use and Socio-Economic Development ............................................. 35<br />
5.3 Economic and Policy Environment............................................................................. 39<br />
5.3.1 Socio-economic Threats and Opportunities ................................................. 39<br />
5.3.2 Cross-cutting Factors.................................................................................... 40<br />
5.3.3 Threats.......................................................................................................... 40<br />
5.3.4 Opportunities................................................................................................ 42<br />
6. CONSERVATION VISION AND AREAS OF BIOLOGICAL IMPORTANCE............. 44<br />
6.1 <strong>Vision</strong> Statement ......................................................................................................... 44<br />
6.1.1 Rationale........................................................................................................ 44<br />
6.2 Areas of Importance <strong>for</strong> <strong>Biodiversity</strong> Conservation ................................................... 45<br />
7. BIBLIOGRAPHY AND REFERENCES ........................................................................... 64<br />
Appendix 1. List of endemic or near-endemic vertebrate taxa in the <strong>Miombo</strong> <strong>Ecoregion</strong>. ..... 69<br />
Appendix 2. <strong>Miombo</strong> <strong>Ecoregion</strong> habitats ................................................................................ 77<br />
LIST OF TABLES AND FIGURES<br />
Figure 1. The <strong>Miombo</strong> <strong>Ecoregion</strong> and southern <strong>Africa</strong> ........................................................... 7<br />
Figure 2. Southern <strong>Africa</strong> – physiography and altitude .......................................................... 10<br />
Figure 3. <strong>Miombo</strong> <strong>Ecoregion</strong> – rainfall................................................................................... 12<br />
Figure 4. <strong>Miombo</strong> <strong>Ecoregion</strong> – vegetation types .................................................................... 19<br />
Figure 5. <strong>Miombo</strong> <strong>Ecoregion</strong> – protected areas ...................................................................... 38<br />
Figure 6. <strong>Miombo</strong> <strong>Ecoregion</strong> – areas of biological importance.............................................. 47<br />
Figure 7. <strong>Miombo</strong> <strong>Ecoregion</strong> – areas of significance <strong>for</strong> habitat conservation ...................... 79<br />
Table 1. Revised <strong>Miombo</strong> <strong>Ecoregion</strong> vegetation units ........................................................... 20<br />
Table 2. Numbers of species recorded from the <strong>Miombo</strong> <strong>Ecoregion</strong>. .................................... 27<br />
Table 3. Protected areas within the <strong>Miombo</strong> <strong>Ecoregion</strong> ......................................................... 38<br />
Table 4. Identified areas of importance <strong>for</strong> conservation in the <strong>Miombo</strong> <strong>Ecoregion</strong> ............. 46
1. INTRODUCTION<br />
<strong>Miombo</strong> <strong>Ecoregion</strong> <strong>Report</strong>, page 5<br />
The mission of the World Wide Fund <strong>for</strong> Nature (WWF) is the conservation of nature and the<br />
promotion of sustainable use of natural resources. Historically, the strategy of WWF was largely<br />
based on single species, often driven by the need to respond to dramatic poaching levels of wellknown<br />
animal species and to address severe cases of habitat degradation and loss all over the<br />
world. While these campaigns were entirely legitimate, they may have inadvertently underemphasized<br />
some fundamental conservation imperatives such as conservation of large-scale<br />
ecological processes, maintaining viable populations of species, addressing habitat<br />
representativeness and ecosystem diversity. After reviewing the present challenges and lessons of<br />
conservation projects over the last 50 years, WWF International has decided that an ecoregion<br />
approach is the most appropriate to set conservation targets and priorities at a continental or<br />
worldwide level. This culminated in the determination of ecoregions across the world (Olson et<br />
al. 2001), with around 120 in <strong>Africa</strong>, and the selection of the Global 200 most important<br />
ecoregions (WWF 1999).<br />
As part of this approach, the WWF Southern <strong>Africa</strong> Regional Programme Office (WWF-<br />
SARPO) has embarked on an ecoregion conservation programme <strong>for</strong> the <strong>Miombo</strong> (or Southern<br />
Caesalpinoid Woodlands) <strong>Ecoregion</strong>. This is one of the Global 200 ecoregions, the largest of 21<br />
on mainland sub-Saharan <strong>Africa</strong>. The ecoregion provides a good example in which management<br />
of hydrological processes is central to maintaining its essential features, such as soil moisture<br />
regimes, dominant vegetation cover, characteristic species and associated evolutionary processes.<br />
In this regard, the sustainable management of water, involving the wise use of ubiquitous dambos<br />
(broad, seasonally-inundated drainage lines on the plateau) and the protection of major river<br />
catchments located in the deep aeolian Kalahari sands of Angola and Zambia, is crucial to<br />
ecological functioning. The goal of this programme is to contribute to the maintenance of<br />
biodiversity and functioning ecosystems in the <strong>Miombo</strong> <strong>Ecoregion</strong> <strong>for</strong> the benefit of people and<br />
nature, while the purpose is to extend that part of the ecoregion where biodiversity conservation<br />
and functioning ecosystems are fully incorporated into landuse practices, to the benefit of<br />
conservation of both agricultural lands and wildlands.<br />
1.1 <strong>Ecoregion</strong> Conservation<br />
<strong>Ecoregion</strong> conservation enables WWF to take a more comprehensive approach to biodiversity<br />
conservation without sacrificing sensitivity to local biodiversity issues and socio-economic<br />
conditions. This larger-scale, more integrated approach enables WWF to better assess both the<br />
proximate and root causes of biodiversity loss, and to design policy and management initiatives<br />
at appropriate levels from international trade policies to site-specific protected area management<br />
or community development projects. Moreover, it allows WWF to connect what it does at the<br />
local level with what needs to be done at national and international levels, to better link field<br />
work with policy work, and to build new partnerships in carrying this out.<br />
An ecoregion is defined as a relatively large unit of land or water that is biologically distinct<br />
from its neighbours, an area that harbours a characteristic set of species, communities, dynamics<br />
and environmental conditions. It embodies the general principles of ecosystem conservation and<br />
the major goals of conservation biology since it encompasses: (a) the representation of all<br />
broadly distinct broad communities and species assemblages, (b) the maintenance of viable plant<br />
and animal populations within large expanses of intact habitat, (c) special recognition of keystone<br />
ecosystems, habitats, species and phenomena, (d) conservation of large scale ecological
<strong>Miombo</strong> <strong>Ecoregion</strong> <strong>Report</strong>, page 6<br />
processes, and (e) conservation of species of special concern. It differs from other approaches in<br />
that it demands a visionary and strategic view in planning to conservation, it operates over large<br />
temporal and bio-geographical scales, and it requires an understanding of social and biological<br />
processes and dynamics operating at these scales. It is usually viewed in the long-term context of<br />
50 years. The broad spatial and temporal scale adopted requires an integrated and multidisciplinary<br />
approach where biological units are the basis <strong>for</strong> planning and activities. As an<br />
ecoregion unit may cross political boundaries, thinking must extend beyond national boundaries<br />
or programmes, even though requisite conservation actions happen nationally. The challenge is<br />
there<strong>for</strong>e to operate over these large spatial scales through coordinated and concerted actions<br />
across political boundaries. Although with many attendant difficulties, the often cross-boundary<br />
nature of the approach is vital to achieving long-term ecosystem conservation goals.<br />
1.2 The <strong>Miombo</strong> <strong>Ecoregion</strong><br />
The <strong>Miombo</strong> <strong>Ecoregion</strong>, covering over 3.6 million square kilometres across 11 countries of<br />
southern <strong>Africa</strong> (Figure 1), comprises dry and moist woodlands that support some of the most<br />
important thriving large mammal populations left in <strong>Africa</strong>. Black rhinoceros, <strong>Africa</strong>n elephant,<br />
<strong>Africa</strong>n hunting dog, Cheetah and the Slender-nosed crocodile are some of the threatened<br />
species, along with many less-known species of plant, birds, reptiles, fish and insects. More than<br />
half of the estimated 8,500 plant species in this ecoregion are found nowhere else on Earth. There<br />
is also a distinctive bird, reptile and amphibian fauna.<br />
One of the region's main characteristics is the presence of large expanses of rolling savanna<br />
woodland on a gently undulating plain, interspersed with grassy drainage lines (dambos) in a<br />
regular catenary sequence. The pattern is distinct and repetitive. It is the juxtaposition of different<br />
vegetation types – nutrient poor and nutrient-rich woodland, areas of short nutritive grasses<br />
interspersed with taller rank grass, wetlands in an otherwise dry environment – that allows many<br />
of the large herbivores to survive. The herbivores move through the landscape seasonally,<br />
making the best use of <strong>for</strong>age resources in what is generally a nutrient-deficient and low<br />
carrying-capacity environment. In many respects, conservation of these woodlands needs to<br />
focus on broad landscape-level processes and hydrology rather than on specific habitats or<br />
species.<br />
The ecoregion is typified by a dominance of deciduous woodland composed of broad-leaved<br />
trees of the legume subfamily Caesalpinioideae. Owing to the deciduous nature of the woodland<br />
there is a well-developed grass layer which, in turn, gives rise to frequent and wide-spreading<br />
fires. Caesalpinoid woodlands are confined to the gently undulating, unrejuvenated Central<br />
<strong>Africa</strong>n plateau at an altitude of 800–1200 m, although they come down to the coastal plain in<br />
Mozambique and Tanzania. The ecoregion is incised by the large river valleys of the Zambezi,<br />
Luangwa and Limpopo, and by the Rift Valley lakes of Tanganyika and Malawi. A number of<br />
major drainage basins such as the Zambezi, Limpopo, Save, Cuando, Kavango, Rufiji, Rovuma<br />
and Luapula (part of the Upper Congo) are incorporated.<br />
Although the ecoregion is commonly termed the <strong>Miombo</strong> <strong>Ecoregion</strong>, this is confusing as the<br />
Caesalpinoid woodlands which it comprises extend significantly beyond true miombo woodland.<br />
A unimodal rainfall pattern with distinct and prolonged dry seasons, coupled with the generally<br />
leached and impoverished soils, are major features. It is the combination of environmental<br />
factors– rainfall, length of dry period, soil nutrient status and fire – which is the probable main<br />
determinant of woodland limits and separates this from adjacent ecoregions.
<strong>Miombo</strong> <strong>Ecoregion</strong> <strong>Report</strong>, page 7<br />
Figure 1. The <strong>Miombo</strong> <strong>Ecoregion</strong> and southern <strong>Africa</strong> (from WWF SARPO 2003).<br />
The primary and direct impacts on the ecoregion come from the large and rapidly growing<br />
human population and its demand <strong>for</strong> agricultural land. Large areas of dry woodland, unlike<br />
moist <strong>for</strong>ests, can be more easily converted to agricultural land owing to the lower above-ground<br />
woody plant biomass, though the social and environmental consequences are probably as<br />
profound as with moist <strong>for</strong>est.<br />
Most of the miombo savanna woodlands are inhabited, and there are few areas that can be<br />
considered at all pristine. Many rural people depend heavily on natural resources <strong>for</strong> their<br />
livelihoods. These conditions have led to a strong emphasis on the sustainable use of natural<br />
resources in the region, and on Community-based Natural Resource Management (CBNRM)<br />
programmes. The region is considered by many to be a global model <strong>for</strong> CBNRM. As other<br />
organisations besides WWF are involved in natural resources management and conservation<br />
initiatives within the ecoregion, WWF's planning process will require collaboration with a range<br />
of partners.<br />
The <strong>Miombo</strong> <strong>Ecoregion</strong> is exceptionally large compared to many others, and also diverse.<br />
Although it can be split into a number of sub-regions (<strong>for</strong> example, Burgess et al. 2004), it was<br />
felt that its integrity should be retained, as it is this that gives rise to its uniqueness and<br />
importance. In some ways it could be said that conservation of the <strong>Miombo</strong> <strong>Ecoregion</strong> is more<br />
about conservation of processes operating at a landscape scale across thousands of square<br />
kilometres than about conservation of species or individual habitats.
1.3 The <strong>Ecoregion</strong> Conservation Planning Process<br />
<strong>Miombo</strong> <strong>Ecoregion</strong> <strong>Report</strong>, page 8<br />
The first step in the ecoregion conservation planning process is a reconnaissance to outline the<br />
current state of biological and socio-economic knowledge <strong>for</strong> the area and to identify major gaps.<br />
This stage involves a certain amount of data gathering and assessment. The reconnaissance also<br />
seeks to identify major factors influencing environmental change and loss of biodiversity, to<br />
identify key problems and opportunities <strong>for</strong> conservation interventions, and to provide a basis on<br />
which to plan a more comprehensive biological and socio-economic assessment.<br />
Both the reconnaissance and subsequent assessments provide the basis <strong>for</strong> developing a<br />
biodiversity conservation vision. The vision should set out long-term goals <strong>for</strong> conservation of<br />
the ecoregion's biodiversity, identify key sites, populations and ecological processes. It should<br />
guide the development of the action plan and any strategic decisions as circumstances and<br />
opportunities change. This is followed up by the development of a conservation action plan.<br />
The action plan sets the 10 to 15 year goals <strong>for</strong> conservation of the ecoregion's biodiversity, and<br />
identifies the actions needed to achieve those goals. It is a comprehensive blueprint <strong>for</strong><br />
conservation action, and identifies the first steps on the road to achieving the vision.<br />
1.4 <strong>Miombo</strong> <strong>Ecoregion</strong> <strong>Vision</strong> <strong>Report</strong><br />
This report has built upon the reconnaissance process and vision building workshop to produce a<br />
biodiversity vision. This vision is essentially a statement coupled with a series of biologically<br />
important areas that have been identified <strong>for</strong> special attention. These areas have been identified<br />
and mapped, and are described in this report. The expectation is that if we concentrate our<br />
conservation ef<strong>for</strong>ts on them with full recognition of the goals of biodiversity conservation, we<br />
should eventually realize our long-term biodiversity vision.<br />
The <strong>Vision</strong> <strong>Report</strong> is a further step in the ecoregion planning process. It has built upon the<br />
reconnaissance process but has advanced by producing a set of biologically important areas<br />
across the ecoregion in a participatory process that involved biologists and socio-economic<br />
experts. These areas represent overlaps in the occurrence and distribution of key taxa, species and<br />
genera and in some cases, ecological processes. Boundaries of some of these areas are still<br />
tentative, hence further refinement and detailed biological and associated socio-economic<br />
assessments will be needed, along with identification of opportunities <strong>for</strong> conservation.<br />
The major ecological processes identified during the reconnaissance and vision workshops have<br />
also been described, as are the major socio-economic opportunities and threats. It is worth stating<br />
that in this process an attempt was made to map out socio-economic processes, which will need<br />
to be seriously considered in the construction of conservation action plans.<br />
The report sets out to give an overview of the Caesalpinoid Woodland (<strong>Miombo</strong>) <strong>Ecoregion</strong>, and<br />
to describe its boundaries, biological and socio-economic attributes. Particular attention has been<br />
given to species diversity, regional endemism, global significance and to the ecological processes<br />
that both underpin and unify the ecoregion. Suggestions <strong>for</strong> further necessary short-term<br />
activities are also described.
2. PHYSICAL FEATURES AND PROCESSES<br />
2.1 Extent and Physical Determinants<br />
<strong>Miombo</strong> <strong>Ecoregion</strong> <strong>Report</strong>, page 9<br />
The <strong>Miombo</strong> <strong>Ecoregion</strong> covers over 3.8 million km 2 in central and southern <strong>Africa</strong>, extending<br />
from the west coast in Angola to the east coast in Mozambique and Tanzania. It includes all or<br />
part of 11 countries – Angola, Namibia, Botswana, South <strong>Africa</strong>, Zimbabwe, Zambia,<br />
Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), Mozambique, Malawi, Tanzania and Burundi. Much of<br />
the ecoregion is on the ancient <strong>Africa</strong>n plateau with an altitude of 800 to 1250 m above sea level,<br />
but in the east the ecoregion transcends the escarpment and elements of the ecoregion can be<br />
found in the east <strong>Africa</strong>n coastal zone, at 200 to 300 m altitude (Figure 2). In spite of the<br />
favourable elevation, the biological elements of the ecoregion give way to other biomes in the<br />
northeast, south and southwest. Elevation there<strong>for</strong>e does not fully determine the <strong>Miombo</strong><br />
<strong>Ecoregion</strong> boundary.<br />
Overall, the <strong>Miombo</strong> <strong>Ecoregion</strong> boundary appears to be determined by the interaction of<br />
topography, precipitation and temperature. Climate is probably the most important determinant.<br />
The ecoregion occurs in the unimodal rainfall zone, except in the northeast in central Tanzania<br />
where rainfall tends to be bimodal. Mean annual rainfall is in the range of 600 to 1400 mm<br />
(Figure 3) and occurs from November to April. To the northwest, the boundary roughly follows<br />
the 1400 mm isohyet while to the northeast and south, the boundary follows the 600 mm isohyet.<br />
It is obvious that the biological elements of the ecoregion are ill-adapted to humid and arid<br />
conditions. In central and southern <strong>Africa</strong> both humid and arid conditions are associated with<br />
mean maximum temperatures higher than 30 o C. Much of the region there<strong>for</strong>e lies in the warm<br />
subhumid zone with a mean maximum temperature of 24–27 o C.<br />
2.2 Geology<br />
The geological foundation of much of south and central <strong>Africa</strong> consists of large, stable, Archaean<br />
crustal blocks called cratons, of relatively low metamorphic grade, separated by broad zones of<br />
more highly metamorphosed rocks known as mobile belts. The cratonic nuclei include the<br />
Congo, Tanzania, Kaapvaal and Zimbabwe cratons; dating indicates a long and complex<br />
geological history and gives ages ranging from around 3500 to 2600 million years (Ma). Cratonic<br />
stabilisation did not occur everywhere at the same time. In the Zimbabwe craton, which is the<br />
best exposed, some early stabilisation had been effected by 3300 Ma with final stabilisation at<br />
about 2600 Ma, accompanying the emplacement of vast volumes of potassium-rich granites.<br />
The cratons now consist of the de<strong>for</strong>med remains of volcano-sedimentary piles (greenstone belts)<br />
intruded by various, and numerous, granites. Metamorphic grade in the greenstone belts is such<br />
that primary textures and structures are often well preserved and the primary nature of the rocks<br />
is clear. For example, basaltic lavas dominate the volcanic pile and numerous examples of<br />
pillows indicate that eruption occurred under water. Also pockets of limestone, although now<br />
recrystallised, show fossil stromatolites in places indicating that, here at least, water depths were<br />
shallow. Typically, the basaltic greenstones weather to give fertile, reddish soils. Prominent<br />
among the associated chemical sediments are banded iron <strong>for</strong>mations and ferruginous cherts,<br />
which often outcrop as prominent well-wooded ridges.
Figure 2. Southern <strong>Africa</strong> – physiography and altitude.<br />
<strong>Miombo</strong> <strong>Ecoregion</strong> <strong>Report</strong>, page 10
<strong>Miombo</strong> <strong>Ecoregion</strong> <strong>Report</strong>, page 11<br />
The mobile belts range from late Archaean to early Palaeozoic, with age groupings around 2700<br />
Ma, 2000–1800 Ma, 1400–1100 Ma and 950–450 Ma. In places they show evidence of<br />
metamorphism and de<strong>for</strong>mation of more than one age. Rocks include granitic gneisses,<br />
metasediments and metavolcanics all at high metamorphic grade. Perhaps the oldest of these, the<br />
well-documented but still enigmatic Limpopo Belt, separates the Zambezi craton from the<br />
Kaapvaal craton to the south. It consists of a central zone of Archaean metasediments, with a<br />
major development of quartzites, flanked to the north and south by high grade rocks of the<br />
adjacent cratons. Metamorphism and tectonism is late Archaean, at around 2700 Ma, followed by<br />
a second, early Proterozoic, phase at 2000 Ma.<br />
Emplaced at 2580 Ma, and af<strong>for</strong>ding a magnificent marker <strong>for</strong> the end of the Archaean and the<br />
beginning of the Proterozoic, is the Great Dyke of Zimbabwe. Funnel-shaped in cross-section in<br />
its present erosion plane, it is not a true dyke but a NNE-trending line of contiguous, elongate,<br />
mafic/ultramafic, layered intrusions that almost bisects the craton. Gabbroic rocks <strong>for</strong>m the upper<br />
part and ultramafic rocks, mainly pyroxenite and dunite, the major and lower part of the layered<br />
sequences. Weathering of the dunite has produced a surface serpentisation and nickel-rich soils<br />
that characteristically support unique, nickel-tolerant vegetation.<br />
Proterozoic sedimentary and volcanic rocks of various ages occur intermittently overlying the<br />
Archaean cratons. Most of these extend into the marginal Proterozoic mobile belts to become<br />
highly de<strong>for</strong>med and metamorphosed; in places they have also been thrust over the adjacent<br />
cratons during the de<strong>for</strong>mation. Among these is the early Proterozoic Magondi Supergroup of<br />
basalts, quartzites, dolomitic marbles and metapelites, deposited on the NW side of the<br />
Zimbabwe craton. Orogeny around 2000–1800 Ma produced the Magondi Mobile Belt, involving<br />
the de<strong>for</strong>mation of the Magondi rocks and underlying basement. On a larger scale, this is part of<br />
more widespread orogenic events affecting southern, central and eastern <strong>Africa</strong> at this time. On<br />
the northern flank of the Zimbabwe craton, the various metasediments and infolded basement of<br />
the Zambezi Belt were extensively de<strong>for</strong>med around 850 Ma. The belt cuts across the earlier<br />
Magondi Belt and extends west into southern and central Zambia to the Copperbelt. Eastwards it<br />
links with the N-trending Mozambique Mobile Belt, which straddles Zimbabwe's eastern<br />
international border with Mozambique and extends northwards as a major structural zone into<br />
Zambia, Tanzania and Uganda. In eastern Zimbabwe, the late Proterozoic Umkondo Group<br />
<strong>for</strong>ms a cratonic cover of quartzites, shale and minor volcanics, and extends eastwards to become<br />
an integral part of the Mozambique Belt.<br />
Cratonic granite-greenstone terrains, mobile belts and cratonic cover rocks together <strong>for</strong>m the<br />
Precambrian Basement plat<strong>for</strong>m on which the Phanerozoic rocks were deposited. This basement<br />
is host to economically important minerals – gold in the Archaean greenstone belts; chromitite<br />
and platinum group minerals in the Great Dyke; and copper in the Proterozoic, especially in the<br />
Copperbelt of Zambia and Katanga Province of the DRC.<br />
The most conspicuous rocks of Phanerozoic age in south and central <strong>Africa</strong> belong to the Karoo<br />
Supergroup. These were deposited on Gondwanaland from the late Pennsylvanian (Upper<br />
Carboniferous) to Jurassic Periods, a span of some 100 Ma, as this giant continent moved slowly<br />
across the South Pole and thence northwards to straddle the Equator be<strong>for</strong>e splitting to <strong>for</strong>m the<br />
continents that are familiar today. The sequence of sedimentation in the intracontinental basin,<br />
from all the modern component fragments, reflects the steadily changing climate from frigid to<br />
cool temperate to warm temperate to hot desert. Finally, cracks opened across Gondwanaland<br />
and permitted the eruption of the vast numbers of basalt flows that constitute the uppermost part<br />
of the Karoo Supergroup. Thereafter the modern continents moved to their present positions.
<strong>Miombo</strong> <strong>Ecoregion</strong> <strong>Report</strong>, page 12<br />
In <strong>Africa</strong>, Karoo rocks can be traced from extensive areas across South <strong>Africa</strong> to Namibia,<br />
Botswana, Zimbabwe (particularly Matabeleland and the Zambezi Valley), Zambia and small<br />
patches in Malawi, Tanzania and Kenya. Lower Karoo rocks, deposited during the glacial and<br />
cool temperatures, are principally shales and sandstones with coal derived from Glossopteris<br />
flora. The basal <strong>for</strong>mation is a tillite, which commonly rests on a glaciated pavement – the Pre-<br />
Karoo erosion surface.<br />
Figure 3. <strong>Miombo</strong> <strong>Ecoregion</strong> – rainfall.<br />
Upper Karoo sediments are lighter-coloured grits, sandstones, shales and mudstones that contain<br />
Permian therapsids, Triassic dinosaurs and a variety of plant fossils. Some of the finer grained<br />
rocks are highly erodible, and in certain localities in Hwange National Park, the floor of the<br />
Zambezi Valley and south of Harare exhibit spectacular gully and sheet erosion. The basalts can<br />
be seen today in Lesotho, the Limpopo Valley, Victoria Falls and smaller outliers elsewhere.<br />
The break-up of Gondwanaland produced new coastlines along the eastern and western margins<br />
of <strong>Africa</strong>, and Cretaceous and Cainozoic times are recorded by littoral sediments associated with<br />
shoreline fluctuations. In the hinterland, however, the Kalahari and Congo basins have been the<br />
loci of continental deposition. The most recent deposits are the Kalahari Sands which date from<br />
the Miocene Epoch and which have been blown repeatedly, in various directions, until the<br />
present day. Deposits of these sands now occur far beyond the present Kalahari region, in<br />
scattered patches through Zimbabwe and Zambia, and locally provide the uppermost soil <strong>for</strong> the<br />
<strong>Miombo</strong> <strong>Ecoregion</strong>. The underlying geology of the ecoregion covers a wide spectrum of rock
<strong>Miombo</strong> <strong>Ecoregion</strong> <strong>Report</strong>, page 13<br />
types ranging in age from Archaean onwards but, in itself, does not control the distribution of the<br />
Caesalpinoid woodlands.<br />
2.3 Landscape Evolution<br />
The landscapes in the <strong>Miombo</strong> <strong>Ecoregion</strong> are dependent mainly on the geology, climate and<br />
drainage, and usually have taken many millions of years to reach the present-day stage.<br />
The geological control is effected by the relevant resistance to weathering that the different rock<br />
types exhibit. Thus more resistant rocks, such as sandstones, quartzites and ironstone <strong>for</strong>mations,<br />
are located along ridges and other high-standing areas, whereas soft rocks, such as shales and<br />
mudstones, occur in low-lying positions. Certain rock types weather to characteristic land<strong>for</strong>ms.<br />
For example, the granite terrain, seen widely across <strong>Africa</strong>, shows curved exfoliated domes<br />
(bornhardts) and rectangularly jointed blocks (tors and inselbergs).<br />
Climate controls both temperature and rainfall, the latter producing the water essential <strong>for</strong><br />
chemical weathering. Much of southern <strong>Africa</strong>, including the <strong>Miombo</strong> <strong>Ecoregion</strong>, experiences a<br />
marked dry season – wet season climatic regime, which leads to pediplanation as the dominant<br />
geomorphic process.<br />
Drainage governs the movement of water and soil particles to lower levels, ultimately to sea<br />
level. Incision of the river valleys provides the original 'notch' on the ground surface, from which<br />
pediplanation can advance.<br />
Pediplanation entails the retreat of hill slopes as rock is weathered and removed from the steepest<br />
slopes, with resultant advance of the lower pediment and concomitant diminution of the higher<br />
pediment. With the passage of time the areas at the higher level are reduced to become residuals<br />
(inselbergs) while the lower pediments coalesce to <strong>for</strong>m pediplains (erosion surfaces). The<br />
erosion surfaces that can be traced throughout <strong>Africa</strong> south of the Sahara are: Pre-Karoo (300–<br />
200 Ma), Gondwana (170–135 Ma), Post-Gondwana (135–100 Ma), <strong>Africa</strong>n (100–24 Ma), Post-<br />
<strong>Africa</strong>n (24–5 Ma), Pliocene (5–2 Ma) and Quaternary (
2.4 Hydrological Processes<br />
<strong>Miombo</strong> <strong>Ecoregion</strong> <strong>Report</strong>, page 14<br />
A large part of the ecoregion is drained by the Zambezi River system that discharges into the<br />
Indian Ocean through Mozambique. Other rivers draining into the Indian Ocean are the Rufiji<br />
and Rovuma in southern Tanzania and Save and Limpopo in Zimbabwe and Mozambique. In the<br />
northwest the ecoregion is drained by the Congo River, the headwaters of which comprise the<br />
Chambeshi–Bangweulu–Luapula system in northern Zambia. The gradient in the headwaters of<br />
the Congo and Zambezi is low and extensive floodplains and swamps occur, such as the Bulozi<br />
floodplain in western Zambia, Bangweulu swamps, Lukanga swamps and Kafue Flats in central<br />
Zambia. The Luangwa is an exception, with its steeper gradient. Consequently there are no<br />
significant swamps along the Luangwa River. The tailwaters of the major rivers draining into the<br />
Indian Ocean have steeper gradients and there<strong>for</strong>e have fewer, if any, expansive wetland areas,<br />
apart from in their deltas which are outside the ecoegion.<br />
The distinctive drainage and hydrological characteristics are determined by three factors: the<br />
seasonal distribution of rainfall, the spatial distribution of surface water and the gradient of the<br />
plateau surfaces.<br />
2.4.1 Rainfall Processes<br />
The three main airstreams affecting the rainy season in the ecoregion are the Congo airstream,<br />
the south-east trades and the northeast monsoons (Davis 1971). The Congo air originates partly<br />
from the southeast trades of the South Atlantic ocean which curve inland over the Congo Basin<br />
as they approach the equator and reach the <strong>Miombo</strong> <strong>Ecoregion</strong> from the northwest. This air<br />
stream is very humid in its lower levels and can produce widespread rain when subjected to<br />
convergence. The south-east trades of the south Indian Ocean hold more moisture during the<br />
summer months (November to April) and bring rains to the northeastern portion of the ecoregion,<br />
especially in Tanzania where rainfall tends to be bimodal. The northeast monsoon originates in<br />
the Asiatic high pressure system and may bring rain to the eastern portion of the ecoregion in<br />
summer.<br />
Most of the rainfall occurs near the margins of the Inter-Tropical Convergence Zone along the<br />
Congo Air Boundary and at the northern limit of the southeast trades. Consequently, rainfall<br />
decreases from north to south across the ecoregion, except <strong>for</strong> areas at higher altitude and those<br />
in the proximity of lakes and swamps, both of which receive above-average rainfall compared to<br />
the surrounding areas. The rainy season is about 200 days in the north and 100 days in the south<br />
and valleys, such as the mid-Zambezi. However, there are substantial annual variations in the<br />
duration and amount of rainfall.<br />
2.4.2 Characteristics of the Plateau Surface<br />
The gently sloping plateau landscape that characterises the ecoregion has given rise to a sluggish,<br />
very widely-spaced drainage system. Drainage of the low plateau interfluves is probably effected<br />
mainly by sheet flow. Infiltration may account <strong>for</strong> a considerable proportion of the rainfall,<br />
especially in areas of Kalahari sands in the southwestern portion. The characteristic feature of the<br />
drainage in the headwaters of the plateau streams is the broad, shallow linear depressions known<br />
as dambos which may retain water and maintain streamflow well into the dry season. Dambos<br />
cover 10 to 15% of the area in the headwaters of the Zambezi and Congo, and about 5% in the<br />
middle waters of the Zambezi (Byers 2001a). The sluggish drainage has also given rise to
<strong>Miombo</strong> <strong>Ecoregion</strong> <strong>Report</strong>, page 15<br />
expansive wetlands in the headwaters of the major rivers that are important habitats <strong>for</strong> wildlife<br />
and fish.<br />
2.4.3 Spatial Distribution of Surface Water<br />
One characteristic feature of rainfall of the ecoregion is its high inter-annual variability. The<br />
coefficient of variation which is a measure of this variability decreases with increase in rainfall.<br />
Thus areas with low rainfall have highly variable rainfall. This coefficient varies from 35% in the<br />
southern parts of Zimbabwe that receive about 400 to 600 mm per year, to 25% along the central<br />
watershed which receives 700 to 900 mm per year. In Zambia the coefficient of variation ranges<br />
from 30% along the mid-Zambezi valley to 15% in the northern high rainfall belt. Most of<br />
Malawi has a coefficient of variation between 20 and 25%.<br />
Because of seasonal rainfall (November–April), peak flow occurs during February in the<br />
headwaters of the major rivers and as late as May in the tailwaters, well after the end of the rainy<br />
season. Most small streams dry up during the dry season while in larger streams flow is a small<br />
fraction of the wet season discharge. As there is virtually no rainfall in the dry season,<br />
streamflow is maintained by baseflow. Rainfall that contributes to streamflow and ground water<br />
recharge decreases from north to south across the ecoregion. Most of the discharge of the main<br />
rivers draining into the Indian Ocean is there<strong>for</strong>e derived from the wetter northern parts and is<br />
crucial to the maintenance of the East <strong>Africa</strong>n Coast <strong>Ecoregion</strong>.<br />
2.4.4 Soil–Water Processes<br />
The plateau soils in the <strong>Miombo</strong> <strong>Ecoregion</strong> are of eluvial origin on basement quartzites, schists<br />
and granitic rocks. They are heavily leached and are poor in nutrients due to low organic matter,<br />
nitrogen and phosphorus content. This has arisen partly because of the poor acidic bedrock from<br />
which these soils are derived and partly due to the long period of weathering and leaching. These<br />
nutrient poor (dystrophic) soils have a low pH and high iron-aluminium toxicity, and range from<br />
sandy loam to sandy clay. As a result of the eluviation process, the clay content in the soil<br />
increases with depth, although most soils are generally shallow with a lateritic horizon. In areas<br />
of active erosion, such as escarpments, the topsoil is continuously removed, thereby exposing the<br />
lateritic material and/or bedrock.<br />
Topsoil (0–30 cm) moisture content varies from 50–70 cm) moisture content remains >10% throughout the year<br />
(Chidumayo 1997). This seasonality in topsoil moisture has implications <strong>for</strong> primary production<br />
by shallow-rooted plants. Plateau soils also show a fertility gradient from the high rainfall areas<br />
with poorer soils in the north to areas with low rainfall and relatively more fertile soils in the<br />
south.<br />
Low-lying areas, such as valleys, are run-on areas and have alluvial soils that are relatively more<br />
fertile (eutrophic). Landscape heterogeneity in the ecoregion has created a gradient in soil<br />
fertility between plateau landscapes and their adjacent valleys. Although low-lying areas receive<br />
less rainfall, this is augmented by run-off from the surrounding escarpments and/or plateaux that<br />
also sustains the alluviation process. Soil moisture regimes and fertility status are thus more<br />
favourable <strong>for</strong> primary production in valleys. This edaphic gradient also occurs at intermediate<br />
scale on the plateau landscapes where run-off from interfluves improves the soil moisture regime<br />
of run-on areas, such as dambos. At a small-scale, termite mounds also discharge run-off onto the<br />
surrounding area thereby creating mounds with deficient soil moisture, especially in drought<br />
years. Mound-building termites move the subsoil that has a higher clay content onto the land
<strong>Miombo</strong> <strong>Ecoregion</strong> <strong>Report</strong>, page 16<br />
surface. Because of this engineering work, termite mounds have soils that are more clayey than<br />
those of the surrounding areas, although their nutrient status may not necessarily be higher. All<br />
these soil-water processes create heterogeneity at different landscape scales and produce a variety<br />
of habitats in the <strong>Miombo</strong> <strong>Ecoregion</strong> that support differing biological communities.<br />
2.5 Biophysical Processes<br />
Although the major tectonic processes on the Central <strong>Africa</strong>n plateau ended more than 2 million<br />
years ago, geomorphological processes are still active today in the ecoregion and are controlled<br />
primarily by rainfall (Cole 1963). Geomorphological processes are continuously modifying the<br />
relief and drainage, soils and micro-climate, thereby creating conditions more favourable <strong>for</strong><br />
some plants and less favourable <strong>for</strong> others. In turn, this brings about the extension of some<br />
vegetation communities and the recession of others of which only relicts may remain in the<br />
future. The Central <strong>Africa</strong>n plateau of the <strong>Miombo</strong> <strong>Ecoregion</strong> is being dissected in ongoing<br />
erosion cycles, especially at its edges, but also within itself. It is these processes that trigger the<br />
ever-changing composition of vegetation communities in the ecoregion and have implications <strong>for</strong><br />
the conservation of biodiversity, especially in the face of climate change.<br />
Early hominids in <strong>Africa</strong> used fire at least 1.5 million years ago (Goldammer 1991) and have<br />
ever since acted as a dominant ecological factor influencing vegetation. The earliest positive<br />
evidence of the use of fire by man in central <strong>Africa</strong> is dated more than 53,000 years ago (Clark<br />
1959). It is also argued that during the 1800 years since the Iron Age man occupied the <strong>Miombo</strong><br />
<strong>Ecoregion</strong>, vegetation changes have been brought about mainly through the burning and<br />
cultivating activities of man (West 1971).<br />
Fires in the <strong>Miombo</strong> <strong>Ecoregion</strong> occur regularly and frequently and originate from people<br />
preparing land <strong>for</strong> cultivation, collecting honey or making charcoal. Some fires are set by<br />
hunters, either to drive animals or to attract them later to the grass re-growth areas that were<br />
burnt, and by livestock herders to provide a green flush <strong>for</strong> their livestock and to control pests,<br />
such as ticks. Generally, people use fire to clear areas alongside paths connecting rural<br />
settlements. Such practices have probably been carried out <strong>for</strong> millennia. The fires occur<br />
throughout the dry season but most occur from July to October (Chidumayo 1997) and are<br />
fuelled largely by grass and woody plant leaf litter. Fire intensity is there<strong>for</strong>e linked to grass<br />
production in the previous rainy season, intensity of grazing and extent of woody plant cover.<br />
Fires tend to be more frequent and intense in areas of low woodland cover, medium to high<br />
annual rainfall, low grazing and low to medium human population density.<br />
Palaeo-fire regimes have varied with the influence of climate and man. It is difficult there<strong>for</strong>e to<br />
draw a general prehistoric fire regime in the <strong>Miombo</strong> <strong>Ecoregion</strong>. Even the present-day fire<br />
regime is difficult to define from objective data because direct field observations are too scarce<br />
and scattered, while satellite determination of fire and burned areas is still not able to give a good<br />
regional view of the phenomenon throughout the year (Delmas et al. 1991). At local scale fire<br />
return periods range from 1 to 2 years, but at regional scale this is estimated at 3 years (Frost<br />
1996).<br />
The impact of fire on vegetation depends on the intensity and timing in relation to plant<br />
phenology. Intensity varies with time of burning and amount of fuel. Late dry-season (August–<br />
November) fires are more intense and destructive than fires in the early dry season (April–July)<br />
when much of the vegetation is green and moist. Usually fire intensities in the late dry season are
<strong>Miombo</strong> <strong>Ecoregion</strong> <strong>Report</strong>, page 17<br />
5–18 times those observed <strong>for</strong> early dry season fires (Frost 1996). Late dry season fires are also<br />
more destructive because they occur when trees have flushed.<br />
Response to fire is variable among tree species. The extremes of the response continuum are<br />
defined by intolerant species that cannot survive fire, and are there<strong>for</strong>e are restricted to fire<br />
protected areas, and fire-tolerant species that survive regular intense fires. The trees of evergreen<br />
<strong>for</strong>ests (e.g. Cryptosepalum, swamp and riparian <strong>for</strong>ests), are nearly all highly intolerant of and<br />
easily damaged by fire, but trees in frequently burnt savanna vegetation in medium to high<br />
rainfall areas, including Brachystegia and Julbernardia species, are all fire tolerant. However, it<br />
is also true that all trees and shrubs will eventually be eliminated from savanna vegetation if the<br />
fires are sufficiently intense, and repeated during the late dry season over a sufficient number of<br />
years (West 1971). Under such conditions, the woody plants that persist are only those species<br />
which survive fire by underground tissues, from which they are able to re-sprout after fire during<br />
the next growing season. Grassland, in areas where edaphic conditions permit tree growth, is the<br />
ultimate product of fire because it is composed of plants most tolerant of fire. These plants are<br />
characterised by aerial parts that die off seasonally in the dry season and/or have dormant buds<br />
that are protected from fire damage by soil (geophytes and hemicryptophytes), or dead tissues<br />
just above the soil surface (chamaephytes) such as leaf bases or bulbs. Thus fire can cause<br />
changes in species composition and structure of vegetation. Frequent late dry-season fires<br />
eventually trans<strong>for</strong>m <strong>for</strong>est or woodland into open, tall grass savanna, with only isolated, firetolerant<br />
canopy trees and scattered smaller trees and shrubs (e.g. chipya vegetation). In contrast,<br />
woody plants are favoured by both early burning and complete fire protection. Fire there<strong>for</strong>e is<br />
one of the key ecological factors in <strong>Miombo</strong> <strong>Ecoregion</strong> and its management has considerable<br />
implications <strong>for</strong> biodiversity conservation.
3.1 <strong>Ecoregion</strong> Boundary<br />
3. BIOLOGICAL FEATURES AND SPECIES<br />
<strong>Miombo</strong> <strong>Ecoregion</strong> <strong>Report</strong>, page 18<br />
The revised <strong>Miombo</strong> <strong>Ecoregion</strong>, also termed the Southern Caesalpinoid woodlands, is an<br />
amalgamation of a number of the smaller ecoregions shown on the WWF-US Conservation<br />
Science Programme map "Terrestrial <strong>Ecoregion</strong>s of <strong>Africa</strong>" (WWF 1999). It is a broad,<br />
heterogeneous region that covers a large part of south-central <strong>Africa</strong>, but with many internal<br />
similarities and links. In many respects the revised <strong>Miombo</strong> <strong>Ecoregion</strong> can be considered a<br />
"super ecoregion" or biome.<br />
This super-ecoregion is a broader unit than true miombo woodland (defined as woodland<br />
dominated by trees of the genera Brachystegia, Julbernardia and Isoberlinia with a welldeveloped<br />
grass layer), and is defined by the dominance (or high frequency) of trees belonging to<br />
the legume sub-family Caesalpinioideae, such as Brachystegia, Julbernardia, Isoberlinia,<br />
Baikiaea, Cryptosepalum, Colophospermum and Burkea. Its distribution and subdivisions are<br />
shown in Figure 4.<br />
White's original vegetation map (White 1983) was used as a basis <strong>for</strong> the revision, modified<br />
using a number of national and regional studies 1 . The final map closely follows the boundaries of<br />
the White's Zambezian Regional Centre of Endemism, except <strong>for</strong> the transition to the Guinea-<br />
Congolia and Zanzibar-Inhambane phytochoria. It also broadly corresponds to the broad-leaved<br />
dystrophic savanna woodlands of southern <strong>Africa</strong> (Huntley 1982).<br />
The revised <strong>Miombo</strong> <strong>Ecoregion</strong> extends from the upper edge of the Angolan escarpment in the<br />
west to the beginnings of the coastal woodlands and <strong>for</strong>ests of Mozambique and Tanzania in the<br />
east (Southern Zanzibar–Inhambane coastal <strong>for</strong>est mosaic of Burgess et al. 2004), although it<br />
does not include those types. To the west and southwest it is bounded by Kalahari Acacia<br />
woodlands in Namibia and Botswana (Kalahari Acacia–Baikiaea Woodlands of WWF, in part),<br />
and to the south by Highveld grassland and mixed Acacia woodland in South <strong>Africa</strong> (Highveld<br />
Grasslands of WWF). To the north it grades into Guinea-Congolian moist evergreen <strong>for</strong>est of the<br />
Congo Basin (Southern Congolian Forest–Savanna Mosaic of WWF), while in the north-east it is<br />
bounded by dry Acacia-Commiphora bushland in Tanzania (Southern Acacia–Commiphora<br />
Bushlands and Thickets of WWF). Nomenclature of the revised units is quite different from that<br />
of the original WWF map, and in many cases the units are substantially different. A comparison<br />
with the WWF-US <strong>Ecoregion</strong> map is given in Table 1. The total area of the <strong>Miombo</strong> ecoregion<br />
(excluding water bodies and mountains) is 3,649,568 km 2 .<br />
3.1.1 Inclusions and Exclusions<br />
Although within the geographical extent of the southern Caesalpinoid woodlands, Afromontane<br />
<strong>for</strong>ests and grassland (units 76, 77, 78, 80 (part) of WWF) are excluded from the biological and<br />
other descriptions of the ecoregion. Their ecology and species composition are very different.<br />
Also excluded are large water bodies such as lakes Kariba, Malawi and Tanganyika have been<br />
excluded.<br />
1 National and regional studies used were: Acocks 1975, Barbosa 1970, Bekker & de Wit 1991, Giess 1971, C. Hines<br />
(pers. comm. 2002), Low & Rebelo 1998, Mendelsohn & Roberts 1997, Mendelsohn et al. 2000, Pedro & Barbosa<br />
1955, Timberlake et al. 1993, Timberlake et al. 1994, Wild & Barbosa 1967.
<strong>Miombo</strong> <strong>Ecoregion</strong> <strong>Report</strong>, page 19<br />
Figure 4. <strong>Miombo</strong> <strong>Ecoregion</strong> – vegetation types (from WWF SARPO 2003).
<strong>Miombo</strong> <strong>Ecoregion</strong> <strong>Report</strong>, page 20<br />
Edaphic grasslands, floodplains, dambos and wetlands are, however, included within the revised<br />
ecoregion. They are considered to be an integral part of the woodland landscape and ecological<br />
processes, and functionally are not separable.<br />
Table 1. Revised <strong>Miombo</strong> <strong>Ecoregion</strong> vegetation units. 2<br />
Vegetation unit WWF (1999) unit area (km 2 )<br />
Itigi thicket 48 15,405<br />
Cryptosepalum dry <strong>for</strong>est 32 37,908<br />
Wet miombo woodland 49 (most), 50 1,358,175<br />
Dry miombo woodland 52, 53 1,214,533<br />
Burkea–Terminalia woodland 57 (part) 96,162<br />
Mopane woodland 54 (part), 55 (part) 384,037<br />
Baikiaea woodland 51, 58 (part) 260,171<br />
Acacia–Combretum woodland 54 (part) 103,887<br />
Wetland grasslands 56 (part), 63 179,290<br />
Other areas (not part of ecoregion), e.g. water<br />
bodies, mountains<br />
167,636<br />
TOTAL 3,817,204<br />
3.2 Vegetation Types<br />
The two characteristic features of the Southern Caesalpinoid Woodland <strong>Ecoregion</strong> are the<br />
presence of woodland dominated by trees from the legume subfamily Caesalpinioideae, such as<br />
Brachystegia, Julbernardia, Isoberlinia, Baikiaea, Cryptosepalum, Colophospermum and<br />
Burkea, and the presence of a well-developed grass layer composed of C4 grasses. Caesalpinoid<br />
woodlands are composed of pinnate broad-leaved tree species, most being deciduous <strong>for</strong> at least<br />
a short period each year, the seasonality being related to a period of water stress and/or low<br />
temperatures. The woodland canopy is from 6 to 20 m in height, and ranges from 20% cover to<br />
almost closed-canopy <strong>for</strong>est.<br />
Caesalpinoid woodlands are mostly found on nutrient-poor soils (except Colophospermum and<br />
Acacia–Combretum woodland). Vegetation composition and structure are determined by climate<br />
(rainfall amount, length of dry season, mean temperature, frost), position in the landscape and<br />
soil type. Most changes in vegetation type within the ecoregion are gradual. Fire is an important<br />
feature.<br />
Another characteristic feature is the presence of large termite mounds, especially where sub-soil<br />
drainage is impeded. These are composed of cation-rich (particularly calcium) soils owing to<br />
their high clay contents, and generally have lower soil moisture levels. Termitaria support very<br />
different species from the surrounding woodlands. Their presence, as nutrient-enriched 'islands',<br />
is of major significance <strong>for</strong> both species diversity and woodland ecology.<br />
2 Areas taken from version of original hand-drawn map of Timberlake, digitized by WWF SARPO GIS Unit in 2001.
<strong>Miombo</strong> <strong>Ecoregion</strong> <strong>Report</strong>, page 21<br />
The main genera of Caesalpinoid trees have explosively-dehiscent pods and seeds that are not<br />
distributed far. Genera dominant in wet and dry miombo vegetation are mostly ectomycorrhizal<br />
(they have symbiotic fungi associated with the root cortex), a feature often associated with<br />
impoverished phosphorous-deficient soils (Högberg 1986, Högberg & Piearce 1986) and <strong>for</strong>est<br />
trees, while the genera dominant in Baikiaea, Burkea–Terminalia, mopane and Acacia–<br />
Combretum woodlands are all endomycorrhizal (fungal hyphae penetrate the root cells), which is<br />
much more common in the tropics.<br />
Caesalpinoid woodlands are tolerant of significant damage from drought, fire, frost and<br />
megaherbivore browsing, as most of the major trees can readily coppice. This distinguishes them<br />
from moist <strong>for</strong>ests and from Acacia savannas which reproduce and recover more readily from<br />
seed.<br />
The ecoregion is divided into nine major vegetation or habitat types, each with a distinctive<br />
ecology and species composition.<br />
Itigi-like thicket: Dry deciduous <strong>for</strong>ests are found in the north east (the Itigi thickets of Tanzania<br />
and Zambia), dominated by Baphia and Combretum species and Bussea massaiensis. Further<br />
south, in the Zambezi and Shire valleys, there are similar thickets characterised by earlydeciduous<br />
Combretum shrubs and scattered emergent deciduous or evergreen trees. In places<br />
Xylia torreana <strong>for</strong>ms a canopy. Many of these thicket patches are too small to map at the present<br />
scale. They are of significant conservation interest owing to their limited extent.<br />
Cryptosepalum dry <strong>for</strong>est: Dry evergreen <strong>for</strong>est dominated by Cryptosepalum exfoliatum is<br />
found on Kalahari sands associated with the upper Zambezi in western Zambia. Other typical<br />
species include Parinari excelsa and Marquesia species, often with lianas. Although the <strong>for</strong>est is<br />
evergreen, the type is clearly distinct from the moist <strong>for</strong>ests of the Congo Basin. Annual rainfall<br />
is around 900 mm.<br />
Wet miombo woodland: A species-rich woodland with a canopy usually greater than 15 m high.<br />
Dominant species include Brachystegia floribunda, B. glaberrima, B. taxifolia, B. wangermeeana<br />
and Marquesia macroura. Annual rainfall is reliable and usually more than 1000 mm, but less in<br />
areas on Kalahari sands. The herbaceous layer comprises tall grasses such as Hyparrhenia. In the<br />
wettest areas the dominant trees are only briefly deciduous, the canopy is almost closed, and<br />
shade-tolerant species (e.g. from the family Rubiaceae) are found in the understorey. A number<br />
of floodplains and swamp grasslands are found along major rivers such as the Zambezi, Kafue,<br />
Chambeshi and Kilombero, as well as extensive dambos on the gently undulating plateau.<br />
Within wet miombo there are inclusions of "chipya", an open non-miombo <strong>for</strong>mation with very<br />
tall grass and a high complement of evergreen species. This is thought to have been derived from<br />
<strong>for</strong>est patches through fire, and is found on richer soils.<br />
Dry miombo woodland: This type is floristically poorer than wet miombo with Brachystegia<br />
spici<strong>for</strong>mis, B. boehmii and Julbernardia globiflora dominant; B. floribunda is generally absent.<br />
The canopy is generally less than 15 m in height and trees are deciduous <strong>for</strong> a month or more<br />
during the dry season. Species of Acacia are found on clay soils in drainage lines. Annual rainfall<br />
is less than 1000 mm and less reliable than further north. The herbaceous layer consists of<br />
medium to tall C4 grasses. In drier areas, Julbernardia and Combretum become dominant. There<br />
is an extensive area on Kalahari sands in central Angola dominated by thicket-<strong>for</strong>ming<br />
Brachystegia bakeriana, which appears transitional to Baikiaea woodland.
<strong>Miombo</strong> <strong>Ecoregion</strong> <strong>Report</strong>, page 22<br />
As dry miombo woodland is found on escarpments as well as on the plateau and coastal plain, the<br />
geomorphology and soils are more varied than with wet miombo. There is also a significant<br />
inclusion of mopane, Acacia and Combretum woodlands in places. There are no significant areas<br />
of floodplain grassland or wetlands, but seasonally waterlogged drainage-line grasslands<br />
(dambos) are common on the central plateau.<br />
Burkea–Terminalia woodland: This rather impoverished woodland type is found at the southern<br />
margins of the ecoregion. Although similar in structure and broad ecology to dry miombo<br />
woodland, it does not contain any of its defining species. Instead there is a high frequency of<br />
Burkea africana, Terminalia sericea, Combretum, Pterocarpus, Pseudolachnostylis<br />
maprouneifolia and other broad-leaved trees typical of dystrophic woodland, along with species<br />
of Acacia, Albizia and Peltophorum africanum. There are many rocky outcrops which support<br />
mesic species.<br />
It is principally found on the southern part of the central plateau at over 1000 m altitude. Annual<br />
rainfall is around 600 mm, with high variability. The type has been much modified by human<br />
activity.<br />
Baikiaea woodland: Baikiaea woodland varies in structure from almost dry <strong>for</strong>est or thicket to a<br />
moderately-dense woodland. It is characterised by a dominance of the deep-rooted tree Baikiaea<br />
plurijuga, and is confined to deeper Kalahari sands. Canopy height varies from 8 to 20 m,<br />
depending on rainfall. Other typical species include Burkea africana, Combretum collinum and<br />
Guibourtia coleosperma. The type is deciduous, often <strong>for</strong> some months. Annual rainfall varies<br />
from 500 to 800 mm, but the deep sands absorb and retain moisture well so deep-rooted trees<br />
retain their leaves <strong>for</strong> an extended period.<br />
Mopane woodland: Mopane woodland is characterised by the dominance of Colophospermum<br />
mopane with a canopy from 6 to 18 m high, depending on rainfall and soil depth. Trees are<br />
deciduous <strong>for</strong> some months of the year. The grass layer is generally poorly developed. These<br />
woodlands are species-poor; associated species include Acacia and those from the Capparidaceae<br />
family.<br />
It is associated with nutrient-rich clay soils of the wide, flat valleys such as the Limpopo, Save,<br />
Zambezi, Luangwa and Cunene. Altitude ranges from 300 to 900 m. Mopane woodland is a<br />
eutrophic (nutrient-rich) type with a different ecology to true miombo. Annual rainfall is around<br />
400 to 700 mm with high variability, but soil infiltration rates are low.<br />
Acacia–Combretum woodland: This type comprises open woodland to wooded grassland<br />
dominated by species of Acacia and Combretum, often with trees from the legume subfamily<br />
Papilionoideae. There are two variants. One is found up on the central plateau of eastern Zambia<br />
in dry miombo on areas of nutrient-rich soil, sometimes locally called "munga". It consists of<br />
open woodland to wooded grassland with a well-developed grass layer, and is frequently burnt.<br />
Along with Combretum and Terminalia, a number of mesic Acacia and Albizia species, and<br />
species from the families Papilionoideae and Bignoniaceae occur. The other variant is found<br />
where the central plateau falls away to the Mozambique coastal plain and Zambezi valley. The<br />
climate is generally warmer, and fire is less frequent. Acacia nigrescens and Combretum species<br />
are very common, and are associated with Lonchocarpus capassa, Xeroderris stuhlmannii,<br />
Sterculia africana, Adansonia digitata and Cordyla africana. Mopane is often present, but is not<br />
dominant or abundant. The grass layer is variously well or poorly-developed, depending on soil<br />
depth and rainfall.
<strong>Miombo</strong> <strong>Ecoregion</strong> <strong>Report</strong>, page 23<br />
Wetland grassland: Edaphic grasslands, floodplains, dambos (seasonally waterlogged drainage<br />
grasslands) and wetlands are of sizeable extent in Zambia (Barotse floodplains, Kafue Flats,<br />
Busanga and Lukango and Bangweulu swamps), Tanzania (Lake Rukwa, Mavowsi/Igombe,<br />
Kilombero valley) and Malawi (Lake Chilwa). Wetland vegetation is often dominated by stands<br />
of papyrus (Cyperus papyrus) or reed (Phragmites mauritianus/P. australis) with floating-leaved<br />
aquatics. Floodplains are extensive areas flanking rivers that are occasionally flooded. They are<br />
usually more species-rich than wetlands, but are dominated by grasses and sedges. In seasonallyinundated<br />
areas, similar edaphic grasslands can be found, with a rich geophyte flora. Dambo<br />
vegetation consists of open grasslands with scattered trees, often rich in <strong>for</strong>bs and suffrutex<br />
woody plants.<br />
3.3 Species<br />
3.3.1 Plants<br />
The ecoregion contains around 8,500 plant species, of which about 54% are endemic (White<br />
1983). There are no endemic families. The Zambezian Regional Centre of Endemism (equivalent<br />
to the <strong>Miombo</strong> <strong>Ecoregion</strong>) probably has the richest and most diversified flora and the widest<br />
range of vegetation types in <strong>Africa</strong> (White 1983). It is the centre of diversity of both<br />
Brachystegia and Monotes, and also <strong>for</strong> geoxylic suffrutex species ("underground trees"), an<br />
unusual life <strong>for</strong>m. Of 98 geoxylic suffrutex species listed <strong>for</strong> <strong>Africa</strong>, 86 are recorded only from<br />
this area (White 1976).<br />
The genera Bolusanthus, Cleistochlamys, Colophospermum, Diplorhynchus, Pseudolachnostylis<br />
and Viridivia are endemic, while Androstachys and Xanthocercis otherwise only occur in<br />
Madagascar. In addition to the characteristic Caesalpinoid trees, species of Acacia, Combretum,<br />
Erythrophleum, Monotes, Parinari and Terminalia are typical of these woodlands. The Great<br />
Dyke in Zimbabwe (20–30 species), Katanga (Haut-Shaba) in the DRC (56 species), the Itigi<br />
thickets in central Tanzania/NE Zambia (5–10 species?), and the high plateau around Huambo in<br />
central Angola (between 200–500 species) are particularly rich in endemic species.<br />
Around 100 threatened species are thought to occur in the ecoregion, of which nine are<br />
Endangered or Vulnerable. There are 39 threatened tree species, of which 19 are Endangered or<br />
Vulnerable (Walter & Gillett 1998, Oldfield et al. 1998). Plant Red Data lists <strong>for</strong> a number of<br />
countries in the region are under preparation through the SABONET project.<br />
Major timber species are Baikiaea plurijuga, Guibourtia coleosperma, Pterocarpus angolensis,<br />
Afzelia quanzensis, Millettia stuhlmannii and Dalbergia melanoxylon. A number of trees are<br />
widely used <strong>for</strong> construction timber or firewood, including Brachystegia, Terminalia and Acacia<br />
species, Pericopsis angolensis and Colophospermum mopane. The tree Warburgia salutaris is<br />
severely threatened from over-harvesting <strong>for</strong> medicinal use. Various wetland plants are of<br />
economic significance including Phragmites and Cyperus papyrus, while important water weeds<br />
are Azolla, Eichhornia, Pistia and Salvinia. Many grasses are of great importance <strong>for</strong> grazing to<br />
livestock and wildlife, including species of Brachiaria, Digitaria, Eragrostis, Heteropogon,<br />
Hyparrhenia and Panicum.<br />
3.3.2 Mammals<br />
Perhaps the most conspicuous and charismatic feature of the ecoregion is the wide variety and<br />
large numbers of large mammalian herbivores (elephant, white and black rhino, hippo, giraffe,
<strong>Miombo</strong> <strong>Ecoregion</strong> <strong>Report</strong>, page 24<br />
zebra, buffalo and numerous antelope) and large predators (lion, cheetah, leopard, hyaena, wild<br />
dog). Primates are represented by chimpanzee (on the ecoregion margins), baboon, bushbabies<br />
and several species of diurnal monkey. The variety of monkeys is greater in the north where the<br />
ecoregion grades into <strong>for</strong>est ecosystems. The distribution and status of the smaller mammals in<br />
the area – rodents, bats and insectivores – is still poorly known.<br />
Species richness of antelopes reflects the diversity of habitats, which include wetlands with<br />
specialised species such as lechwe Kobus leche (sensu lato, including the Kafue lechwe K.<br />
kafuensis and black lechwe K. smithemannii) and puku Kobus vardoni. There are believed to be a<br />
number of extant or extinct taxa of lechwe (perhaps 8 to 10), indicating fragmentation of wetland<br />
grassland over the last million years (Cotterill 2000). Other groups of antelope also show signs of<br />
speciation across the extent of the ecoregion, <strong>for</strong> example: defassa waterbuck Kobus<br />
ellipsiprymnus defassa in the north and west and K. e. ellipsiprymnus in the south and west;<br />
brindled wildebeest Connochaetus taurinus taurinus south of the Zambezi, Nyassa wildebeest C.<br />
t. johnstonii in northern Mozambique and southern Tanzania and the endemic Cookson's<br />
wildebeest C. t. cooksoni in the Luangwa valley (E. Zambia); Masai giraffe Giraffa<br />
cameleopardus tippelskichi in southern Tanzania, Thornicroft's giraffe G. c. thornicrofti in the<br />
Luangwa valley and the southern giraffe G. c. giraffa in southern Zimbabwe; and the southern<br />
reedbuck Redunca arundinum and Bohar reedbuck R. redunca whose distribution ranges overlap<br />
in the Selous Game Reserve in southern Tanzania.<br />
Lichtenstein's hartebeest Alcelaphus lichtensteinii and sable antelope Hippotragus niger are<br />
largely confined to Brachystegia/Julbernardia woodland and can be said to be near-endemic to<br />
the ecoregion. The threatened giant sable H. n. variani is restricted to a small part of central<br />
Angola. Sharpe's grysbok Raphicerus sharpei and the miombo genet Genetta angolensis are also<br />
near-endemics. Among small mammals there are a few rodents and bats known only from the<br />
ecoregion or small areas within it. Appendix 1 gives an indication of the species confined (or<br />
nearly confined) to the <strong>Miombo</strong> <strong>Ecoregion</strong>.<br />
Only one taxon, Robert's lechwe Kobus leche robertsii is known to have become extinct within<br />
the ecoregion within the last 500 years. However, four mammals are Critically Endangered –<br />
black rhinoceros Diceros bicornis, giant sable antelope, a white-toothed shrew Crocidura<br />
ansellorum and a climbing mouse Dendromus vernayi. The black rhino <strong>for</strong>merly occurred<br />
throughout the area, but has been greatly reduced in number and range. The ecoregion contains<br />
about 620 animals, 23% of the continental population, and around 2900–3000 white rhino<br />
Ceratotherium simum, or 29% of the continental population. Endangered species include the<br />
<strong>Africa</strong>n elephant Loxodonta africana and wild dog Lycaon pictus. Southern Tanzania. Malawi,<br />
Mozambique, Zambia and Zimbabwe contain at least 128,000 elephant, representing 42–45% of<br />
<strong>Africa</strong>'s population. The same area contains most of <strong>Africa</strong>'s remaining wild dogs.<br />
Nine areas of importance <strong>for</strong> mammals have been identified. These are: Liuwa plains (W<br />
Zambia; animal movement); Mwinilunga/Solwezi (NW Zambia; small mammal endemism);<br />
Hwange-Chobe-Caprivi (NW Zimbabwe/N Botswana; large mammal assemblage);<br />
Bangweulu/Kasanka (N Zambia; large mammal assemblage, endemism); Luangwa Valley (E<br />
Zambia; large mammal assemblage, elephant, endemism); mid-Zambezi valley (N Zimbabwe;<br />
large mammal assemblage, elephant, hippo); Niassa/Selous (N Mozambique/S Tanzania; large<br />
mammal assemblage); Gorongosa–Cheringoma–Zambezi delta (C Mozambique; large mammal<br />
diversity); and Gaza–Kruger–Gonarezhou (SE Zimbabwe/N South <strong>Africa</strong>; large mammal<br />
assemblage, small mammal endemism).
<strong>Miombo</strong> <strong>Ecoregion</strong> <strong>Report</strong>, page 25<br />
The species richness and locally high biomass of large mammals <strong>for</strong>ms the backbone of the<br />
region's tourism industry. Wildlife-viewing and safari hunting <strong>for</strong> trophies are two major <strong>for</strong>ms<br />
of wildlife use. Elephants are the most financially valuable species. Increasingly within the<br />
region, local communities are able to receive proceeds from tourism, so wildlife has become a<br />
major <strong>for</strong>m of land use in places. Elephants, lions, baboons and other animals can also have a<br />
significant negative impact when they destroy crops or kill people and livestock During recent<br />
decades, both the elephant and black rhino were of economic importance, albeit illegally, through<br />
killing <strong>for</strong> their ivory and horn. Many antelope are hunted widely (legally or illegally) <strong>for</strong> their<br />
meat and skins, both by local peasants and land owners.<br />
3.3.3 Birds<br />
There is no full list of bird species from the ecoregion; most studies have been national.<br />
However, 938 species of passerines (including subspecies) are indicated <strong>for</strong> the region. Bird<br />
atlases <strong>for</strong> Zimbabwe, Botswana and part of southern Mozambique are available, while atlases of<br />
Zambia, Malawi, Tanzania and central Mozambique are in preparation. A number of areas,<br />
including many national parks, have more than 400 recorded species, but this is an effect of high<br />
observer coverage.<br />
About 51 bird species are restricted to the <strong>Miombo</strong> <strong>Ecoregion</strong> or Zambesian biome (P. Frost,<br />
pers. comm.), including 23 species endemic to Brachystegia woodland (Barnes 1998, Fishpool<br />
2001, Benson & Irwin 1966, P. Frost pers. comm. 2001); 23 others are near-endemic. These are<br />
listed in Appendix 1. Other species are confined to grasslands of the palaeo-Upper Zambezi<br />
system. Bird species diversity is higher towards the Angolan highlands in the west and Tanzania<br />
in the north east. In part this is due to the greater diversity in montane 'islands' within the<br />
ecoregion. Wetlands are particularly important <strong>for</strong> bird life, especially <strong>for</strong> palaearctic and intra-<br />
<strong>Africa</strong>n migrants.<br />
There are around 80 Important Bird Areas within the ecoregion, containing significant numbers<br />
of globally or nationally threatened species (Fishpool 2001). Significant areas include Bangweulu<br />
swamps (Shoebill Stork, Long-tailed Flufftail and high numbers of waterbirds), Angolan<br />
escarpment (five threatened species, although mostly <strong>for</strong>est not woodland species), Matobo Hills<br />
(high diversity and breeding density of raptors, especially Black Eagle), and the Kafue Flats<br />
(high waterfowl numbers, 79 waterbird species).<br />
Threatened species include the Wattled Crane Bugeranus carunculatus; the area contains about<br />
90% of the world population of 13,000–15,000 birds. The White-winged Flufftail Sarothrura<br />
ayresi is Endangered. Species listed as Vulnerable are the Lappet-faced Vulture, Cape Griffon,<br />
Slaty Egret and the non-breeding migrants Lesser Kestrel, Madagascar Pond Heron, Corncrake<br />
and Spotted Eagle.<br />
The Ostrich Struthio camelus is farmed <strong>for</strong> its skin and meat, and the Red-billed Quelea Quelea<br />
quelea is a major pest to grain farmers in some places.<br />
3.3.4 Reptiles / Amphibians<br />
There are 284 species of reptile and 130 amphibians recorded from the ecoregion, with 52 and 25<br />
endemic species respectively. The largest reptile is the Nile Crocodile, which is numerous in lowaltitude<br />
perennial rivers. It is also the basis of a commercial industry.
<strong>Miombo</strong> <strong>Ecoregion</strong> <strong>Report</strong>, page 26<br />
Ten areas of high reptile/amphibian diversity have been identified. The highest diversity is found<br />
in Upemba National Park in the DRC (100 reptiles and 50 amphibians), Shashe in SW<br />
Zimbabwe/N South <strong>Africa</strong> (100 reptiles and 18 amphibians), including species more typical of<br />
the Kalahari, and the Hwange National Park area (81 reptile and 25 amphibian species).<br />
Seven areas of endemism have been identified of which the richest are Upemba /Kandelungu<br />
National Parks (7 reptile and 6 amphibians), the Rovuma area of SE Tanzania-NE Mozambique<br />
(11 reptile and 4 amphibians), and Barotseland (5 reptiles and 2 frogs).<br />
The major threatened reptiles are the Slender-snouted Crocodile Crocodylus cataphractus in<br />
Lake Mweru and the Flap-shell Turtle Cycloderma frenatum. However, a proper assessment of<br />
threat <strong>for</strong> reptiles and amphibians has still not been completed and there are likely to be more<br />
3.3.5 Fish<br />
The Zambezian ichthyological province, which includes the Zambezi basin and rivers that were<br />
once part of it (e.g. the Cunene), contains 196 fish species. This total excludes Lake Malawi with<br />
600–800 species. Around 25 species have been introduced into the area over the last 100 years,<br />
but most have failed to establish.<br />
Excluding the Great Lakes with their exceptional species richness, there are two areas of<br />
particular fish species richness within the ecoregion ― Lake Mweru and the Luapula River with<br />
94 species, and the Upper Zambezi with about 92 species (B. Marshall, pers. comm.).<br />
Fifteen species are endemic to the palaeo-Zambezi basin, including four endemics in the<br />
Chambeshi River and Lake Bangweulu, with an additional 15 species being near-endemic<br />
(Marshall 2000, B. Marshall pers. comm.). There are four major areas of endemism – Lake<br />
Malawi (600–800 species, of which 99% are endemic), Lake Tanganyika (290 species, of which<br />
90% are endemic), the Lake Malawi drainage basin (38 species, of which 25% are endemic) and<br />
the Cunene River (63 species, of which 13% are endemic).<br />
A number of species from the Congo system are only known from very few specimens. This may<br />
be an artefact of lack of collecting. Six species are under threat: Opsaridium peringueyi (semiarid<br />
Save and Limpopo systems); Nothobranchius furzeri (a few pans in southeastern<br />
Zimbabwe); Chiloglanis emarginatus (South <strong>Africa</strong>, 2 specimens in Zimbabwe);Oreochromis<br />
mossambicus (widespread in the lower Zambezi, but are under threat from the exotic O.<br />
niloticus); Oreochromis andersonii and O. macrochir (similar threat); and Nothobranchius sp.<br />
(small pans in the Caprivi Strip).<br />
Fish are of major economic significance as a source of protein, particularly around the larger<br />
water bodies. Sport-fishing <strong>for</strong> tigerfish Hydrocynus vittatus has important economic benefits<br />
around Lake Kariba and in some parts of the Zambezi.<br />
3.3.6 Invertebrates<br />
Invertebrates in the region are poorly known. The best-known groups are: Lepidoptera<br />
(butterflies, emperor moths, hawk moths), Diptera (tsetse flies, mosquitoes), Coleoptera (dung<br />
beetles, flower chaffers), Orthoptera (grasshoppers/locust, mantids), Isoptera (termites), Mollusca<br />
(freshwater species) and agricultural pests and invertebrates of medical and veterinary<br />
importance (ticks, helminths).
<strong>Miombo</strong> <strong>Ecoregion</strong> <strong>Report</strong>, page 27<br />
There are 102 recorded species of freshwater mollusc (gastropods and bivalves) within the<br />
Zambezi basin, which is not diverse by <strong>Africa</strong>n standards, including 23 endemics. Lake Malawi<br />
contains 52% of these (19 endemic), but Lake Tanganyika is considered richer (Dudley 2000).<br />
The Congo basin (including the Luapula) is considered to be more diverse. Upemba National<br />
Park, perhaps the best-collected area, contains 70 species of terrestrial mollusc, of which 22 have<br />
not yet been recorded elsewhere (van Bruggen & van Goethem 2001). Land snails have 650<br />
species in southern <strong>Africa</strong> as a whole, with about 90% endemic. However, over half of all<br />
recorded species are from <strong>for</strong>ests, which are not included in the ecoregion.<br />
Termites are an important group in the Caesalpinoid woodlands, not just in assisting<br />
decomposition of organic matter, but also in the effect their mounds have on spatial distribution<br />
of nutrients, plants and animals. They are of major economic significance <strong>for</strong> their ecological<br />
value. Southern <strong>Africa</strong> is known to be rich in termite species, however there appears to be little<br />
data on either their diversity or distribution across the ecoregion. Malawi has 106 species.<br />
Table 2. Numbers of species recorded from the <strong>Miombo</strong> <strong>Ecoregion</strong>.<br />
Group no. species<br />
in ecoregion 1<br />
no. endemic/ near<br />
endemic species<br />
Plants 3 8500 4590<br />
Mammals 2 318 35<br />
Birds 4 938 51<br />
Reptiles 5 284 83<br />
Amphibians 5 130 36<br />
Fish 6 ±200 30<br />
Butterflies 7 ±1300 90<br />
Total 11,670 4915<br />
Sources: Regional specialists (D. Broadley, F. Cotterill, P. Frost, A. Gardiner, B. Marshall, P. Mundy);<br />
WWF Conservation Science Division ecoregion database, Oct. 2001 (data compiled from original<br />
WWF <strong>Ecoregion</strong>s delineation, not the revised version presented here).<br />
Notes: 1. Numbers reflect species, not sub-taxa, a number of which should be raised to full species.<br />
2. Mammal species data from WWF-US terrestrial vertebrate database, Oct 2001;<br />
endemism from F. Cotterill (Nov 2001).<br />
3. Plant data from White (1983).<br />
4. Bird data from P. Mundy (Nov 2001) and P. Frost (Dec 2001).<br />
5. Herps data from D. Broadley (Nov 2001).<br />
6. Fish data from B. Marshall (Nov 2001); excludes species from the Great Lakes.<br />
7. Butterfly data from A. Gardiner (Jan 2002).<br />
Odonata are a comparatively well-known group. The Zambezi basin wetlands (including the<br />
headwaters) have 217 species (Fitzpatrick 2000), of which 148 are found in the headwaters (12<br />
apparently endemic). The Katombora/Victoria falls area downstream has 88 species (1 endemic).<br />
Lepidoptera (particularly butterflies) are better known. There are 588 species recorded from<br />
along the Zambezi River, with the highest diversity in the headwaters (467 species), compared to<br />
only 181 in the Chobe–Victoria Falls area. It is estimated that the <strong>Miombo</strong> <strong>Ecoregion</strong> contains<br />
1300 butterfly species, of which around 90 are endemic (Gardiner 2000). As is the case in many<br />
invertebrate groups, it is the wetter miombo woodland and <strong>for</strong>est mosaics of northwest Zambia,<br />
northeast Angola and the DRC that have the greatest diversity and endemism. Some moth species
<strong>Miombo</strong> <strong>Ecoregion</strong> <strong>Report</strong>, page 28<br />
are of economic significance <strong>for</strong> their caterpillars, <strong>for</strong> example the mopane worm Imbrasia belina<br />
and many species in Katanga (Shaba).<br />
Six areas of importance <strong>for</strong> invertebrates have been provisionally identified from within the<br />
ecoregion: Mwinilunga–Mkushi (NW Zambia; species diversity (butterflies 66, 1 endemic),<br />
endemism); Kazungula (NW Zimbabwe, Odonata diversity); Eastern Highveld (E Zimbabwe;<br />
butterfly diversity (300), endemism (3 butterflies)); the Luapula River (NE Zambia; freshwater<br />
molluscs); Sumbananga–Kigoma (E Lake Tanganyika; butterfly diversity (500), endemism); and<br />
Madidibira–Mafindi (S Tanzania; butterfly diversity (400), endemism (5 butterflies)).<br />
3.4 Areas of Evolutionary Significance<br />
Various parts of the <strong>Miombo</strong> <strong>Ecoregion</strong> have been important in the past both <strong>for</strong> local vicariant<br />
evolution and <strong>for</strong> radiation of specific groups. The Great Dyke in Zimbabwe and the Kolwezi-<br />
Lubumbashi area of the DRC/N Zambia (Wild 1965, Brooks & Malaisse 1985) with serpentine<br />
soils have given rise to the evolution of many endemic plants adapted to mineral-toxic soils (20–<br />
30 and 53 species respectively), while the isolation of Lake Malawi and Lake Tanganyika has<br />
given rise to great diversification of freshwater fish and molluscs (Marshall 2000, Dudley 2000).<br />
There are 600–800 fish species in Lake Malawi (99% endemic) and 240 species in Lake<br />
Tanganyika (90% endemic). These fish species flocks have evolved in the past 1–2 million years<br />
and there is a very high degree of local variation indicating that speciation is still continuing.<br />
The grasslands, floodplains and wetlands of the palaeo-Upper Zambezi (Barotseland, Kafue,<br />
Bangweulu, etc.) are believed to have been closely connected during past wetter periods, and to<br />
have covered a vast area in the north. For many biological groups, this landscape of grassland<br />
and woodland patches on Kalahari sands appears to have been an important centre of<br />
diversification and speciation over the last 5 million years, including <strong>for</strong> lechwe and similar<br />
antelope, suffrutex plants and grassland birds (Cotterill 2000, Timberlake et al. 2000, Mundy<br />
2000). Much of the speciation was caused by habitat fragmentation owing to climatic change,<br />
and the capture of the Upper Zambezi by what is now the middle and lower Zambezi.<br />
Barotseland is regarded as a particularly rich area <strong>for</strong> reptiles and amphibians as it is the meeting<br />
place of the Kalahari, <strong>for</strong>est and savanna faunas.<br />
The Muchinga escarpment in eastern Zambia has been a biogeographical boundary resulting in<br />
speciation in primates (Papio and Cercopithecus), waterbuck, tsessebe and puku. The watershed<br />
between the Chambeshi, Upper Luangwa and Rukwa has had a similar effect, separating<br />
southern and East <strong>Africa</strong>n taxa.<br />
3.5 Areas Important <strong>for</strong> Animal Movement and Migration<br />
Seasonal movement of vertebrates such as birds and large mammals is a characteristic feature of<br />
parts of the <strong>Miombo</strong> <strong>Ecoregion</strong>. Many movements are related to feeding, and are driven by the<br />
availability of food in nutrient-rich or warmer parts of the landscape (wetlands, mopane<br />
woodland, riverine woodland) compared to deficiency in nutrient-poor areas up on the plateau or<br />
cool areas with little insect activity. However, most of these movements do not follow a fixed<br />
pattern and are rather opportunistic and over only moderate distances. Examples are elephants<br />
moving across northern Botswana and western Zimbabwe, and from the Zambezi floodplains up<br />
onto the escarpment. The only true migration of large mammals is thought to be of wildebeest<br />
from the Liuwa Plains in western Zambia into eastern Angola.
<strong>Miombo</strong> <strong>Ecoregion</strong> <strong>Report</strong>, page 29<br />
Within a landscape, there is often a vegetation catena related to topography. The catena can be<br />
divided into run-off areas, consisting of raised interfluves, and run-on areas consisting of dambos<br />
(wet grasslands). Dambos often act as a magnet <strong>for</strong> wildlife during the dry season. For example,<br />
after the end of the rains antelope in the Zambezi valley move from vegetation types on dry soils<br />
such as mopane woodland when plant production ceases, to vegetation types on soils that remain<br />
moist well into the dry season. Riverine woodland and valleys on the plateau are also important<br />
movement corridors <strong>for</strong> a wide range of bird species.<br />
Intercontinental migrations of palaearctic (100 species) and intra-<strong>Africa</strong> migrant birds (80<br />
species) are common. The seasonal migrations of Palaearctic migrants enable them to breed in<br />
temperate Europe and Asia when food is seasonally abundant, and then move to southern <strong>Africa</strong><br />
<strong>for</strong> the months when food availability is restricted in their breeding areas. These migrants range<br />
in size from white storks Ciconia ciconia to willow warblers Phylloscopus trochilus. Many are<br />
waders and the wetland areas of the ecoregion are important to them. Some of the major wetlands<br />
in <strong>Africa</strong> lie in southern <strong>Africa</strong>, such as the large natural lakes of Tanganyika, Malawi, Chilwa,<br />
Bangweulu and Mweru, two major man-made lakes, Kariba and Cabora Bassa, and major rivers<br />
such as the Zambezi, Luangwa, Shire and Kafue. <strong>Africa</strong>n waterfowl censuses have identified<br />
many wetlands of international importance: two in Botswana, two in Malawi, seven in<br />
Mozambique, 26 in Tanzania, five in Zambia and four in Zimbabwe. Palaearctic migrants are<br />
protected by the <strong>Africa</strong>n–Eurasian migratory water bird agreement of the Convention of<br />
Migratory Species of Wild Animals.
<strong>Miombo</strong> <strong>Ecoregion</strong> <strong>Report</strong>, page 30<br />
4. ECOLOGICAL DETERMINANTS AND PROCESSES<br />
4.1 Ecological Determinants<br />
The major ecological determinants in the <strong>Miombo</strong> <strong>Ecoregion</strong> are climate, soil moisture, soil<br />
nutrients, herbivory, fire and human use. Ecosystem diversity in the <strong>Miombo</strong> <strong>Ecoregion</strong> has<br />
evolved from the interaction between geology and the subhumid climate with seasonal rainfall.<br />
This interaction has given rise to a generally flat topography and sluggish drainage. The<br />
hydrology is there<strong>for</strong>e characterised by a mosaic of dambos and seasonally flooded grasslands,<br />
especially in the headwaters of the major rivers. The ecoregion exhibits landscape heterogeneity<br />
both at large and small scale. Consequently, it has higher between-habitat (beta) diversity than<br />
within-habitat (alpha) diversity. This implies that conservation of biodiversity is better achieved<br />
by conserving landscapes than isolated habitats.<br />
4.2 Biophysical Processes<br />
Whereas the broader ecoregion boundaries are controlled by climatic factors, the internal spatial<br />
variability is controlled more by edaphic factors, including soil moisture, soil nutrients and soil<br />
texture. However, the shallow plateau soils with a lateritic zone imply rapid soil moisture<br />
saturation during the rainy season which can potentially generate much surface and subsurface<br />
run-off. In many parts of the ecoregion, the vegetation cover that allows rainwater to infiltrate<br />
and recharge deep soil water also regulates this soil-water relationship. Lateral tree roots occupy<br />
a large part of the soil volume in Brachystegia woodland, which in turn protects the soil and<br />
conducts subsurface lateral flow. Run-on areas also reduce erosion as they act as sediment sinks.<br />
Widespread clearing of woodland cover on run-off areas can there<strong>for</strong>e disrupt the normal<br />
functioning of these hydrological processes through increased run-off, erosion and accelerated<br />
sedimentation of run-on areas with considerable impacts on wetland biodiversity. The<br />
understanding of these crucial linkages and feedback processes between physical and biological<br />
processes is important <strong>for</strong> conservation.<br />
The linkage between seasonality in rainfall and primary production is well known in the <strong>Miombo</strong><br />
<strong>Ecoregion</strong>. But landscape heterogeneity creates temporal and spatial differences in primary<br />
production, especially between run-off and run-on areas. For example, run-on areas, such as<br />
dambos, floodplains and swamps, sustain production even during the dry season, thereby freeing<br />
such areas from the constraint of rainfall seasonality. Hydrological processes that sustain this<br />
heterogeneity in soil moisture are themselves influenced by vegetation cover.<br />
Seasonality in rainfall confines production by shallow-rooted plants to the rainy season,<br />
especially on run-off landscapes. However, deep-rooting plants, especially trees, have access to<br />
soil moisture stored at depth during most of the dry season. In this case, one of the key<br />
determinants of primary production is temperature. For example, Brachystegia woodland is<br />
deciduous <strong>for</strong> only a short period in the dry season, and may even be semi-evergreen in the<br />
wetter parts of the ecoregion. Annual growth often starts during spring (September) with the new<br />
colourful leaf flush, and stem expansion continues until May in the following year. Cessation of<br />
growth appears to be triggered by low temperatures (
4.3 Plant Biomass and Herbivory<br />
<strong>Miombo</strong> <strong>Ecoregion</strong> <strong>Report</strong>, page 31<br />
One of the emergent features of the <strong>Miombo</strong> <strong>Ecoregion</strong> that arises from the interaction of<br />
geomorphology and hydrology is the widespread occurrence of leached, nutrient-poor soils.<br />
Within this broad soil type, erosion and other physical processes have created soil nutrient<br />
gradients at different scales thereby creating a mosaic of dystrophic and eutrophic soils. A large<br />
part of the ecoregion covered with Brachystegia woodland, their associated broad-leaved<br />
Burkea‒Terminalia and Baikiaea woodlands and Cryptosepalum <strong>for</strong>est, represents a low-nutrient<br />
ecosystem, deficient in protein but relatively rich in carbon. This has several implications <strong>for</strong> the<br />
functioning and state of ecological processes.<br />
Because plant biomass has low levels of protein, mammal herbivory favours bulk feeders with a<br />
relatively long lifespan but a low reproductive rate (K-strategy species), such as elephant and<br />
buffalo (Byers 2001a). This in turn limits offtake by humans as secondary consumers. However,<br />
temporal and spatial variability in surface water and soil nutrients makes animal seasonal<br />
movements inevitable between the different habitats of the ecoregion. Valley or low-lying run-on<br />
areas covered with Acacia and mopane have eutrophic soils and plant production is more<br />
nutritious. Such habitats support more mammalian herbivores and higher biomass, especially<br />
during the dry season. However, some of the larger herbivores move out of such habitats into the<br />
adjacent nutrient-poor Brachystegia and Burkea–Terminalia woodlands, especially during the<br />
rainy season, to make use of the more nutritious green growth and abundant surface water.<br />
Again, these inter-habitat linkages emphasise the necessity of conserving biodiversity at a<br />
landscape rather than at a habitat scale.<br />
4.4 Carbon Storage and Sequestration<br />
Low herbivory and a high carbon content in plant biomass in the Brachystegia woodlands create<br />
opportunities <strong>for</strong> carbon storage. Much of the carbon in these woodlands is in the topsoil and<br />
woody biomass. Contrary to popular belief, soil organic matter in Brachystegia woodlands is not<br />
easily broken down, partly because of its structure and partly because of low soil moisture in the<br />
topsoil during the long dry season, which limits decomposer activity. Even after removal of<br />
vegetation cover, such soils do not show significant changes in organic matter content. For this<br />
reason, they can act as stable sinks <strong>for</strong> carbon.<br />
Another characteristic feature of the ecoregion is the large number of wetlands that are rich in<br />
organic matter. These include the Bangweulu swamps, Mweru-Wantipa and the Kafue Flats.<br />
They serve as important carbon storage areas of regional and global significance and should be<br />
protected from land use activities that lead to the carbon release.<br />
Woody biomass density declines along the rainfall gradient from north to south. Two types of<br />
Brachystegia woodlands are recognised: wet (>1000 mm mean annual rainfall) and dry (
<strong>Miombo</strong> <strong>Ecoregion</strong> <strong>Report</strong>, page 32<br />
the extent of releasing most of the carbon contained in roots. And although these species grow<br />
slowly from seed because of the prolonged seedling phase lasting up to two decades or more,<br />
regrowth from coppice is faster because of the already established root system. It is conceivable<br />
there<strong>for</strong>e that regrowth woodland could be managed <strong>for</strong> carbon sequestration.<br />
4.5 Nutrient Cycling<br />
Low herbivory, high carbon content relative to nitrogen in plant biomass and a long dry season<br />
when topsoil moisture is deficient, have resulted into a slow nutrient cycling system within the<br />
ecoregion. Episodic outbreaks of insect herbivores, such as caterpillars and grasshoppers, may<br />
occasionally speed up nutrient cycling, but as a rule the region is characterised by very slow<br />
cycles. In fact, Brachystegia woodland trees show a high nutrient re-absorption rate (50–60%),<br />
especially of N and P, from leaves prior to leaf fall as a strategy <strong>for</strong> conserving these critical<br />
nutrients and reducing nutrient loss to other ecosystem components (Chidumayo 1997).<br />
In some habitats, termites play an important role in nutrient cycling. They fall into three trophic<br />
groups: humus feeders, lignin feeders and mixed feeders. Humus feeders ingest decaying organic<br />
matter and mineral soil and produce a more stable organic matter in their faeces <strong>for</strong> the physicochemical<br />
and bacterial agents of degradation. The lignin feeders, which include the large mound<br />
builders, attack intact vegetation and dead material under the cover of access routes. Some of<br />
these use the material to grow fungus in their mounds which produce termite mushrooms in the<br />
rainy season. Although lignin feeders are active throughout the year, peak activity occurs in the<br />
late rainy season. Other decomposers also show seasonal rhythms in their activity with most<br />
microbial processes reaching a peak during the rainy season. Leaf litter decomposition is rapid<br />
during the early rainy season due to the activity of bacteria, mites and Collembola.<br />
Many woodland trees develop symbiotic relationships with fungi that live on or in their roots.<br />
These root fungi (mycorrhizae) have been reported to improve the nutrition, especially<br />
phosphorous absorption, and water uptake of the predominant tree species. Seedlings of<br />
Brachystegia and Julbernardia trees that normally take up to two decades or more be<strong>for</strong>e<br />
reaching the sapling stage, have been shown to grow faster in the presence of mycorrhizae.<br />
Mycorrhizae are of two types. Brachystegia woodlands are dominated by ectomycorrhizal tree<br />
species, while the drier or more eutrophic woodland types are dominated by endomycorrhizal<br />
species (e.g. Colophospermum, Baikiaea, Burkea) (Högberg 1986, Högberg & Piearce 1986,<br />
Munyanziza 1994). These symbiotic relationships are important in sustaining woodland<br />
productivity.<br />
4.6 Fire<br />
Low herbivory, high carbon content in the plant biomass, seasonality in litter decomposition and<br />
a long dry season (5–7 months) interact to create conditions in which fire plays an important role<br />
in nutrient cycling. One of the key features of the ecoregion is the frequent occurrence of dry<br />
season fires that are caused mainly by man. Annual fires tend to burn grass and woody litter and<br />
there<strong>for</strong>e do not usually add much to the accumulation of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere as<br />
emissions are recaptured the following year by annual regrowth.<br />
Fire has been a component in the <strong>Miombo</strong> <strong>Ecoregion</strong> <strong>for</strong> at least 55,000 years (Davis 1971) when<br />
it was first used as a tool <strong>for</strong> hunting and shaping the landscape during the Early Stone Age. It is<br />
there<strong>for</strong>e one of the determinants of the ecoregion, which contains communities, both plant and
<strong>Miombo</strong> <strong>Ecoregion</strong> <strong>Report</strong>, page 33<br />
animal, that exhibit variable tolerance to fire. The evolutionary effect of frequent fires has<br />
probably been the development of plant life <strong>for</strong>ms, life histories and/or phenological cycles that<br />
avoid and/or minimize fire damage. Thus floristic diversity has to varying degrees been<br />
influenced by anthropogenic fire. Maintaining fire frequency in some communities within the<br />
ecoregion will be necessary <strong>for</strong> conservation of its biodiversity.<br />
In some instances, fire, drought, impeded drainage and soil nutrient poverty have interacted to<br />
create unique plant communities, such as the chipya in Zambia and 'underground trees' (White<br />
1976). However, frequent fires are destructive in some vegetation communities, such as the<br />
evergreen Cryptosepalum and riverine/swamp <strong>for</strong>ests, and keeping fire out of them is critical to<br />
their continued existence.<br />
4.7 Human Interactions<br />
Significant human populations have inhabited the <strong>Miombo</strong> <strong>Ecoregion</strong> since the Early Stone Age,<br />
some 50,000–60,000 years ago, long be<strong>for</strong>e the introduction of food production technologies <strong>for</strong><br />
both cropping and livestock. During the Early Iron Age, the ecoregion was subject to human<br />
occupation by people who hunted game, gathered wild vegetable foods and perhaps fished. Thus<br />
the interaction of man and biodiversity in the ecoregion dates back to pre-historic periods.<br />
Because of the low soil nutrient levels, crop production has historically been based on various<br />
<strong>for</strong>ms of shifting cultivation, involving fallowing that allows woodland to regenerate. This <strong>for</strong>m<br />
of land use, including what is locally termed 'chitemene', has shaped the present day landscape<br />
cover over large parts of the ecoregion. Much Brachystegia woodland is largely secondary<br />
growth recovering from previous clearing by man. In this sense, the ecoregion can be considered<br />
a 'socio-ecological' system in which man has played a significant role in shaping the structure and<br />
composition of plant communities. This is one of the unique features of the <strong>Miombo</strong> <strong>Ecoregion</strong><br />
and its future conservation will have to take into account this age-old human-ecosystem<br />
interaction.
<strong>Miombo</strong> <strong>Ecoregion</strong> <strong>Report</strong>, page 34<br />
5. SOCIO-ECONOMIC FEATURES AND PROCESSES<br />
5.1 Socio-Economic Context<br />
The outstanding feature of the <strong>Miombo</strong> <strong>Ecoregion</strong> is the existence of inter-linkages between<br />
biophysical features and processes on one hand, and socio-economic factors and realities on the<br />
other, in what has been termed the socio-ecological model. The socio-ecological nature of the<br />
ecoregion defines both the vision <strong>for</strong> the conservation of its biodiversity and the methodological<br />
approaches to be pursued.<br />
Whilst conservation areas <strong>for</strong> the ecoregion are biologically defined, i.e. conservation targets are<br />
chosen on the basis of the biophysical characteristics, such as species diversity, endemism, etc.,<br />
socio-economic variables tend to alter the biological parameters either positively or negatively.<br />
The very fact that the ecoregion straddles across national boundaries of 11 countries lends itself<br />
to peculiarities associated with policy and legislation pertaining to conservation. The positive and<br />
negative influences of socio-economic factors on the natural environment stems primarily from<br />
the dependence of humans on natural resources in pursuit of livelihood strategies. Such<br />
dependence stems from the historical and cultural linkages that have evolved over time. These<br />
linkages are characterised by feedback loops between people and the environment.<br />
The role of socio-economic factors and processes within the ecoregion tends to be both direct and<br />
indirect, working at both the local scale and higher level scales. Human beings, the key socioeconomic<br />
agents, tend to respond to both internal and external factors and <strong>for</strong>ces in their<br />
interaction with the environment. These factors and <strong>for</strong>ces include their history, culture,<br />
economic and political circumstances, institutional arrangements and natural phenomena. Their<br />
response to these stimuli in pursuit of positive livelihood paths determines the biophysical<br />
integrity of the natural resource base which supports the livelihood options. In essence, people, as<br />
economic and social agents, aim to maximise their welfare from the consumption of goods and<br />
services, which are primarily provided by the environment. It is in light of this relationship that<br />
we recognise socio-economic variables as being key to the conservation of resources in the<br />
ecoregion. The socio-economic variables can be both threatening or enhancing the conservation<br />
of the ecoregion and its biodiversity.<br />
5.2 Key Socio-Economic Features and Processes<br />
The socio-economic realities are driven by key features and processes. It is from these<br />
overarching features and processes that socio-economic threats and opportunities emanate. They<br />
<strong>for</strong>m the linkages between the human and biophysical components of the ecoregion.<br />
5.2.1 Socio-Political Factors<br />
The <strong>Miombo</strong> <strong>Ecoregion</strong> covers over 3.8 million km 2 in 11 central and southern <strong>Africa</strong>n countries<br />
of Angola, Botswana, Burundi, Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), Malawi, Mozambique,<br />
Namibia, South <strong>Africa</strong>, Tanzania, Zambia and Zimbabwe. The human population in this area is<br />
estimated at 60 million, with an overall density of about 16 people per km 2 (Campbell 1996).<br />
Human population density over much of the ecoregion is there<strong>for</strong>e still low and patchy in<br />
comparison with other savanna regions of <strong>Africa</strong> under similar climatic conditions, although the<br />
situation is changing. The density of livestock is also relatively low. Reasons <strong>for</strong> this
<strong>Miombo</strong> <strong>Ecoregion</strong> <strong>Report</strong>, page 35<br />
demographic situation are complex, but by and large reflect the interrelationships among<br />
geology, soils, plant production and quality, wildlife and disease.<br />
The biophysical features of the ecoregion put constraints and limits on human use of natural<br />
resources and socio-economic development. Socio-economic processes in turn influence the<br />
biophysical features and processes of the ecoregion, and have done so since pre-historic times.<br />
5.2.3 Cultural Processes<br />
The <strong>Miombo</strong> <strong>Ecoregion</strong> has been inhabited <strong>for</strong> perhaps 3 million years (e.g. Broken Hill Man),<br />
although the effects of man perhaps date from only 60,000 years ago. These early humans hunted<br />
game and gathered wild vegetable foods. During the Middle Stone Age, human settlements<br />
expanded from the major river valleys and lake basins to areas on the plateau. As a result of<br />
these, most of the ecoregion has been subjected to human occupation by the end of the Middle<br />
Stone Age. There was a striving culture during the Late Stone Age about 15,000 years ago,<br />
followed by the introduction of food production technologies <strong>for</strong> both crops and livestock, as<br />
well as techniques of metallurgy, pottery and hut construction. These innovations were associated<br />
with the arrival from the Congo Basin of the Bantu-speaking Negroid people during the second<br />
to fourth century AD. These Bantu-speaking people co-inhabited the ecoregion with scattered<br />
groups of nomadic San (Bushmen) hunter-gatherers who wandered across the Central <strong>Africa</strong><br />
plateau.<br />
The evolutionary process developed an interdependence between humans and the environment,<br />
which is now embedded in the cultures of the peoples of the region. The two are thus inseparable,<br />
with humans depending on the environment <strong>for</strong> food, shelter, fibre, medicine and spiritual needs.<br />
Such a relationship to a great extent shapes the current socio-economic realities in the region.<br />
Accelerated mixing of cultures occurred during the period 1500 to 1700 when a number of<br />
migrations from the Luba and Lunda empires of Katanga in the DRC moved into the central parts<br />
of the ecoregion (Davis 1971). From AD 1800 to 1900, major migrations from Katanga ceased<br />
and were replaced by a series of migrations from South <strong>Africa</strong>. This whole period was<br />
characterised, not only by widespread raids that greatly caused cultural disturbances in the<br />
ecoregion, but also by trade in slaves, metal products and ivory that was dominated by the Arab<br />
and Swahili peoples through Tanzania and Malawi and the allies of the Portuguese, the Chikunda<br />
in Mozambique and Mambari in Angola.<br />
The widespread raiding activities of the 1800s and 1900s were only stopped by the arrival of<br />
colonialists from Europe, especially the British who established colonial administrations during<br />
the last decade of the 19th century. These interventions were marked by wide-ranging changes of<br />
institutional arrangements <strong>for</strong> the control of land and natural resources. With independence<br />
during the 1960s the new nationalist governments simply inherited institutions established by the<br />
colonial governments. Most of the conservation approaches in the ecoregion today are there<strong>for</strong>e<br />
deeply rooted in the colonial legacy.<br />
5.2.4 Land Use and Socio-Economic Development<br />
The main traditional <strong>for</strong>m of land use in the ecoregion is cultivation of small fields of cassava,<br />
sorghum, millet, maize and pulses, either under some <strong>for</strong>m of shifting cultivation involving ash<br />
fertilisation and hand tools. In drier areas, where tsetse fly and trypanosomiasis is not prevalent,<br />
livestock-rearing is the major <strong>for</strong>m of land use. In spite of the relatively small human population,<br />
such extensive land use systems have modified, and continue to modify, the ecoregion through
<strong>Miombo</strong> <strong>Ecoregion</strong> <strong>Report</strong>, page 36<br />
removal of woodland cover. After the Second World War, colonial governments encouraged the<br />
growing of cash crops, such as flue-cured tobacco and groundnuts. This was partly achieved by<br />
extensive programmes of tsetse fly eradication, thereby expanding land <strong>for</strong> agricultural<br />
production, which resulted in the widespread clearing of woodland in western Tanzania and<br />
Malawi <strong>for</strong> groundnut and tobacco cultivation (Rodgers 1996). Governments are still<br />
encouraging the growing of these and other new cash crops, causing continued woodland<br />
clearance in many areas.<br />
Land use is clearly the main linkage between the social system and the biophysical. Traditional<br />
extensive land use patterns have involved dependence on natural resource harvesting, shifting<br />
'slash and burn' cropping and livestock-keeping that is limited by water, grazing potential and<br />
trypanosomiasis. With an increasing human population and low level of socio-economic<br />
development, dependence on natural resources harvesting has increased, fallow cycles in shifting<br />
cultivation have become shorter, and the pressure to open more land <strong>for</strong> cultivation and livestock<br />
grazing has increased. From a livelihood perspective, the ecoregion is clearly important <strong>for</strong> the<br />
abundance of woodland products: wood <strong>for</strong> building, fuel, fibre and food (fungi, honey, edible<br />
insects). However, the availability of surface water has influenced human population densities,<br />
settlement patterns and movements, as it has done <strong>for</strong> livestock and wildlife.<br />
While hydropower from large dams, such as Kariba and Cabora Bassa on the Zambezi River, are<br />
important sources of energy <strong>for</strong> mining and industry, most people in the region are dependent on<br />
wood <strong>for</strong> heating and cooking fuel. There is a growing long-distance trade in firewood and<br />
charcoal from rural to urban areas. Urbanisation and industrial activities such as mining are<br />
exerting additional pressure on the biological resources. In particular, the use of fuelwood and<br />
charcoal in urban areas has accelerated de<strong>for</strong>estation, while the growing trade in game products<br />
has resulted in overexploitation of the larger mammals that have a low reproductive rate, such as<br />
elephant and rhino. Over-fishing has become a common problem in many of the fisheries.<br />
Pollution from domestic urban and industrial wastes are also affecting water quality, and in some<br />
cases creating conditions <strong>for</strong> invasion by alien species. A number of aquatic ecosystems within<br />
the ecoregion have already been invaded by the notorious water hyacinth Eichhornia crassipes,<br />
an aquatic weed that adversely affects water quality, indigenous biodiversity and water transport.<br />
Although agriculture is the dominant <strong>for</strong>m of land use in the ecoregion, conservation and natural<br />
resources management under different regimes have evolved, and are being recognised as<br />
legitimate land uses to different degrees in different countries. This recognition is still growing<br />
especially <strong>for</strong> community-based <strong>for</strong>ms of resource management and conservation. The colonial<br />
era and the period just after independence in most countries saw the designation and gazetting of<br />
several areas <strong>for</strong> conservation, mainly in the <strong>for</strong>m of protected areas. These have, and continue to<br />
contribute to, the conservation of biodiversity in their own way. In recent years, growing<br />
recognition of the role that local communities play in the management of natural resources has<br />
led to community-based natural resources management (CBNRM) initiatives in the region.<br />
Private conservation initiatives, especially <strong>for</strong> wildlife, have seen the establishment of<br />
conservancies either involving private landholders only with or without adjacent communities.<br />
Transfrontier conservation and natural resources management is an evolving land use feature<br />
within the ecoregion. Thus conservation land use is currently being driven at two main fronts.<br />
One is the protected areas approach (mainly state-owned), while the other involves several<br />
incentive-led natural resource management and resource sharing arrangements.<br />
It is estimated that state-owned protected areas within the <strong>Miombo</strong> <strong>Ecoregion</strong> comprises around<br />
13% of the total land area (IUCN 1991, WWF SARPO GIS database). A full listing is not yet<br />
available, and is compounded by confusion on equivalent status between countries and extent of
<strong>Miombo</strong> <strong>Ecoregion</strong> <strong>Report</strong>, page 37<br />
management <strong>for</strong> biodiversity. This figure includes National Parks, Game/Wildlife Management<br />
Areas (GMAs) and Recreational Areas, but does not include Forest Areas, protected areas in<br />
Afromontane parts of the ecoregion, CBNRM areas or large water bodies.<br />
Game Management Areas <strong>for</strong>m a significant part of the protected area network. They are areas<br />
where, although settlement is permitted, a major <strong>for</strong>m of land use is hunting <strong>for</strong> meat or trophies.<br />
Both Zambia and Mozambique have large extents. In Safari Areas in Zimbabwe settlement is not<br />
allowed, and they are regarded similar to National Parks. Community-based natural resource<br />
management (CBNRM) areas are mostly districts where the local authorities are actively<br />
permitting utilisation of natural resources such as wildlife and timber but on a controlled<br />
sustainable basis. Significant areas are found in Zambia, Zimbabwe and the Caprivi Strip of<br />
Namibia. Forest Areas are state-controlled and are used <strong>for</strong> either catchment protection<br />
(especially Malawi and Zambia) or <strong>for</strong> commercial timber extraction. Some are also used <strong>for</strong><br />
trophy hunting. Very often they are important areas <strong>for</strong> biodiversity conservation, both of species<br />
and ecological processes. A map of all categories of protected or utilisation areas is given in<br />
Figure 5, and extent is given in Table 3.<br />
Although current protected areas may address some of the threats to identified conservation<br />
targets, they do not address some other threats, especially those to the underlying ecological<br />
processes that maintain the integrity and resilience of the woodland system. The large national<br />
parks of the region tend to be at lower elevations and in river valleys, <strong>for</strong> example, not in<br />
catchment headwaters. Dambos, wetlands, river valleys and riparian areas are key habitats within<br />
the ecoregion <strong>for</strong> both species and processes, but their conservation depends upon maintaining a<br />
level of woodland cover above some unknown threshold value in order to preserve natural<br />
hydrological functioning.<br />
Table 3. Protected areas within the <strong>Miombo</strong> <strong>Ecoregion</strong>.<br />
Protected area type no. areas 1 total extent (km 2 ) 2<br />
National Parks 62+ 238,610<br />
Game Management Areas 21 3 234,463<br />
Forest Land 70 98,139<br />
SUBTOTAL 571,212<br />
CBNRM areas 32+ 38,406<br />
Private conservancies<br />
Transfrontier areas 7?<br />
TOTAL 609,618<br />
Source: WWF-SARPO database.<br />
Notes: 1. Includes all areas with at least part of their extent within the <strong>Miombo</strong> <strong>Ecoregion</strong>.<br />
2. Figure excludes montane protected areas and those with a significant proportion outside<br />
the <strong>Miombo</strong> <strong>Ecoregion</strong> (e.g. Kruger National Park).<br />
3. Figure is low as adjacent GMAs have been regarded as one.
<strong>Miombo</strong> <strong>Ecoregion</strong> <strong>Report</strong>, page 38<br />
Figure 5. <strong>Miombo</strong> <strong>Ecoregion</strong> – protected areas (from CI, unpublished 2008)
<strong>Miombo</strong> <strong>Ecoregion</strong> <strong>Report</strong>, page 39<br />
The protected area network tends to be concentrated in low-lying arid areas of marginal value <strong>for</strong><br />
agriculture or settlement. Disease (especially sleeping sickness) was a major constraint in the past<br />
to human settlement. Many such areas are found close to national borders, which has given rise<br />
to the concept of Trans-Frontier Conservation Areas (TFCAs). A number of these are found<br />
within the ecoregion (Cumming 1999), including the Gaza–Kruger–Gonarezhou in SE<br />
Zimbabwe/NE South <strong>Africa</strong>/S Mozambique), the Four Corners centred on the eastern Caprivi<br />
Strip, and the Niassa–Selous area of S Tanzania/N Mozambique.<br />
A full listing and analysis of protected area coverage has not yet been carried out, but many of<br />
the 26 identified biologically-significant areas incorporate existing National Parks and GMAs,<br />
and some also incorporate possible TFCAs. The major significant areas lying predominantly<br />
outside protected areas are Western Angola, Zambezi headwaters, Upper Zambezi, Great Dyke,<br />
Upper Shire/Eastern Rift, Copperbelt, Lake Mweru/Luapula, Bangweulu swamps, Moyowosi and<br />
Itigi thicket. It is recommended that a gap analysis of coverage of existing protected areas <strong>for</strong><br />
both the ecological processes and biogeographic/taxonomic elements of biodiversity is carried<br />
out.<br />
5.3 Economic and Policy Environment<br />
The <strong>Miombo</strong> <strong>Ecoregion</strong> is made up of countries which are at different stages of development, but<br />
are generally in the developing countries category. These are characterised by unfavourable<br />
economic and development indicators, such as low incomes, poverty, unstable economies,<br />
dependence on primary agricultural production, negative terms of trade, low investment, etc.<br />
Economic re<strong>for</strong>ms, such as the World Bank and IMF's economic structural adjustment<br />
programmes, are underway in some of the countries, and have several impacts on people and the<br />
environment. This economic context has affected the relative welfare of people in the region at<br />
individual, national and regional levels, and has also affected the role that governments play in<br />
the provision of social services. It has also affected conservation and protection of the region's<br />
natural wealth through the policies that governments put in place <strong>for</strong> the sake of the environment<br />
and the people's welfare. Different policies and legislation on the environment, including access<br />
to resources and land tenure regimes, are in place in different countries. Most policies have<br />
tended to negate the role that local people can play in the conservation and management of<br />
natural resources. The extent to which investment policies address environmental concerns is<br />
also inadequately addressed, but is changing within the region. More in<strong>for</strong>mation is required on<br />
the state of policy and legislation affecting biodiversity conservation in the region, and the extent<br />
to which these are harmonised to either enhance or threaten conservation ef<strong>for</strong>ts.<br />
5.3.1 Socio-economic Threats and Opportunities<br />
The identification of socio-economic factors (threats and opportunities) creates the opportunity to<br />
develop conservation programmes at both local and policy levels, both at specific sites and on an<br />
ecoregion scale. Within an ecoregion that is significantly driven by socio-economic factors, key<br />
agents such as governments, local people, existing institutions and other stakeholders can be<br />
influenced to both reverse negative impacts and to foster positive trends. In a socio-ecological<br />
system, such as the <strong>Miombo</strong> <strong>Ecoregion</strong>, it is necessary to maintain the balance between human<br />
benefit from the available resources base and the capacity of the biophysical components to<br />
recover from human and natural induced change and stress. This provides the incentive <strong>for</strong> both<br />
components to support each other. Such a balance requires the identification of system features<br />
that are resilient and able to tolerate stress and change without collapsing, as well as features that<br />
are vulnerable to collapse. Equally important is the need to identify factors threatening and
<strong>Miombo</strong> <strong>Ecoregion</strong> <strong>Report</strong>, page 40<br />
enhancing the conservation of these system features. In essence, biodiversity conservation goals<br />
cannot be realistically established and achieved without consideration of human livelihoods and<br />
well-being.<br />
During the visioning process, specific threats and opportunities were identified in the ecoregion,<br />
and attempts were made to represent these on maps of the ecoregion. The steps followed in the<br />
identification and mapping of threats and opportunities are:<br />
� Developing linkages between the human component and the environment, thereby<br />
identifying variables on the interface between the two (key drivers)<br />
� Identification of cross-cutting issues and their categorisation<br />
� Identification of opportunities and threats from these issues, including underlying causes<br />
� Rank the opportunities and determine which could be mapped<br />
� Developing proxies to use <strong>for</strong> mapping threats and opportunities that are not mappable<br />
� Identification of base maps to use <strong>for</strong> the mapping of priority opportunities and threats<br />
� Map out areas in which identified threats and opportunities occur or have potential in the<br />
ecoregion.<br />
However, because of poor data availability and representation from all countries of the<br />
ecoregion, the mapping of threats and opportunities remained with gaps that would need to be<br />
filled.<br />
5.3.2 Cross-cutting Factors<br />
Some threats and opportunities and their underlying causes are cross-cutting. These include:<br />
� Macro-economic environment and economic re<strong>for</strong>ms<br />
� Poverty<br />
� Wars and civil unrest<br />
� Breakdown of traditional and social structures among communities<br />
� Natural resources management structures among institutions<br />
� Social cohesion<br />
� Recognition of local capacity to manage resources.<br />
These factors <strong>for</strong>m the socio-economic drivers. They may not individually be traced to specific<br />
locations, i.e. may not be subject to mapping, but may influence the human-environment<br />
interactions at particular sites.<br />
5.3.3 Threats<br />
Landscape-scale threats to biodiversity include woodland clearance and the consequential<br />
changes in hydrological and ecological processes. For the <strong>for</strong>eseeable future (up to 50 years)<br />
peoples of the region will continue to be highly dependent on natural resources given the low<br />
levels of economic development. If they do not benefit from alternative uses of the resources that<br />
support conservation, they will be more likely to increase their harvest and exploitation of the<br />
resources in order to survive, thereby worsening the integrity of the same resources. Examples of<br />
such behaviour include clearance of vegetation <strong>for</strong> cultivation, leading to loss of woodland cover.<br />
This is the most important threat to the ecoregion, and the consequential loss of hydrological and<br />
ecological functions would tend to have a cascading effect on biodiversity conservation.<br />
Woodland loss should be seen as the key threat to all of the conservation targets in the ecoregion.
The proximate causes of woodland cover loss are:<br />
<strong>Miombo</strong> <strong>Ecoregion</strong> <strong>Report</strong>, page 41<br />
� Rising poverty, unemployment, hunger and debt<br />
� Increase in demand <strong>for</strong>, and use of, natural resources<br />
� Mis-governance, corruption and rent-seeking by government institutions<br />
� Perverse national economic incentives, including agricultural pricing policies, that<br />
encourage land clearance<br />
� Refugee movements and settlements<br />
� Inadequate property rights.<br />
These proximate causes in turn are caused by root (ultimate) causes, such as:<br />
� Population growth<br />
� Inequitable land and resource access and tenure<br />
� Economic stagnation<br />
� Weak government institutions<br />
� Civil unrest and war.<br />
Though many socio-economic factors threaten the ecoregion, five key threats were identified and<br />
mapped during the visioning process:<br />
� Agricultural expansion<br />
� Population density and growth<br />
� Infrastructural development<br />
� De<strong>for</strong>estation – distinguished from de<strong>for</strong>estation due to agricultural expansion because of<br />
the peculiar socio-economic factors driving it<br />
� Competition <strong>for</strong> water.<br />
These are addressed individually below.<br />
Agricultural Expansion<br />
70% of the ecoregion is under small-scale agriculture. Rural farmers will thus play a key role in<br />
determining the fate of the landscape. The region depends heavily on agriculture to the extent<br />
that continued demand <strong>for</strong> food and raw materials will be met by increasing areas under<br />
cultivation. Agricultural expansion trans<strong>for</strong>ms <strong>for</strong>est land into agricultural land, leading to total<br />
loss of species and vegetation. Current and potential agricultural expansion in the region is in<br />
tobacco and cotton growing areas, in areas converted from large-scale commercial farming to<br />
small-scale farming. Areas with good soils and high rainfall (> 800 mm/year) are also threatened<br />
by agricultural expansion, as are areas where population densities are high. Several factors,<br />
including macroeconomic re<strong>for</strong>ms, agricultural commodity pricing policies, agrarian re<strong>for</strong>ms,<br />
support <strong>for</strong> the agricultural sector (currently low), do influence agricultural expansion. However,<br />
these factors are not subject to mapping.<br />
Population Density<br />
Areas with high population densities of greater than 10 persons/km 2 are threatened by human<br />
pressure. Demand <strong>for</strong> natural resources and environmental services is highest in highly populated<br />
areas. The population density map indicates areas that are most highly threatened.
<strong>Miombo</strong> <strong>Ecoregion</strong> <strong>Report</strong>, page 42<br />
Infrastructural Development<br />
Development of infrastructure is accompanied by destruction of flora and fauna and their<br />
ecosystems, thus disturbing their processes. This threat is high in a region whose infrastructure is<br />
still developing. Mappable infrastructural developments threatening the biodiversity of the<br />
<strong>Miombo</strong> <strong>Ecoregion</strong> are:<br />
� Lakes<br />
� Cities and other urban and business centres<br />
� Major roads and railways<br />
� Electricity grid lines<br />
� Mineral deposits.<br />
De<strong>for</strong>estation<br />
Apart from agricultural expansion, de<strong>for</strong>estation arising from other socio-economic drivers is a<br />
major threat to the ecoregion and its biodiversity. Examples of such drivers include:<br />
� Charcoal and firewood making<br />
� Illegal logging<br />
� Fish smoking and tobacco curing (in some areas)<br />
� Refugee areas<br />
� Unsustainable wildlife levels, e.g. elephants<br />
� De<strong>for</strong>estation in dambos.<br />
Competition <strong>for</strong> Water<br />
The demand <strong>for</strong> water is going to increase in the <strong>for</strong>eseeable future as population and economic<br />
development progress. As such, competition <strong>for</strong> water <strong>for</strong> both human and ecological functions is<br />
<strong>for</strong>ecast to increase. Competition will be high between upstream and downstream users and uses<br />
of water, especially competition <strong>for</strong> uncontaminated water. The competition <strong>for</strong> water <strong>for</strong><br />
different uses is an important threat as water is critical <strong>for</strong> ecosystem functions. However because<br />
of knowledge gaps, more in<strong>for</strong>mation is required in identifying threatened areas.<br />
5.3.4 Opportunities<br />
In spite of the many threats to biodiversity conservation in the ecoregion, opportunities exist <strong>for</strong><br />
improving the current situation and <strong>for</strong> innovative approaches to be implemented. Socioeconomic<br />
opportunities provide a niche and competitive edge against which conservation actions<br />
can be implemented. Socio-economic factors that provide opportunities in priority conservation<br />
areas enhance the implementation of initiatives. In fact, they lend themselves as plat<strong>for</strong>ms on<br />
which conservation ef<strong>for</strong>ts may be built. Opportunities identified by the visioning process<br />
include:<br />
� Food security coping strategies among communities living with resources<br />
� Increased capacity to build local level capacity to manage natural resources<br />
� International, regional and sub-regional processes and agreements<br />
� Sustainable use and expanded markets <strong>for</strong> non-timber <strong>for</strong>est products<br />
� Non-agricultural <strong>for</strong>ms of land use.<br />
Food Security Coping Strategies<br />
Food-coping strategies have the potential to reduce demand <strong>for</strong> agricultural land and excessive<br />
demand <strong>for</strong> <strong>for</strong>est products. These include drought-tolerant crops, employment and income
<strong>Miombo</strong> <strong>Ecoregion</strong> <strong>Report</strong>, page 43<br />
opportunities, use of traditional foods to supplement agricultural production, and poverty<br />
alleviation programs. Most countries in the region have developed or are developing poverty<br />
reduction strategies <strong>for</strong> implementation with assistance from the World Bank. Poverty is one of<br />
the proximate causes of woodland cover loss in the ecoregion, and poverty reduction can open<br />
wider opportunities <strong>for</strong> biodiversity conservation.<br />
Increased Scope <strong>for</strong> Building Local-level Capacity to Manage Natural Resources<br />
The nations in the ecoregion are implementing CBNRM programmes and appropriate land tenure<br />
arrangements <strong>for</strong> these. Low population density also provides opportunities <strong>for</strong> expanding<br />
existing CBNRMs. The ecoregion has existing and potential TBCAs that can be used <strong>for</strong> the<br />
conservation of wildlife across international borders.<br />
International, Regional and Sub-regional Processes and Agreements<br />
Existing agreements and processes concerning conservation of biodiversity in the ecoregion are<br />
an important policy opportunity <strong>for</strong> enhancing the conservation of natural resources. These<br />
include the SADC protocols, Trans-border natural resources management programs, World<br />
Heritage sites and the existing protected areas network, SADC shared watercourses protocol and<br />
numerous other international conventions.<br />
Sustainable Use and Expanded Markets <strong>for</strong> Non-timber Forest Products (NTFPs)<br />
There are a number of NTFPs in the ecoregion with potential <strong>for</strong> increased and sustainable use<br />
and expanded markets. These include mushrooms, indigenous fruits and products, caterpillars,<br />
honey, game, crafts and carvings. The sustainable use of these products can reduce landscape<br />
cover change and increase chances <strong>for</strong> the successful implementation of biodiversity<br />
conservation.<br />
Non-agricultural Land Use<br />
Non-agricultural land use offers an opportunity <strong>for</strong> generating incomes from non-agricultural<br />
products, such as wildlife, tourism, bee keeping and <strong>for</strong>est plantation products. Promotion of<br />
such non-agricultural land uses will reduce loss of woodland cover and thereby provide and<br />
increase opportunities <strong>for</strong> biodiversity conservation.
<strong>Miombo</strong> <strong>Ecoregion</strong> <strong>Report</strong>, page 44<br />
6. CONSERVATION VISION AND AREAS OF BIOLOGICAL<br />
IMPORTANCE<br />
6.1 <strong>Vision</strong> Statement<br />
In 50 years the peoples and nations of the region would like to have:<br />
"A biologically diverse and ecologically functional <strong>Miombo</strong> <strong>Ecoregion</strong> that meets and sustains<br />
human needs and development through the sustainable use of natural resources, landscapes,<br />
species and environmental processes, thereby providing both the resources and the incentives<br />
<strong>for</strong> conserving biodiversity."<br />
The workshop understood that "biologically diverse" signifies the maintenance of existing levels<br />
of species diversity and the number and status of endemics.<br />
6.1.1 Rationale<br />
The biophysical features and processes that maintain ecological resilience and integrity in the<br />
<strong>Miombo</strong> <strong>Ecoregion</strong> include:<br />
� Complex surface/subsurface hydrological processes that lead to slow release of water from<br />
watersheds and catchments and delayed or regulated water flow in major rivers<br />
� Regulatory function of woodlands in hydrological processes and nutrient cycling<br />
� Mosaic of habitats at several scales, including the broad landscape scale<br />
� Mobility of organisms between habitats/landscape units including humans, livestock and<br />
wildlife<br />
� High carbon landscape in which carbon sequestration maintains integrity and resilience and<br />
influences microbial processes, nutrient cycling and vegetative regeneration<br />
� Dominance of megaherbivores with episodic outbreaks of insect herbivores<br />
� Interrelationship of hydrology, wildlife movement, and human settlements<br />
� Fire.<br />
The ecoregion contains a number of unique or important habitats or communities, it is a centre of<br />
Caesalpinoid diversity and supports unique 'underground' trees, a high fungal and termite<br />
diversity, and a number of keystone vertebrates such as elephant, buffalo and hippo. The<br />
ecoregion is also important <strong>for</strong> carbon storage and sequestration, as well as <strong>for</strong> the albedoreducing<br />
effects of its extensive woodland canopy cover.<br />
Perhaps the key socio-economic feature of the <strong>Miombo</strong> <strong>Ecoregion</strong> is the prevalence of livelihood<br />
strategies based on indigenous knowledge and land use systems. These are adapted to low<br />
population densities over a wide biogeographic area. Low nutrient and protein systems,<br />
widespread use of timber and non-timber <strong>for</strong>est products and seasonal movements of livestock<br />
and wildlife also characterise the area. Thus conservation in the ecoregion should seek to<br />
maintain and sustain:<br />
� Biophysical features and processes that maintain ecological resilience and integrity<br />
� Ecological processes that produce essential goods and services that sustain human<br />
livelihoods
<strong>Miombo</strong> <strong>Ecoregion</strong> <strong>Report</strong>, page 45<br />
� Existing species diversity and levels of endemism<br />
� Unique habitats, communities and landscapes<br />
� Human livelihoods and social systems, norms, and the knowledge that allows the<br />
biophysical system to be sustained<br />
� Other features of global importance, such as carbon storage and sequestration processes.<br />
6.2 Areas of Importance <strong>for</strong> <strong>Biodiversity</strong> Conservation<br />
Regional specialists at the September 2001 <strong>Vision</strong> Workshop identified a number of areas of<br />
importance <strong>for</strong> different taxa. The process of area determination was based principally from a<br />
series of maps produced earlier <strong>for</strong> WWF-SARPO by the <strong>Biodiversity</strong> <strong>Foundation</strong> <strong>for</strong> <strong>Africa</strong><br />
(later published as Timberlake et al. 2011). They covered, <strong>for</strong> a range of taxonomic groups<br />
(plants, large mammals, small mammals, birds, herps, fish, dragonflies, butterflies), areas of high<br />
species diversity, endemism, threatened species, important populations of various groups, areas<br />
of evolutionary significance, and areas important <strong>for</strong> movement or migration. Areas determined<br />
by the workshop <strong>for</strong> each taxonomic group or feature were roughly drawn on regional maps.<br />
Following this, working groups amalgamated the overlying polygons <strong>for</strong> each taxonomic group<br />
to <strong>for</strong>m 22 areas of biological significance, many of them transboundary, and these were<br />
provisionally described.<br />
Over the period February to April 2002 a series of national workshops were held, incorporating<br />
national biological, socio-economic and conservation specialists. They were held in Lusaka<br />
(covering Zambia and the Congo), Dar es Salaam (covering Tanzania), Harare (covering<br />
Zimbabwe, Botswana and Namibia) and Maputo (covering Malawi and Mozambique). During<br />
the national workshops the relevant selected areas were carefully assessed both biologically and<br />
from a conservation/socio-economic perspective, and boundaries redrawn if necessary. In some<br />
cases areas were split into two. Additional biological in<strong>for</strong>mation was recorded along with any<br />
conservation threats and opportunities. The output from these workshops is shown in Figure 6<br />
and described below. Major taxonomic attributes are shown in Table 4.<br />
It should be stressed that their boundaries are approximate and have not been carefully<br />
demarcated. There has also been no attempt to prioritise them with respect to each other. More<br />
careful analysis of the relative importance of the different taxonomic groups and processes is still<br />
required, and a more careful assessment of threats, opportunities and appropriate conservation<br />
actions is needed.<br />
1. WESTERN ANGOLA<br />
An extensive and poorly documented area covering much of Huila, Huambo, Benguela and Bié<br />
provinces in western Angola. It includes the high plateau above the escarpment comprising wet<br />
and dry miombo woodland, high altitude grassland, and patches of moist <strong>for</strong>est and escarpment<br />
woodland. Part of the proposed area is situated on the margins of the <strong>Miombo</strong> <strong>Ecoregion</strong><br />
(including the biologically-rich Angolan escarpment) and it includes areas perhaps better<br />
incorporated in adjacent coastal or <strong>for</strong>est ecoregions. More in<strong>for</strong>mation is required on this area,<br />
both in terms of its extent and its biological attributes.<br />
Many of Angola's 1260 endemic plant species are said to be found here and along the<br />
escarpment. The endemic giant sable antelope is restricted to the area around the Luando Game<br />
Reserve. A number of miombo endemic birds (e.g. Pale-billed Hornbill, Boehm's Flycatcher) are<br />
found in the Huambo highlands, while at least five globally endangered bird species are restricted
<strong>Miombo</strong> <strong>Ecoregion</strong> <strong>Report</strong>, page 46<br />
to the escarpment at the edge of the ecoregion. The upper Cunene river system in the south is rich<br />
in fish (63 species), of which 13% are endemic.<br />
Three protected areas are incorporated – Bicuari, Mupa and Luando – but their current status is<br />
not known.<br />
Table 4. Areas considered to be of importance <strong>for</strong> conservation in the <strong>Miombo</strong><br />
<strong>Ecoregion</strong>, along with taxonomic interest.<br />
no. Area plants<br />
mamm. birds<br />
herps<br />
fish<br />
inverts animal<br />
move.<br />
other<br />
ERs<br />
1 Western Angola × × × × ×<br />
2 Zambezi headwaters × × × × × × ×<br />
3 Upper Zambezi × × × × × ×<br />
4 Kafue Flats × × ×<br />
5 Four Corners × × × × × ×<br />
6 Mid-Zambezi valley × × × × ×<br />
7 Great Dyke ×<br />
8 Matobo hills × × × ×<br />
9 Shashe/Limpopo valley × × × ×<br />
10 Gaza/Kruger/Gonarezhou × × × × × ×<br />
11 Manicaland/Nyanga × × × ×<br />
12 Manicaland/Chimanimani × × × × × ×<br />
13 Gorongosa/Marromeu × × × × × × × ×<br />
14 Luangwa valley/Kasungu × × × × ×<br />
15 Mzimba/Nkotakota × × × × ×<br />
16 Upper Shire/Eastern rift × × × × × × ×<br />
17 Lower Shire/Western rift × × × ×<br />
18 Copperbelt × ×<br />
19 Upemba/Kundelungu × × × × × × ×<br />
20 Lake Mweru/Luapula × × × × × ×<br />
21 Bangweulu swamps × × × × ×<br />
22 Moyowosi × × × × × × × ×<br />
23 Rukwa valley × × × × ×<br />
24 Itigi thicket × × × ×<br />
25 Selous/Kilombero × × × × × ×<br />
26 Lower Rovuma × × × ×
<strong>Miombo</strong> <strong>Ecoregion</strong> <strong>Report</strong>, page 47<br />
Figure 6. <strong>Miombo</strong> <strong>Ecoregion</strong> – areas of particular conservation interest (from WWF<br />
SARPO 2003).<br />
2. ZAMBEZI HEADWATERS<br />
An area along the Zambezi–Congo watershed in NW Zambia and southern DRC. It includes a<br />
broad swathe each side of the Congo–Angola and Congo–Zambia borders incorporating<br />
relatively flat country, and in Zambia it also includes the Ikelege pedicle and much of
<strong>Miombo</strong> <strong>Ecoregion</strong> <strong>Report</strong>, page 48<br />
Mwinilunga district extending down to West Lunga. The area is a transition zone between the<br />
<strong>Miombo</strong> <strong>Ecoregion</strong> and the Congolian rain<strong>for</strong>est ecoregion. It is very diverse with species from<br />
both regions. The main vegetation type is wet miombo, but there are significant inclusions of<br />
dambo grassland, swamp, swamp <strong>for</strong>est and dry evergreen <strong>for</strong>est, including that dominated by<br />
Cryptosepalum. Chipya (Acacia–Combretum woodland) is also present.<br />
Plant diversity is very high in a small area (around 1000 woody species) owing to a mixture of<br />
Zambesian and Congolian elements, and there at least 53 species of restricted distribution<br />
(possibly endemic). The area has high small mammal diversity and four endemics (Crocidura<br />
ansellorum, Malacomys australis, Rhinolophus sp. nov., Graphiurus monardi). Bird diversity is<br />
high with many species of Congolian affinity (e.g. <strong>Africa</strong>n Wood-pigeon, Honeyguide<br />
Greenbul). A rich herpetofauna (57 reptiles, 35 amphibians) includes Congolian elements. Fish<br />
diversity is high, as elsewhere in the upper tributaries of the Zambezi. Both butterfly diversity<br />
and endemism are high (e.g. Euptera freyja, Spindasis pinheyi, Kedestes pinheyi), and the area is<br />
very rich in dragonflies.<br />
There are no protected areas except <strong>for</strong> the West Lunga National Park in the south and several<br />
small Forest Areas in Zambia. The Ikelege pedicle is a National Heritage site. Protected status in<br />
the DRC and Angola is not known.<br />
The area is important <strong>for</strong> hydrological processes and <strong>for</strong> water catchment protection. It is also as<br />
a carbon sink. The major threat is severe de<strong>for</strong>estation, much of it associated with refugees<br />
fleeing the instability in Angola and the DRC resulting in much new settlement and overexploitation<br />
of natural resources, including game animals. Uncontrolled bush fires are also a<br />
problem. There is significant apicultural potential, but debarking of Brachystegia trees to make<br />
hives is a threat in some areas. Various community-based af<strong>for</strong>estation schemes using indigenous<br />
species are in place.<br />
3. UPPER ZAMBEZI WOODLANDS & FLOODPLAINS<br />
An extensive area of wetland, grassland, Baikiaea woodland, wet and dry miombo woodland and<br />
Cryptosepalum <strong>for</strong>est on Kalahari sands in western Zambia and adjacent eastern Angola,<br />
extending from Senanga north through Mongu and Zambezi into Angola, and incorporating the<br />
Liuwa and similar plains. It covers the Zambezi (Bulozi) floodplain, pans and surrounding level<br />
plateau of the middle reaches of the Upper Zambezi.<br />
There are 80–100 plant endemics or species with their core distribution in the area, particularly<br />
woody suffrutices. A significant proportion of the total extent of Cryptosepalum <strong>for</strong>est is<br />
incorporated. The only true mammal migration in the ecoregion – of wildebeest – occurs between<br />
the Liuwa plains and eastern Angola, an area that also supports good populations of roan<br />
antelope, tsessebe and wild dog. The grasslands contain a number of isolated populations of<br />
Cisticola warblers, possibly undergoing speciation, and the wetlands support a high waterbird<br />
diversity and abundance. Significant numbers of Wattled Crane are found. A rich herpetofauna<br />
(70 reptile and 34 amphibian species) reflects a mixture of Congolian, Kalahari, miombo and<br />
East <strong>Africa</strong>n elements. There are five endemic reptiles (Typhacontias gracilis, Typhlosaurus<br />
jappi, Zygaspis nigra, Dalophia ellenbergeri, Rhamphiophis acutus jappi) and an endemic frog<br />
(Hemisus barotseensis). The Upper Zambezi, of which this area is a core component, has been an<br />
important centre <strong>for</strong> fish evolution, and the ichthyofauna is still largely intact, with a high<br />
diversity of 90 species.
<strong>Miombo</strong> <strong>Ecoregion</strong> <strong>Report</strong>, page 49<br />
The Liuwa Plains National Park is included and a significant portion in the west of Zambia is a<br />
Game Management Area. A number of small protected <strong>for</strong>est areas are included. The<br />
conservation status in Angola is not known.<br />
Major threats are de<strong>for</strong>estation, extensive regular fires and overgrazing in places. The Bulozi<br />
plain area is an important rangeland with high cattle numbers. Other localised threats include<br />
illegal logging <strong>for</strong> Baikiaea and Pterocarpus angolensis, overfishing and commercial rice<br />
production in some of the tributary dambos.<br />
4. KAFUE FLATS<br />
An area of south central Zambia centred on the Kafue Flats, including the southern section of the<br />
Kafue National Park and adjacent Game Management Area (GMA). The main vegetation types<br />
are wetland and floodplain grassland, but there are significant adjacent areas of miombo, Acacia–<br />
Combretum and mopane woodland. It runs from the immediate western catchment of Lake Itezi-<br />
Tezhi, along the floodplain of the Kafue River to Kafue township.<br />
The area contains important wetland habitat, although the floodplain and extent of flooding have<br />
been greatly modified by the construction of the Itezi-Tezhi dam. An threatened endemic<br />
antelope, the Kafue lechwe (a subspecies, although possibly a full species), is confined to the<br />
flats, and is declining in number. Important local seasonal movements of lechwe, zebra and<br />
waterbuck also occur on the floodplain. The floodplain, wetland and pan areas are of<br />
international significance <strong>for</strong> the seasonally high numbers of waterbirds, both in terms of<br />
numbers of species (>60) and numbers of individuals, that are found there, including significant<br />
numbers of Wattled Crane. There is one endemic killifish (Nothobranchius kafuensis) found in<br />
seasonal pans.<br />
The area incorporates two small national parks on the floodplain, Blue Lagoon and Lochinvar,<br />
the southern part of Kafue National Park, and an adjacent GMA.<br />
Pressures on the Kafue floodplain are great, mostly through hydrological changes resulting from<br />
dam construction, but also from heavy fishing levels and inappropriate fishing practices, illegal<br />
hunting of antelope, de<strong>for</strong>estation of parts of the immediate catchment, commercial sugar<br />
plantations just outside to the south, agricultural pollution and infestation by aquatic weeds.<br />
Severe competition <strong>for</strong> water from the Kafue River and the presence of a major urban centre –<br />
Lusaka – close by, exacerbate these threats. Human population pressures are high. However,<br />
there is substantial tourism potential. In the west there is a GMA, and a CBNRN project is in<br />
place.<br />
5. FOUR CORNERS<br />
An extensive transfrontier area, mostly on Kalahari sand, spanning the East Caprivi, northern<br />
Botswana, southwest Zambia up to the boundary of the Kafue National Park and northwest<br />
Zimbabwe south to northern Tsholotsho communal land and east to the Gwayi River. The<br />
vegetation is mostly Baikiaea and mopane woodlands, with smaller areas of dry miombo,<br />
Burkea–Terminalia and Acacia woodland, grassland and wetland, and riverine woodland along<br />
the Zambezi. It is the mosaic of woodland, grassland and wetland that provides much of the<br />
biological significance. Additional features of interest are the fossil Pleistocene dune fields that<br />
cover part of the area, and the fact that the Kazungula/East Caprivi area was the focal point <strong>for</strong><br />
the palaeo-drainage of the Upper Zambezi be<strong>for</strong>e river capture.<br />
The large mammal fauna is relatively intact and very diverse, with good populations of large<br />
herbivores (elephant, hippo, black rhino, white rhino, buffalo) and predators (lion, leopard,
<strong>Miombo</strong> <strong>Ecoregion</strong> <strong>Report</strong>, page 50<br />
cheetah, wild dog). There are about 160,000 elephant in the area, about a quarter of <strong>Africa</strong>'s total<br />
elephant population. Species present of restricted distribution include sitatunga, puku and Red<br />
lechwe antelope. Endangered species include black rhino and wild dog. There are significant<br />
movements of megafauna across international borders, particularly between the Hwange/Matetsi<br />
complex and Chobe where 10 corridors have been identified (<strong>for</strong> elephant, hippo, buffalo, zebra,<br />
wildebeest). There is a suggestion that elephant movement between the Four Corners and Kafue<br />
National Park should be restored. The high bird species diversity (over 500, including 63 raptor<br />
species), includes significant populations of Ostrich and Kori Bustard. The total world population<br />
of Black-cheeked Lovebird is found in the area close to Kafue National Park. Palaearctic<br />
migrants are common, particularly on seasonal pans. Two areas of high herp diversity are<br />
incorporated with over 81 species of reptile and 30 amphibians, including species typical of the<br />
Kalahari. The area <strong>for</strong>ms part of the upper Zambezi system with a high fish species diversity.<br />
There is one endemic fish (Nothobranchius sp.) in pans in the East Caprivi. The area along the<br />
Zambezi below Kazungula is rich in both Odonata and Lepidoptera with at least two endemics.<br />
The four corners incorporates a number of protected areas – Chobe, Hwange, Zambezi, Matetsi,<br />
Kazuma Pan, Sioma-Ngwezi and Mamili. A trans-frontier conservation agreement is being put in<br />
place, and the area has high tourism potential, particularly <strong>for</strong> conservation business ventures.<br />
Economically, tourism is particularly important, with major centres in Victoria Falls/Livingstone,<br />
Hwange National Park and Chobe. Major threats are plans <strong>for</strong> water extraction from the Zambezi<br />
(although this is most likely to occur further downstream), regional security issues (in Angola<br />
and the Caprivi Strip), and conflicting land uses. This includes problem animal control in some<br />
areas, and conflicts in communal lands in Zimbabwe and the East Caprivi. There are, however,<br />
numerous CBNRN projects in Zimbabwe, East Caprivi and northern Botswana. Poaching is<br />
problematic in places. Timber extraction was a major industry in the past, and unsustainable<br />
logging <strong>for</strong> Pterocarpus angolensis and Baikiaea plurijuga, particularly in Zambia, is a major<br />
concern.<br />
6. MID-ZAMBEZI VALLEY<br />
A low-lying area along the Zambezi river from the upper end of Lake Kariba to the Cabora Bassa<br />
dam wall, encompassing the Zimbabwe/Zambia border and part of northwest Mozambique. The<br />
area includes the Zambezi escarpment and part of the plateau to the north of lakes Kariba and<br />
Cabora Bassa. Most of the vegetation is mopane woodland, with dry miombo on the escarpment<br />
and riverine woodland on alluvium along larger rivers. The area includes important patches of<br />
the regionally-threatened Combretum–Xylia torreana dry <strong>for</strong>est/thicket, and some significant<br />
pans.<br />
There are probably 1500–2000 plant species, including 8–10 endemics, reflecting the wide range<br />
of habitats. The mammal fauna is relatively intact with a very diverse large mammal fauna,<br />
including predators (lion, cheetah, leopard), major populations of elephant (17,000+), hippo<br />
(2000+) and buffalo, and a small concentration of black rhino. Significant local movements of<br />
elephant occur. Over 400 bird species have been recorded, including important breeding<br />
populations of Carmine Bee-eater, Rock Pratincole, Lilian's Lovebird and <strong>Africa</strong>n Skimmer.<br />
There are two Important Bird Areas (IBA) – the Mavuradonha mountains IBA containing a<br />
significant number of biome-restricted species, and the Mid-Zambezi Valley IBA with over 1%<br />
of the global population of Rock Pratincole, <strong>Africa</strong>n Skimmer and Carmine Bee-eater. The<br />
Angolan Pitta is locally common in thickets. Lake Cabora Bassa appears to be an important overwintering<br />
site <strong>for</strong> some migratory species. There is some altitudinal movement of birds up and<br />
down the escarpment. The Zambezi River, lakes Cabora Bassa and Kariba are important breeding<br />
areas <strong>for</strong> the Nile crocodile.
<strong>Miombo</strong> <strong>Ecoregion</strong> <strong>Report</strong>, page 51<br />
A number of protected areas (Chete, Matusadona, Charara, Hurungwe, Mana Pools, Sapi,<br />
Chewore, Dande, Lower Zambezi) are incorporated within the area, and also a number of<br />
CBNRM areas (Binga, Omay, Guruve in Zimbabwe, and Tchumo Tchato in Mozambique).<br />
However, there is no <strong>for</strong>mally protected area in the Mozambique portion.<br />
The two large recreational man-made lakes are important areas <strong>for</strong> tourism, both regional and<br />
local. There is great tourism potential, especially associated with these lakes and the Zambezi. In<br />
addition, both lakes are very important fisheries <strong>for</strong> both the local population and commercially<br />
(the latter principally <strong>for</strong> the introduced pelagic kapenta). An incipient trans-frontier conservation<br />
agreement is being negotiated, but in the meantime cooperation between adjacent districts is<br />
beginning in the <strong>for</strong>m of wildlife management and utilisation.<br />
The major threats are the rapid expansion of agriculture, particularly cotton production, outside<br />
protected areas, mostly resulting from development projects and tsetse control. Massive changes<br />
in hydrology and flooding regimes resulted from the construction of various dams on the<br />
Zambezi and its tributaries, and plans exist <strong>for</strong> an additional dam on the downstream edge of the<br />
area (Mepanda Uncua). Construction of veterinary fences is disrupting wildlife movement and<br />
precluding some land use options. Fragmentation of habitats, particularly <strong>for</strong> large mammals, is<br />
seen as a problem, while fish populations are threatened by both changes in hydrology and<br />
chemical pollution. Various CBNRM projects are creating pockets of resulting increasing<br />
welfare, and wildlife (safari hunting) is increasingly being seen as a viable land use option.<br />
7. GREAT DYKE<br />
The Great Dyke is a prominent, almost straight geological <strong>for</strong>mation outcropping across the<br />
middle of Zimbabwe in a NE–SW direction. There are two distinct sections, north and south. The<br />
northern section lies north-east of Harare, while the longer southern ection loies west of Gweru<br />
and Kadoma. Much of the Dyke consists of ultrabasic serpentine rocks, hence the derived soils<br />
have an inverted Mg:Ca ratio that causes them to be toxic to many plants. Species have to be<br />
specially adapted. The vegetation on the mineral-toxic soils is grassland, with Acacia woodland<br />
on other clay soils and Brachystegia–Julbernardia woodland on the adjacent granite.<br />
Hydromorphic grasslands on vertisols are found nearby.<br />
There are 20–30 endemic species of plant, most of which are found on the northern section, while<br />
only four species are confined only to the southern section. Mammal, bird and herp populations<br />
are not particularly special. Threatened species include the palm Raphia farinifera, confined to a<br />
few streamsides in the north, and succulents such as Euphorbia nemoralis and Aloe ortholopha,<br />
sought after by collectors.<br />
There are no significant protected areas, except <strong>for</strong> two small Botanic Reserves <strong>for</strong> palms in the<br />
north and the Mavuradonha Wilderness Area on the edge of the Zambezi Valley. Most of the<br />
area is privately owned.<br />
Settlement and agriculture on the Great Dyke itself are minimal owing to unsuitable soils, but<br />
there is much small-scale and large-scale commercial mining <strong>for</strong> chrome and platinum,<br />
respectively. Small-scale mining and mine dumps do not pose a significant threat, but vegetation<br />
clearance associated with large mine complexes and fire do. On the fertile, non-toxic, adjacent<br />
areas, woodlands are cleared <strong>for</strong> grazing and wood. Potentials <strong>for</strong> ecotourism are good, especially<br />
in the more scenic northern section.
<strong>Miombo</strong> <strong>Ecoregion</strong> <strong>Report</strong>, page 52<br />
8. MATOBO HILLS<br />
An eroded granite batholith in western Zimbabwe, south of Bulawayo, giving rise to a series of<br />
rocky hills and bare rock interspersed with Burkea–Terminalia woodland and grasslands. There<br />
are small patches of mopane woodland and gully <strong>for</strong>est. In the eastern part there are important<br />
seeps and wetlands with peat.<br />
There are five endemic plant taxa (Cyphostemma milleri, Lobelia lobata, Maytenus heterophylla<br />
subsp. puberula, Triaspis dumeticola, Turrea fischeri subsp. eyelsii). The wetter eastern section<br />
contains significant outlying populations of a number of <strong>for</strong>est and mesic species, more typical of<br />
E Zimbabwe, as well as wetland species, both very unusual this far west in the region. The area<br />
has a high density of medium-sized predators including leopard and various raptors, with one of<br />
the highest densities worldwide of breeding Black Eagle. It is the predator-prey relationship<br />
based on a high density of rock hyrax that is particularly unusual. Protected (introduced)<br />
populations of Black and White Rhino are also found. There is a high species richness of<br />
Odonata and Lepidoptera.<br />
The Matopos National Park <strong>for</strong>ms the central part of the area, but a significant portion is<br />
commercial farmland, with communal land on the southern margin. There are a number of very<br />
important cultural sites in the area, leading to its proposal as a World Heritage site. Tourism is<br />
well developed, but there are land use conflicts at the margins of the area resulting from<br />
increasing human and livestock populations, which has led to various CBNRM initiatives. The<br />
Matobo hills are an IBA.<br />
9. SHASHE / LIMPOPO VALLEY<br />
A relatively small transfrontier area centred on the confluence of the seasonal Shashe and<br />
Limpopo rivers in SW Zimbabwe/NW South <strong>Africa</strong>/E Botswana. The vegetation of the hot, dry<br />
area of low rainfall is mostly mopane woodland, but the key habitats are woodland/shrubland on<br />
Karoo sandstone hills and riparian woodland.<br />
There is a small population of elephant moving between the three countries, and moderate<br />
populations of other wildlife. Total plant species diversity in the Zimbabwe section is over 100<br />
species with at least two endemics/near endemics (Jatropha loristipula, Pavetta gwandensis).<br />
The are contains some of the most extensive and best developed riparian woodland <strong>for</strong>est in this<br />
section of the Limpopo valley. An Important Bird Area, the Vhembe Nature Reserve, is situated<br />
in the South <strong>Africa</strong>n portion, which supports significant populations of waterbirds on the<br />
floodplain, and a significant number of nationally and globally threatened bird species. The<br />
Shashe/Limpopo area is a centre of diversity <strong>for</strong> reptiles, containing relict populations of<br />
Kalahari species such as Horned Adder and Barking Gecko. 100 reptile species and 18<br />
amphibians have been recorded; four reptiles are endemic (T. subtaeniatus, Homopholis mulleri,<br />
Platysaurus relictus and P. monotropis).<br />
Although not yet <strong>for</strong>malised, the area is proposed as a trans-frontier conservation area (TFCA).<br />
On the Botswana side is commercial farmland, mostly managed <strong>for</strong> wildlife, while on the<br />
Zimbabwe side the Tuli Circle is a protected Safari Area, two large commercial properties most<br />
of which are managed <strong>for</strong> wildlife-based tourism, and communal land. The latter are part of the<br />
CAMPFIRE programme. Much of the South <strong>Africa</strong>n portion is under conservation management<br />
as <strong>for</strong>mally or privately protected area.<br />
The cultural sites in the area (e.g. Mapungwane), wildlife, and the scenic nature of the sandstone<br />
country, give a significant potential <strong>for</strong> tourism. Human population density is low, with liitle in
<strong>Miombo</strong> <strong>Ecoregion</strong> <strong>Report</strong>, page 53<br />
the way of land use conflict, and community-based conservation programmes are operation in<br />
places. Agricultural potential (except under irrigation) is very low.<br />
10. GAZA / KRUGER / GONAREZHOU<br />
An extensive transfrontier area covering much of the western part of Mozambique between the<br />
Save and Limpopo rivers, the newly-gazetted Limpopo National Park in Mozambique, the<br />
northern section of the Kruger National Park in South <strong>Africa</strong> and adjacent game farms, and<br />
Gonarezhou National Park, adjacent communal lands and the Save, Chiredzi and Malilangwe<br />
conservancies in Zimbabwe. It is mostly a hot, dry and low-lying area associated with the<br />
Limpopo and Save valleys. Vegetation is principally mopane woodland, Acacia and Acacia–<br />
Combretum woodlands, with Burkea–Terminalia woodland on sandy soils. There are patches of<br />
rare and sometimes unique vegetation types on particular soils, such as Brachystegia<br />
tamarinoides woodland, Guibourtia conjugata thicket, Androstachys dry <strong>for</strong>est/thicket, riparian<br />
woodland along the larger rivers, and saline grassland and pans in the Rio Changane area. Even<br />
though it is a large area, there is a very wide range of habitats represented here.<br />
Plant species richness is high <strong>for</strong> such an arid area and is around 1000 species. There are about<br />
20 endemics/near-endemics, and it appears to <strong>for</strong>m part of a centre of radiation, the middle<br />
Limpopo lowveld, <strong>for</strong> a group of Acacia species (the 'glandular' complex). Mammal diversity is<br />
high and includes good populations of elephant, white rhino, black rhino (the latter two only in<br />
the Kruger), tsessebe, nyala, cheetah, giraffe and wild dog. Lichenstein's Hartebeest is a<br />
threatened species found here. Three endemic small mammals are found. There is significant<br />
movement of large mammals across the area, especially elephant between Gonarezhou and<br />
Chicualacuala. There is a possibility of reestablishing movement between areas 9 and 10. Bird<br />
diversity is high (433 species in Kruger National Park alone) and there are three IBAs – Kruger<br />
National Park in South <strong>Africa</strong>, Limpopo/Mwenezi pans and Save/Runde junction in Zimbabwe.<br />
The <strong>for</strong>mer contains some globally threatened species and more than 1% of global populations of<br />
others, while the latter two contain significant numbers of range-restricted species, including the<br />
Lemon-breasted Canary. The abundant, seasonally-flooded pans of the Changane area of<br />
Mozambique are of major significance <strong>for</strong> migratory waterfowl. Two centres of high<br />
reptile/amphibian diversity are included with 50 reptile and 30 amphibian species, including 6<br />
endemic reptiles (Typhlosaurus richardi, T. fitzsimonsi, Nucras caesicaudata, Chirindia langi,<br />
Monopeltis decosteri, Xenocalamus sabiensis) and populations of a number of relict Kalahari<br />
species (e.g. Nucrus intertexta) and fossorial reptiles typical of coastal alluvium (e.g.<br />
Typhlosaurus aurantiacus, Zygaspis vandami, Typhlops <strong>for</strong>nasinii). An endemic fish,<br />
Nothobranchius furzeri, is known from only a few pans in Gonarezhou.<br />
A significant portion of the area is conserved as national park (Gonarezhou, Banhine, Zinave,<br />
Limpopo, Kruger) or as private conservancies or game farms (Malilangwe, Save, Chiredzi, farms<br />
adjacent to Kruger), while community-based wildlife management is practised in some<br />
communal lands (e.g. Sengwe, Mahenye, north of Kruger NP). However, there are numerous<br />
wildlife-human conflicts over crops and cattle, the latter owing to endemic foot-and-mouth<br />
disease and bovine tuberculosis (TB) and the necessity to keep cattle and wildlife apart.<br />
Livestock production is very significant in the area. There is a danger of increasing habitat<br />
fragmentation caused by settlement, agricultural expansion and habitat destruction (especially<br />
dry <strong>for</strong>est/thicket) by elephant. In Mozambique there is a significant threat from cutting of<br />
Androstachys and mopane wood <strong>for</strong> charcoal production. The future of private conservancies in<br />
Zimbabwe is very uncertain in the face of current land re<strong>for</strong>ms. Tourism potential is high, and<br />
much of the area has been designated a TFCA so that land management and regulations will<br />
become harmonised and tourism planned more holistically.
<strong>Miombo</strong> <strong>Ecoregion</strong> <strong>Report</strong>, page 54<br />
11. MANICALAND ― NYANGA<br />
A transfrontier upland area comprising the highlands of Nyanga, Rukotso, Staple<strong>for</strong>d in<br />
Zimbabwe and adjacent mountains in Mozambique, along with the associated valleys and<br />
lowlands. It is more properly included in the Afromontane <strong>Ecoregion</strong>, but is mapped and<br />
described here until an ecoregion conservation programme <strong>for</strong> this is initiated. The vegetation is<br />
very varied, including fynbos-like low montane shrublands, upland grassland, high and medium<br />
altitude rain<strong>for</strong>est, high and medium altitude miombo woodlands (Brachystegia spici<strong>for</strong>mis and<br />
Brachystegia utilis), and heavily-disturbed woodlands and <strong>for</strong>est patches with affinities to the<br />
East <strong>Africa</strong>n coastal plains. Large areas are planted to exotic conifers or wattles. The range of<br />
vegetation types is very great, reflecting the great range in altitude and soil types, and spans what<br />
is effectively three ecoregions.<br />
Plant diversity is very high, reflecting the wide range of habitats and altitudes. There are 16<br />
endemic/near endemic species in the Nyanga area, most of which are confined to montane<br />
grassland. Large mammal diversity is low, but there are small mammals on the boundary<br />
between the <strong>Miombo</strong> and Afromontane <strong>Ecoregion</strong>s (Lissonycteris goliath, Chlorotalpa arendsi,<br />
Myosorex 'caffer', Crocidura inyangai, Sylvisorex sheppardi, Aethomys silindensis) that are<br />
endemic to these montane areas. Bird diversity is particularly high (246 species recorded from<br />
Nyanga National Park alone), with three IBAs (Nyanga mountains, Nyanga lowlands/Honde<br />
Valley, Staple<strong>for</strong>d) in Zimbabwe containing a number of range-restricted and globally threatened<br />
species. Species of particular note are the Blue Swallow, Briar Warbler, Chirinda Apalis and<br />
Swynnerton's Robin, all of which are montane grassland or <strong>for</strong>est species, not normally found in<br />
Caesalpinoid woodland. There are seasonal altitudinal movements of many bird species between<br />
miombo woodland and <strong>for</strong>est. The <strong>for</strong>est and grassland butterfly fauna is rich, particularly that<br />
associated with the ecotone between miombo and montane, with two endemics (Deloneura<br />
sheppardi, Lepidochrysops chittyi). The Nyanga uplands also contain many important prehistory<br />
sites.<br />
There are a number of protected areas, including Nyanga National Park and State Forests in<br />
Zimbabwe. The latter, although primarily <strong>for</strong> commercial pine and wattle production, do have<br />
some intact habitat.<br />
A significant <strong>for</strong>m of land use in the upland areas is commercial timber production, and a number<br />
of valuable grassland areas were cleared <strong>for</strong> this in the 1950s. It is an important water catchment<br />
area. Tourism is also a major land use in the Nyanga/Juliasdale area of Zimbabwe, along with<br />
commercial fruit and flower cultivation. At lower altitudes, in the Honde valley and Mutasa<br />
areas, population pressures are very high in the communal lands, with grazing and subsistence<br />
crop production being the main <strong>for</strong>ms of land use. The major threats in Zimbabwe are expansion<br />
of commercial timber production, invasion by exotic trees (pines, wattles) into upland grasslands,<br />
and habitat destruction from subsistence farming in the lower lying valleys. It is not clear what<br />
the status is in Mozambique.<br />
12. MANICALAND ― CHIMANIMANI<br />
Another mostly upland transfrontier area comprising highlands of the Chimanimani and<br />
Himalaya mountains along the Zimbabwe–Mozambique border, the Chipinge Uplands, and<br />
adjacent lowlands, particularly in Mozambique. Much of it falls outside the present <strong>Miombo</strong><br />
<strong>Ecoregion</strong> boundary. As with the previous area (11), it is more properly included under an<br />
Afromontane <strong>Ecoregion</strong> programme, but is described here to ensure its unique biological features<br />
are not overlooked or "fall between two stools".
<strong>Miombo</strong> <strong>Ecoregion</strong> <strong>Report</strong>, page 55<br />
Vegetation is very varied as would be expected from such a gradient of altitude and climate. It<br />
ranges from fynbos-like low montane shrublands, upland grassland (including unique grasslands<br />
on quartzite-derived soils), high and medium altitude rain<strong>for</strong>est, high and medium altitude<br />
miombo woodland (Brachystegia spici<strong>for</strong>mis, Parinari curatellifolia, Pterocarpus angolensis),<br />
and lowland rain<strong>for</strong>est with affinities to the East <strong>Africa</strong>n coastal plains. The latter are very<br />
extensive in Mozambique, but restricted to small patches in Zimbabwe (Rusitu Valley). Chirinda<br />
Forest is the best and most extensive example of medium altitude rain<strong>for</strong>est in the region. The<br />
area spans what is effectively three ecoregions.<br />
Total plant diversity is likely to be over 1500 species; a checklist of the non-<strong>for</strong>ested parts of the<br />
Chimanimani massif shows 860 species. Nutrient-poor upland grasslands on quartzite support<br />
over 50 plant endemics. The lowland rain<strong>for</strong>ests on the eastern and southern slopes are likely to<br />
support over 600 plant species; a provisional list of trees and shrubs shows 103 species. While<br />
the medium altitude Chirinda Forest and margins supports over 500 species. Mammal diversity is<br />
low with only 14 species of large and medium-sized mammals recorded from the Chimanimani<br />
massif, but 44 species are recorded from Chirinda Forest (most of them small). The only nearendemics<br />
are rodents restricted to <strong>for</strong>ests and margins of the Eastern Highlands. There is a small<br />
population of <strong>for</strong>est-dwelling elephants which move through the eastern part of the area. Four<br />
IBAs are found in the Zimbabwe section – Banti Forest, Chimanimani Mountains, Haroni-<br />
Ruisitu junction and Chirinda Forest – but the range-restricted and globally threatened species<br />
present are mostly associated with <strong>for</strong>ests and uplands, not Caesalpinoid woodlands. The<br />
herpetofauna is rich with 42 species around Chirinda. A rich butterfly fauna, including some<br />
endemics, is again mostly associated with <strong>for</strong>ests or <strong>for</strong>est margins.<br />
There are a number of smaller protected areas, including Chimanimani National Park, Chirinda<br />
Forest, Banti Forest and two small Botanic Reserves in Zimbabwe. The status of the <strong>for</strong>est<br />
reserves and national park is good. The Mozambican part of the Chimanimani plateau is being<br />
viewed <strong>for</strong> protection, to become part of a proposed transfrontier Chimanimani conservation<br />
area. There are also two protected <strong>for</strong>est areas in Mozambique – Maronga and Zomba.<br />
A significant <strong>for</strong>m of upland use is commercial timber production, and a number of valuable<br />
grassland areas were cleared <strong>for</strong> this in the 1950s. Much of the Chipinge Uplands and lower parts<br />
of Chimanimani in Zimbabwe is commercial farmland, especially <strong>for</strong> tea, coffee, dairy or timber.<br />
It is an important water catchment area. Tourism potential is high, particularly associated with<br />
walking in the Chimanimani Mountains. Population pressures are high in the fertile communal<br />
land of the Rusitu Valley, where remnant <strong>for</strong>est patches are being rapidly cleared. The major<br />
threat to the uplands in Zimbabwe is expansion of commercial timber production, while at<br />
medium altitude much of the vegetation has already been cleared <strong>for</strong> commercial farming, with<br />
just remaining patches on hillsides. Habitat destruction from subsistence farming or cashcropping<br />
in the lower lying valleys is a important concern in both countries.<br />
13. GORONGOSA / MARROMEU<br />
An very diverse area in central Mozambique extending from Mt Gorongosa on the plateau,<br />
across the rift valley and <strong>for</strong>ests of the Cheringoma plateau, to the wetlands of Marromeu, the<br />
Zambezi Delta, mangroves, dunes and coastal <strong>for</strong>ests. Vegetation types (excluding those of the<br />
Afromontane portion on Mt Gorongosa) include dry miombo and Acacia–Combretum<br />
woodlands, Acacia woodlands in the valley, coastal <strong>for</strong>est with Brachystegia spici<strong>for</strong>mis on the<br />
Cheringoma plateau, grasslands and swamps, as well as mangroves and littoral vegetation. The<br />
area is a prime regional candidate <strong>for</strong> conservation action as it covers an enormous range of<br />
habitat ("mountain to mangrove") and straddles what is effectively three or four ecoregions<br />
within a comparatively small area.
<strong>Miombo</strong> <strong>Ecoregion</strong> <strong>Report</strong>, page 56<br />
The main protected areas, covering a major portion, are Gorongosa National Park, Marromeu<br />
Buffalo Reserve and three Game Management Areas (coutadas). The remainder is under<br />
subsistence farming, although commercial sugar plantations covered a significant area in the past,<br />
and are being rehabilitated.<br />
Plant diversity is high owing to the altitudinal range and range of habitats, and should exceed<br />
1500 species. There are only a few endemics or near-endemics, but a number of species of<br />
restricted distribution. Historically, large mammal diversity was high, but numbers greatly<br />
declined during and after the civil war. However, they now show signs of recovery. The main<br />
concentrations are on the rift valley floor (elephant, plains game) and on the Marromeu<br />
grasslands (buffalo, elephant). Bird diversity is also high owing to habitat diversity, with a<br />
number of localised <strong>for</strong>est species on Mt Gorongosa and Cheringoma, and important wetland<br />
bird populations in the rift valley basin and the Zambezi Delta grasslands/wetlands.<br />
The major threats are commercial logging in the <strong>for</strong>ests of Cheringoma, an influx of subsistence<br />
cultivators, poaching. The wetlands of the Zambezi Delta have been impacted upon by<br />
construction of dams upstream, changing the hydrological regime and flooding. Commercial<br />
agriculture, particularly sugar, may have a marked impact in the same area. Logging is<br />
unsustainable and only partially under control. The Gorongosa area has a number of land use<br />
conflicts resulting from the aftermath of the civil war. Extensive fires sweep across the<br />
grasslands regularly, causing much destruction. Mt Gorongosa and the Cheringoma <strong>for</strong>ests are<br />
important water catchments. Tourism potential is high, and is principally wildlife-based (mostly<br />
hunting), but infrastructure is inadequate at present. The Zambezi Valley is being seen as a<br />
development hub <strong>for</strong> central Mozambique, and infrastructure (including roads and railways) is<br />
being rapidly developed or rehabilitated.<br />
14. LUANGWA VALLEY / KASUNGU<br />
A large, mostly low-lying area incorporating the valley of the Luangwa River in eastern Zambia,<br />
the adjacent Muchinga escarpment to the west, and part of the plateau to the east extending into<br />
the Kasungu area of central Malawi. The Luangwa is one of the least disturbed large valley<br />
systems remaining in the <strong>Miombo</strong> <strong>Ecoregion</strong>, and has not been affected by upstream dams.<br />
Although here regarded as separate from the mid-Zambezi Valley (Area 6), it is contiguous to it<br />
and has a lot of similarities biologically. The main vegetation types are mopane woodland, with<br />
patches of Acacia-Combretum woodland, dry <strong>for</strong>est and riverine woodland in the Luangwa<br />
Valley, and wet miombo woodland on the Muchinga escarpment and in the Kasungu area. There<br />
are also extensive grassy dambos in Kasungu.<br />
The Luangwa Valley is very similar in plant species composition to the mid-Zambezi Valley and<br />
contains more than 1300 species, but few if any endemics. Mopane woodland is well represented,<br />
and the Muchinga escarpment supports a number of plant species of restricted distribution,<br />
including the cycad Encephalartos schmitzii. Dry <strong>for</strong>est and riparian woodland in good condition,<br />
both well represented here, are threatened within the ecoregion. Both the Luangwa Valley and<br />
Kasungu have a high diversity and good populations of large mammals with elephant, hippo,<br />
buffalo, lion, cheetah, leopard, wild dog, puku and sable antelope. The Muchinga escarpment<br />
acts as a biogeographical barrier between related east and southern <strong>Africa</strong>n taxa, and thus has<br />
evolutionary significance. In the Luangwa there are two endemic mammal taxa (Thornicroft's<br />
giraffe, Cookson's wildebeest), and Lichenstein's Hartebeest is found in Kasungu National Park.<br />
There are numerous movements of large mammals between the two parts, including elephant,<br />
giraffe and puku. The area contains some endemic miombo birds (<strong>Miombo</strong> Pied Barbet,<br />
Anchitta's Sunbird), and Grey Crowned Cranes are found in Luangwa. There is an endemic tree
<strong>Miombo</strong> <strong>Ecoregion</strong> <strong>Report</strong>, page 57<br />
frog Hyperolius kachololae. Butterfly diversity is high in Kasungu, mostly associated with the<br />
miombo woodland.<br />
Much of the area is protected either as national park (North Luangwa, South Luangwa, Kasungu)<br />
or as game management area. Communities adjacent to the Luangwa have <strong>for</strong>med CBNRM areas<br />
based on wildlife. Both the Luangwa Valley and Kasungu are important tourism destinations, but<br />
still have much potential <strong>for</strong> development in this respect. Crop raiding and damage by mammals<br />
is a threat to surrounding agricultural communities, and poaching and unsustainable utilization of<br />
natural resources are significant threats, particularly in Malawi. Also in Malawi, the immigration<br />
of tobacco estate workers and smallholder tobacco production has led to de<strong>for</strong>estation and loss of<br />
habitat. Dambos up on the plateau in Malawi are important hydrologically, while the Luangwa<br />
river catchment is a major water source <strong>for</strong> Cabora Bassa dam in Mozambique.<br />
15. MZIMBA / NKHOTAKOTA ESCARPMENT<br />
A long, narrow area straddling high plateau and escarpment almost down to the western shores of<br />
Lake Malawi in central Malawi. The vegetation is mostly miombo woodland on hills and scarps<br />
comprising Brachystegia boehmii and similar species, and montane grasslands and <strong>for</strong>est patches<br />
up on the Viphya plateau. The latter should fall under an Afromontane <strong>Ecoregion</strong>, but are<br />
included here owing to their limited extent.<br />
The vegetation ranges from dry miombo to montane grassland, with a moderately high plant<br />
species diversity. There is a particularly high diversity of terrestrial and epiphytic orchids. A few<br />
elephant and buffalo are present, and the area allows connectivity of large mammal movements.<br />
In addition, a number of <strong>for</strong>est birds move seasonally up and down the escarpment. Wattled<br />
Crane, a globally threatened bird species, is present. There is an endemic fish – mpasa – that<br />
breeds in the small rivers running off the escarpment.<br />
The area is principally defined by its constituent protected areas, which are the Nkotakota<br />
Wildlife Reserve in the south, and the Nchisi, Chikangura and southern part of Viphya Forest<br />
Reserves in the north.<br />
Threats to the area include construction of small dams on rivers running off the escarpment,<br />
plantation <strong>for</strong>estry on the Viphya Plateau in the north with invasion of alien tree species onto the<br />
plateau grasslands, shifting cultivation, poaching, and unsustainable use of natural resources<br />
including overfishing. Given the good access and scenery, there is significant potential <strong>for</strong><br />
ecotourism.<br />
16. UPPER SHIRE VALLEY / EASTERN ESCARPMENT<br />
A diverse area running along the eastern escarpment flanking the southern part of Lake<br />
Malawi/Niassa in Mozambique from Lichinga southward, the upper parts of the Shire Valley in<br />
Malawi, and the adjacent highlands down to Zomba. About half the area is in Mozambique.<br />
Vegetation ranges from riparian and mopane woodland in the Shire Valley, through moist and<br />
dry miombo woodland on the escarpment to moist <strong>for</strong>est on the mountains. Some swamp<br />
vegetation is also found. Most vegetation types occur in a mosaic.<br />
There is a very high plant species richness (over 1500 species) owing to habitat diversity, but<br />
with only a few endemics. A number of threatened plants are found. The mopane woodland in<br />
Liwonde National Park is some of the tallest in the region. Large mammal diversity is moderate,<br />
but populations are principally found in Liwonde, including black rhino, elephant, buffalo,<br />
waterbuck, sable antelope and lion. Lichenstein's hartebeest have recently been introduced. The<br />
bat fauna is rich. There is a high diversity of birds (around 450 species, 2–3 regionally
<strong>Miombo</strong> <strong>Ecoregion</strong> <strong>Report</strong>, page 58<br />
threatened) including the restricted Lilian's Lovebird and Pel's Fishing Owl. There is local<br />
seasonal altitudinal movement of birds. The Shire River acts as a refuge <strong>for</strong> fish from the overfished<br />
Lake Malombe.<br />
Protected areas include Liwonde National Park, and the Forest Reserves of Zomba, Liwonde,<br />
Mangochi and Namizumu.<br />
Population pressures are high, particularly in the Malawi portion, resulting in habitat destruction<br />
and encroachment of cultivation, and over-exploitation of natural resources. Poaching of wildlife<br />
and timber is a problem in places. Part of the area is under commercial tobacco estates. There is a<br />
CBNRM programme operating in the Liwonde area. The escarpment and montane woodlands are<br />
important <strong>for</strong> watershed protection by reducing flooding.<br />
17. LOWER SHIRE VALLEY / WESTERN ESCARPMENT<br />
A relatively small area of escarpment and valley lowland in southern Malawi east of the Shire<br />
River. It comprises dry miombo and mopane woodlands, Acacia-Combretum woodland,<br />
escarpment and riparian woodland, patches of dry deciduous <strong>for</strong>est/thicket and, rarely, lowland<br />
evergreen <strong>for</strong>est.<br />
Dry deciduous and evergreen <strong>for</strong>est are rare in this part of the region, and support a number of<br />
unusual and threatened plant species. Some are believed to be endemic. The area contains the<br />
northernmost population of Nyala antelope, and has a rich bat fauna. Although elephant is not<br />
found now, it was present in the past. There are a number of restricted distribution <strong>for</strong>est birds<br />
found here, including nationally and regionally threatened species. Several endemic river fish<br />
species are found.<br />
Protected areas include Lengwe National Park and various <strong>for</strong>est (Thambani, Matandwe) and<br />
wildlife (Mwabvi, Majete) reserves. About half the area is under some <strong>for</strong>m of protection.<br />
Threats include population pressure and encroachment from the Shire valley, including<br />
expansion of sugar plantations, smallholder irrigation schemes, unsustainable harvesting of<br />
natural resources and poaching. People often move into the area and settle to escape occasional<br />
flooding. The woodlands of the area are important as protection against flooding downslope. Pit<br />
sawing in the <strong>for</strong>est areas is a problem. There is considerable wildlife-based tourism potential.<br />
18. COPPERBELT<br />
A transfrontier area straddling the DRC–Zambia border in north-central Zambia and southern<br />
DRC between Lubumbashi and Ndola, adjacent to the Upemba–Kundelungu area (Area 19). It<br />
comprises the headwaters of the major Kafue river system and, in the DRC, part of the<br />
headwaters of the Luapula. Of major significance are the copper-bearing rocks of the Zambian<br />
copperbelt and Katanga. The vegetation is mostly wet miombo woodland with dambo grasslands,<br />
swamp <strong>for</strong>est, dry evergreen <strong>for</strong>est and patches of chipya (Acacia–Combretum woodland).<br />
Plant diversity is also high owing to the intrusion of Congolian elements along drainage lines, in<br />
a similar fashion to the Zambezi headwaters (Area 2). Of particular note is the high number of<br />
plant endemics (c.56 species) confined to the mineral toxic soils on copper outcrops. There are<br />
many species of ground orchid, some of which are now threatened. A number of butterfly<br />
endemics are found and there is high invertebrate species diversity, again associated with swamp<br />
<strong>for</strong>est, grassland and Congolian rain<strong>for</strong>est patches.
<strong>Miombo</strong> <strong>Ecoregion</strong> <strong>Report</strong>, page 59<br />
The only protected areas are numerous small <strong>for</strong>est areas, but many are now being encroached<br />
upon. There is a bird sanctuary at Chembe.<br />
Owing to mining, the human population is very high. There is significant competition <strong>for</strong> water<br />
and pollution of the Kafue headwaters from both mining activities and urbanisation is of concern.<br />
De<strong>for</strong>estation due to charcoal production and fuelwood collection is a major threat. Beekeeping<br />
and fishing are also major activities. Being at the headwaters of the Kafue, the area is important<br />
<strong>for</strong> hydrological processes and as a carbon sink.<br />
19. UPEMBA / KUNDELUNGU<br />
A large area in Katanga Province in southern DRC incorporating Upemba and Kundelungu<br />
National Parks and the area in between. It includes lakes Kabwe and Retinue, the Lufira valley<br />
and the mountains of Kundelungu and Kibara. It is also contiguous with Lake Mweru (Area 20).<br />
Incorporating plains and plateaux, the vegetation includes wet miombo woodland, dry evergreen<br />
<strong>for</strong>est with Congolian elements, Acacia woodland, grassland, wetlands and riverine <strong>for</strong>est.<br />
There is a high diversity of plants (around 4000, including 2500 on the plateau) with many<br />
endemics, including some on mineral toxic soils. There are remnants of sub-montane <strong>for</strong>est on<br />
the plateau. Mammal diversity is around 111 species, including cheetah, elephant, wild dog,<br />
lechwe, and sable antelope. Bird diversity is around 424 species, with one endemic. The area is a<br />
migratory route <strong>for</strong> palaearctic migrants and is important <strong>for</strong> waterbirds. A very rich<br />
herpetofauna (100 reptiles, 50 amphibians) includes seven endemic reptiles and six endemic<br />
frogs. Fish diversity is estimated at 140 species.<br />
Protected areas are Upemba and Kundelungu National Parks. Their present status is not clear.<br />
Major threats are slash-&-burn types of agriculture, extensive burning, population movements nd<br />
increase, including movement from cities to rural areas, over-fishing, poaching of wildlife, and<br />
other <strong>for</strong>ms of over-exploitation of natural resources including edible orchids. There is also some<br />
commercial cattle ranching. The infrastructure and communication is very poor. The are is of<br />
major hydrological importance as it <strong>for</strong>ms the catchment of the Lufira, Lualaba and part of the<br />
Luapula rivers. It is also considered to be an important carbon sink.<br />
20. LAKE MWERU / LUAPULA<br />
A semi-circular area extending from Lake Mweru on the eastern DRC–Zambia border, across<br />
Lake Mweru Wantipa in northern Zambia to Sumbu and the Mporokoso and Kalungwishi high<br />
plateaux. Three separate areas are combined together here into one diverse area, encompassing<br />
lacustrine, riparian, savanna and upland ecosystems. It is adjacent to Upemba–Kandelungu in the<br />
DRC (Area 19). Vegetation principally comprises wet miombo woodland and swamp grassland,<br />
with significant areas of upland dambo grassland, swamp <strong>for</strong>est, dry evergreen <strong>for</strong>est, lakeshore<br />
thicket (Lake Mweru) and patches of Itigi-like dry <strong>for</strong>est/thicket (Lake Mweru Wantipa), the<br />
latter being a particularly rare type in the region.<br />
The high plant species diversity comes from wide habitat diversity and Congolian elements. Plant<br />
richness is high, estimated at over 2000 species. There are a number of endemic plants, especially<br />
associated with the threatened vegetation types of Itigi-like thickets, dry evergreen <strong>for</strong>est and<br />
upland dambos, and probably more remain to be discovered up on the Mporokoso plateau.<br />
Unusual mammals include Yellow-backed and Blue Duiker. An extinct taxon of lechwe (Kobus<br />
leche robertsi) used to be found in the area. The two lakes support large numbers of waterbirds<br />
including flamingos and miombo endemics (e.g. Swamp Flycatcher, White-winged Starling).<br />
Many of the herp endemics of Upemba are also found here, and the Congolian/West <strong>Africa</strong>n
<strong>Miombo</strong> <strong>Ecoregion</strong> <strong>Report</strong>, page 60<br />
Slender-snouted Crocodile Crocodylus cataphractus. The Mweru/Luapula river area has a high<br />
fish diversity (94 species) and supports species of both Zambezian and Congolian origin. The<br />
Luapula area also has a high diversity of freshwater molluscs.<br />
Two protected areas (Mweru Wantipa and Sumbu National Parks) are incorporated, while<br />
Lusenga Plain National Park is just outside. There are two game management areas in the Sumbu<br />
area, and a number of small Forest Reserves.<br />
Major threats are the increasing population pressure in the area, particularly around Lake Mweru,<br />
the Luapula valley and up on the two plateaux. There has been a recent influx of refugees from<br />
the DRC into parts of the area. Traditional cultivation methods of slash-&-burn and widescale<br />
burning pose a threat to woodland and particularly dry evergreen <strong>for</strong>est patches. Lake Mweru is<br />
silting up owing to soil erosion upstream. However, there is significant tourism potential, both<br />
<strong>for</strong> wildlife and scenery. The area is considered to be important as a carbon sink, and the plateau<br />
areas are important hydrologically as source areas <strong>for</strong> the Kalungushi and other rivers that feed<br />
the lakes and similar wetland areas.<br />
21. BANGWEULU SWAMPS<br />
An extensive area surrounding Lake Bangweulu, the Bangweulu swamps and grasslands in<br />
north-eastern Zambia, and upstream along the Chambeshi river to the Tanzania border. It<br />
incorporates a number of wetlands and also old sand dunes to the south west. The vegetation is<br />
mostly wetland, grasslands and wet miombo woodland, with patches of dry evergreen <strong>for</strong>est.<br />
There is moderately high plant diversity and the area <strong>for</strong>ms part of the Katangan centre of<br />
diversity. There is at least one endemic shrub, Garcinia pachyclada. An extinct lechwe antelope<br />
Kobus leche robertsi was only known from Lavushi Manda, while the endemic black lechwe K.<br />
leche smithemani and an undescribed tsessebe (Damaliscus) species are only known from<br />
Bangweulu. A large fruit bat (Eidolon helvum) population is found in Kasanka. There are<br />
important populations and high numbers of waterbirds including the Long-tailed Flufftail and the<br />
largest populations in Zambia of Shoebill Stork and Wattled Crane. Although poorly known <strong>for</strong><br />
reptiles and amphibians, the area supports interesting Congo <strong>for</strong>est reptile species in the swamp<br />
<strong>for</strong>ests. It incorporates part of the Luapula catchment which has a high diversity of freshwater<br />
molluscs.<br />
Three small national parks are included (Isangano, Kasanka, Lavushi Manda) along with a<br />
sizeable extent of game management area (Bangweulu, Mansa, Kafinda, Kalasamukoso,<br />
Luwingu, Chambeshi). There are a number of small Forest Reserves. The Chikuni area is a<br />
Ramsar site.<br />
CBNRM projects are functioning here, and the area has some tourism potential. Major threats are<br />
from de<strong>for</strong>estation <strong>for</strong> charcoal production and the slash-&-burn system of agriculture.<br />
Overfishing occurs in the lake. The development corridor along the Tazara railway and main<br />
road is a potential threat as agriculture expands. The area is important <strong>for</strong> hydrological processes<br />
as it provides the headwaters of the major Luapula river system. It also acts as a carbon sink.<br />
22. MOYOWOSI<br />
An extensive area to the north east of Lake Tanganyika in north-western Tanzania incorporating<br />
most of the Malagarasi and Moyowosi catchments, and including the Mahale mountains to the<br />
south. The latter include much montane vegetation as well as high altitude miombo, and would<br />
be better placed under a Afromontane <strong>Ecoregion</strong>. The shoreline of Lake Tanganyika is also<br />
included, although the lake itself falls under the Great Lakes <strong>Ecoregion</strong>. Vegetation comprises
<strong>Miombo</strong> <strong>Ecoregion</strong> <strong>Report</strong>, page 61<br />
wet and dry miombo woodland, grassland, very extensive wetlands and swamps, and patches of<br />
montane <strong>for</strong>est on the mountains.<br />
Tanzania's most diverse miombo is found here, mixed with elements of the Congolian <strong>for</strong>est<br />
flora. There are over 2000 plant species with perhaps 30 endemics, although many are montane<br />
and belong more properly in the Afromontane <strong>Ecoregion</strong>. Large mammal diversity and<br />
populations are not high, but elephant are known to move through the area to the Rungwa River<br />
Game Reserve to the east. The endangered chimpanzee is found on the <strong>for</strong>est/woodland boundary<br />
on the eastern shores of Lake Tanganyika. The globally threatened birds Shoebill Stork and<br />
Wattled Crane are present. Palaearctic migrant birds move along the escarpment during<br />
migration. Four endemic reptiles occur around the lake. The Malargarasi river shows a high level<br />
of fish endemism, while Lake Tanganyika itself supports 290 fish species, of which about 90%<br />
are endemic (mostly cichlids). There is a very high butterfly species diversity owing to the range<br />
of habitat types on the mountains, with at least six endemics.<br />
Large protected areas are the Ugalla River and Moyowosi Game Reserves, while the Mahale<br />
mountains on the lakeshore are within the Mahale Mountains National Park. There are some<br />
small <strong>for</strong>est reserves.<br />
The area has a high human population locally, compounded by movement of refugees.<br />
De<strong>for</strong>estation is a significant threat. Other threats include charcoal burning, unsustainable timber<br />
harvesting, mining activities and tree debarking <strong>for</strong> traditional be hives. Being an integral part of<br />
the catchment of Lake Tanganyika, it is important hydrologically. High plant growth potential<br />
means that the area is also important as a carbon sink.<br />
23. RUKWA VALLEY<br />
A long narrow area in south-west Tanzania along the Rukwa valley, which is considered part of<br />
the East <strong>Africa</strong>n Rift. It includes Lake Rukwa and extends up to the Katavi plains. In some<br />
respects it may be better treated under an East <strong>Africa</strong>n Savanna <strong>Ecoregion</strong> as there is limited<br />
Caesalpinoid woodland vegetation. The vegetation of the core area is plains and wet grasslands,<br />
which are surrounded by wet miombo woodland. The adjacent escarpments appear to have been<br />
a significant evolutionary barrier to mammals.<br />
The plains vegetation, very similar to that of the East <strong>Africa</strong> savannas to the north, is a highly<br />
productive habitat <strong>for</strong> large mammals. The mammal biomass is said to some of the highest in<br />
East <strong>Africa</strong>, while Lake Rukwa has the highest hippo density in Tanzania. The lake also supports<br />
many Nile crocodiles. One of only two populations of puku in Tanzania are found on the wet<br />
grassland north of the lake, but the extent of this habitat has been reduced. With over 400 species<br />
of bird, the area is a wintering site and on the migratory passage <strong>for</strong> various palaearctic migrants,<br />
including the White Stork and <strong>Africa</strong>n Pitta. It is also the northernmost extent of distribution of<br />
many southern <strong>Africa</strong>n bird species. Long known as an important breeding ground <strong>for</strong> the red<br />
locust (it is said that locust biomass turnover exceeds that of mammals), the extent of locust<br />
breeding grounds is now greatly reduced by the rise of Lake Rukwa. It was an important tsetse<br />
area in the past.<br />
Much of the area comprises Uwanda Game Reserve, although this is of unclear status. Owing to<br />
the presence of tsetse fly, a large part of the area has been effectively protected from human<br />
encroachment since the 1930s. To the north is the Katavi Plain Game Reserve.<br />
Major threats include uncontrolled pastoralism, unsustainable utilization of natural resources, and<br />
an unclear protected status. Refugees have also moved into the area in recent years. There are
<strong>Miombo</strong> <strong>Ecoregion</strong> <strong>Report</strong>, page 62<br />
some community-based conservation programmes in place. Tourism potentials are high, although<br />
the area is remote.<br />
24. ITIGI THICKET<br />
A small area of the central Tanzanian plateau between Tabora and Dodoma around the towns of<br />
Itigi and Muhanga. It lies at the headwater of the Msuguluda and Mulambi rivers on what<br />
appears to be an outcrop of Karoo sediments. The area <strong>for</strong>ms part of what should be a larger<br />
conservation priority area extending southwards incorporating the Rungwa River Game Reseve<br />
and Ruaha National Park with their large populations of large mammals, especially elephant.<br />
However, as these areas comprise Acacia–Commiphora woodland and fall outside the <strong>Miombo</strong><br />
<strong>Ecoregion</strong>, only the small area of unique thicket is included here. The vegetation is an almost<br />
unique and very localised thicket/dry <strong>for</strong>est type owing to an impervious hardpan in the soil.<br />
A number of endemic plants or species of restricted distribution are found (e.g. Bussea<br />
massaiensis, Baphia burtii, Pseudoprosopis fischeri in the thickets, and Nymphaea stuhlmannii in<br />
pans). The only other area with similar vegetation is by Lake Mweru Wantipa in Zambia (Area<br />
20). Elephants are attracted to permanent water pools in the dry season, and a number of elephant<br />
move seasonally northwest from Ruaha/Rungwe through the Itigi area towards the Ugalla River<br />
Game Reserve (Area 22). The thickets are on an important route <strong>for</strong> migratory birds. There is a<br />
high diversity of bee species. There is little published data available on the area.<br />
No part of the Itigi thicket is protected, although the large protected areas of Ruaha National Park<br />
and Rungwa River Game Reserve lie to south.<br />
The thicket vegetation is under severe threat from clearance and fragmentation. Local people<br />
depend on it <strong>for</strong> building material and fuelwood, and the area is surrounded by cultivation.<br />
Movement corridors <strong>for</strong> elephant and other large mammals are being increasingly blocked. There<br />
is no <strong>for</strong>mal conservation plan available.<br />
25. SELOUS / KILOMBERO<br />
A large area in southeastern Tanzania centred on the Selous Game Reserve, including the<br />
Kibasera swamps, the Kilombero valley, and the basins of the Great Ruaha, Rufiji, Kilombero,<br />
Luwego and Matandu rivers. It is the largest protected area in <strong>Africa</strong> and a major wilderness area.<br />
Vegetation is mostly dry miombo woodland, with patches of dry <strong>for</strong>est, Acacia and riverine<br />
woodland, grassland and dambos.<br />
There is high plant species diversity (2065 species listed) with around 13 endemics. The adjacent<br />
Uzungwa mountains, although outside the ecoregion, support a large number of endemics. Large<br />
mammal species diversity is high, with movement to the Niassa Game Reserve (Area 26) of<br />
elephant, buffalo and wildebeest. Black rhino and wild dog are still found. An isolated population<br />
of puku are found in the Kilombero wetlands. The endemic Iringa red colobus and Sanje<br />
mangabey monkeys are confined to upland <strong>for</strong>ests on the Uzungwa mountains on the border of<br />
the ecoregion, which are better treated under the Afromontane or East <strong>Africa</strong>n Forest <strong>Ecoregion</strong>.<br />
Over 427 bird species have been recorded, including 52 raptors. Birds endemic to the Kilombero<br />
area are the Kilombero Social Weaver, and three undescribed species of Cisticola. There a few<br />
Important Bird Areas and Endemic Bird Areas. There is also a rich herpetofauna with 100 reptile<br />
and 50 amphibian species, including 11 endemic reptiles and 4 amphibians in the broad Selous-<br />
Rovuma region. One endemic fish is found in the Kilombero basin. The <strong>for</strong>ests and woodlands of<br />
the Uzungwa mountains support a high butterfly diversity and a number of endemics, but this<br />
belongs to the Afromontane fauna and is best regarded as part of that ecoregion.
<strong>Miombo</strong> <strong>Ecoregion</strong> <strong>Report</strong>, page 63<br />
Although the Selous Game Reserve, covering most of the area, is well protected (it is also a<br />
World Heritage Site), the Kilombero area is unprotected. In the north there is the small Mikumi<br />
National Park.<br />
In the Kilombero area there is high population pressure and major threats from subsistence<br />
agriculture and de<strong>for</strong>estation. Livestock are grazed extensively here, and the wetlands are<br />
threatened. The planned building of a bridge over the Rufiji river would greatly improve<br />
communications with the southern part of the area, and would also increase land use pressures.<br />
Other threats include widescale burning and unsustainable extraction of valuable indigenous<br />
timbers. Tourism is an important <strong>for</strong>m of land use, and there is much potential <strong>for</strong> expansion. The<br />
area is a significant carbon sink.<br />
26. LOWER ROVUMA<br />
An extensive transfrontier area flanking the Rovuma river comprising part of northern Niassa and<br />
Cabo Delgado provinces in northern Mozambique and Lindi district in southern Tanzania,<br />
including the town of Tunduru and much of the lower basin of the Rio Lugenda. The area <strong>for</strong>ms<br />
a corridor between the Selous (Area 25) and Niassa Game Reserves, while the Rovuma river is<br />
the least disturbed river on the east coast of <strong>Africa</strong>. Around Nachingwea in Tanzania is heavily<br />
populated, so this part of the transfrontier area is not included. The mapped eastern boundary is<br />
that of the <strong>Miombo</strong> <strong>Ecoregion</strong>, but the conservation area should really be extended eastwards to<br />
the coast to include the Mueda plateau and associated coastal lowlands in Mozambique and the<br />
Rondo plateau and associated lowlands in Tanzania. Both these are exceptionally rich areas<br />
biologically, particularly <strong>for</strong> plants, but are possibly best considered under a Coastal Forest<br />
<strong>Ecoregion</strong> programme. Vegetation is dry miombo woodland bordering on East <strong>Africa</strong>n coastal<br />
<strong>for</strong>ests, both dry and evergreen. Riparian woodlands are also found.<br />
Plant diversity is unknown but believed to be very high owing to East <strong>Africa</strong>n coastal elements,<br />
particularly in dry <strong>for</strong>ests. The adjacent area in southern Tanzania just outside the ecoregion, the<br />
Rondo plateau, has exceptionally high plant endemism in coastal <strong>for</strong>ests. Mammal diversity is<br />
high although population numbers are low. Elephant are common, along with sable antelope,<br />
wild dog, zebra, wildebeest and leopard. The Rondo galago is restricted to the Rondo plateau,<br />
and there are thought to be a number of endemic small mammals towards the coast. Although<br />
there is minimal elephant movement across the Rovuma from the Niassa Game Reserve to<br />
Tanzania, the opening up of a corridor between Niassa and Selous is regarded as a major<br />
conservation priority. The area is important <strong>for</strong> intra-<strong>Africa</strong>n migrant birds such as <strong>Africa</strong>n Pitta<br />
and Spotted Ground Thrush. Herp diversity is not well known but is believed to be rich.<br />
The Niassa Game Reserve is protected and surrounding areas in Mozambique are game<br />
management areas. There is a potential trans-frontier conservation agreement.<br />
Within the <strong>Miombo</strong> <strong>Ecoregion</strong> portion, the major threats are expansion of subsistence agriculture<br />
and habitat fragmentation, widescale bushfires, unsustainable exploitation of valuable indigenous<br />
timbers, and charcoal production. Population pressures are higher in the Tanzania portion.<br />
CBNRM programmes are in place around the Niassa Reserve. Sport hunting is an important <strong>for</strong>m<br />
of land use.
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molluscs of the Upemba National Park, Katanga, D.R. Congo. Biologie 71: 151-168.<br />
Walter, K.S. & Gillett, H.J. (1998). 1997 IUCN Red List of Threatened Plants. IUCN, Cambridge.<br />
Werger, M.J.A. & Coetzee, B.J. (1978). The Sudano-Zambezian Region. In: Biogeography and<br />
Ecology of Southern <strong>Africa</strong> (editor M.J.A. Werger), pp. 301-461. W. Junk, The Hague.<br />
Werger, M.J.A. [editor] (1978). Biogeography and Ecology of Southern <strong>Africa</strong>. W. Junk, The<br />
Hague.
<strong>Miombo</strong> <strong>Ecoregion</strong> <strong>Report</strong>, page 68<br />
West, O. (1971). Fire, man and wildlife as interacting factors limiting the development of climax<br />
vegetation in Rhodesia. Proceedings of Tall Timbers Fire Ecology Conference, April 22-23,<br />
1971, Tallahassee, Florida, pp. 121-145.<br />
White, F. (1965). The savanna woodlands of the Zambezian and Sudanian domains. Webbia 19:<br />
651-681.<br />
White, F. (1976). The underground <strong>for</strong>ests of <strong>Africa</strong>: a preliminary review. Gardens' Bulletin<br />
(Singapore) 24: 57-71.<br />
White, F. (1983). The Vegetation of <strong>Africa</strong>. Natural Resources Research No. 20. UNESCO, Paris.<br />
Wild, H. & Barbosa, L.A.G. (1967). Vegetation map of the Flora Zambesiaca area. M.O. Collins,<br />
Salisbury.<br />
Wild, H. (1965). The flora of the Great Dyke of Southern Rhodesia with special reference to the<br />
serpentine soils. Kirkia 5: 49-86.<br />
WWF (1999). Map of Terrestrial <strong>Ecoregion</strong>s of <strong>Africa</strong> (revised). Conservation Science Program,<br />
WWF-US, Washington.<br />
WWF SARPO (2001). Conserving the <strong>Miombo</strong> <strong>Ecoregion</strong>: Reconnaissance summary. Booklet.<br />
WWF SARPO, Harare.<br />
WWF SARPO (2003). The <strong>Miombo</strong> <strong>Ecoregion</strong>: Conservation <strong>for</strong> future generations. Booklet.<br />
WWF SARPO, Harare.
<strong>Miombo</strong> <strong>Ecoregion</strong> <strong>Report</strong>, page 69<br />
Appendix 1. LIST OF ENDEMIC OR NEAR-ENDEMIC VERTEBRATE<br />
TAXA IN THE MIOMBO ECOREGION.<br />
Name Common names<br />
Mammals 1,2<br />
Aethomys thomasi bush-rat<br />
Aethomys silindensis Selinda rat<br />
Alcelaphus lichtensteinii Lichtenstein's hartebeest<br />
Amblysomus julianae golden mole<br />
Cercopithecus francescae monkey<br />
Cercopithecus moloneyi Moloney's monkey<br />
Chlorotalpa arendsi Arend's golden mole<br />
Connochaetus taurinus cooksoni Cookson's wildebeest<br />
Connochaetus taurinus johnstonii Nyassa wildebeest<br />
Crocidura ansellorum Ansell's musk shrew<br />
Crocidura inyangai white-toothed shrew<br />
Crocidura zimmeri white-toothed shrew<br />
Damaliscus sp. Bangweulu tsessebe<br />
Dendromus vernayi Vernay's climbing mouse<br />
Genetta angolensis miombo genet<br />
Gerbillurus "paeba" hairy-footed gerbil<br />
Giraffa cameleopardus thornicrofti Thornicroft's giraffe<br />
Graphiurus monardi Monard's dormouse<br />
Graphiurus sp. dormouse<br />
Hippotragus niger sable antelope<br />
Hippotragus niger variani giant sable antelope<br />
Kobus kafuensis Kafue lechwe<br />
Kobus leche red lechwe<br />
Kobus smithemani black lechwe<br />
Kobus vardoni puku<br />
Kobus sp. Kilomberu puku<br />
Lemniscomys roseveari zebra mouse<br />
Lissonycteris goliath Harrison's fruit bat<br />
Malacomys australis Ansell's long-footed rat<br />
Myosorex caffer mouse shrew<br />
Paraxerus cepapi Smith's bush squirrel<br />
Raphicerus sharpei Sharpe's grysbok<br />
Rhinolophus sakejensis Sakeji horseshoe bat<br />
Sylvisorex sheppardii climbing shrew<br />
Tatera brantsi gerbil
Birds<br />
Agapornis lilianae Lilian's Lovebird<br />
Agapornis nigrigenis Black-cheeked Lovebird<br />
Anthreptes longuemarei Violet-backed Sunbird<br />
Anthreptes anchietae Red-and-blue (Anchieta's) Sunbird<br />
Anthus nyassae Wood Pipit<br />
Apalis alticola/cinerea Brown-headed Apalis<br />
Batis margaritae Margaret's Batis<br />
Calamonastes undosus/simplex (S) Stierling's Barred Warbler<br />
Calamonastes undosus (N) <strong>Miombo</strong> Wren Warbler<br />
Centropus cupreicaudus Coppery-tailed Coucal<br />
Cercotrichas barbata <strong>Miombo</strong> Beared Scrub Robin<br />
Cisticola dambo Dambo Cisticola<br />
Cisticola pipiens Chirping Cisticola<br />
Cisticola melanurus Black-tailed Cisticola<br />
Coracias spatulata Raquet-tailed Roller<br />
Dendropicos stierlingi Stierling's Woodpecker<br />
Egretta vinaceigula Slaty Egret<br />
Elminia albicaudata White-tailed Blue Flycatcher<br />
Emberiza cabanisi Cabanis's Bunting<br />
Eremomela atricollis Black-necked Eremomela<br />
Erythrocercus livingstonei Livingstone's Flycatcher<br />
Estrilda thomensis Cinderella Waxbill<br />
Estrilda nigriloris Black-lored Waxbill<br />
Francolinus finschi Finsch's Francolin<br />
Hirundo nigrorufa Black-and-Rufous Swallow<br />
Hyliota australis Southern Hyliota<br />
Hypargos niveoguttatus Red-throated Twinspot<br />
Lagonosticta nitidula Brown Firefinch<br />
Lamprotornis acuticaudus Sharp-tailed Starling<br />
Lamprotornis mevesii Southern Long-tailed Starling<br />
Lanius souzae Souza's Shrike<br />
Lybius chaplini Chaplin's Barbet<br />
Macronyx fuellebornii Fuelleborn's Longclaw<br />
Macronyx grimwoodi Grimwood's Longclaw<br />
Malaconotus monteiri Monteiro's Bushshrike<br />
Merops boehmii Boehm's Bee-eater<br />
Mirafra angolensis Angola Lark<br />
<strong>Miombo</strong> <strong>Ecoregion</strong> <strong>Report</strong>, page 70
Monticola angolensis <strong>Miombo</strong> Rock Thrush<br />
Muscicapa boehmi Boehm's Flycatcher<br />
Myrmecocichla arnotti White-headed Black (Arnot's) Chat<br />
Myrmecocichla thollonii Congo Moor Chat<br />
Nectarinia bocagei Bocage's Sunbird<br />
Nectarinia oustaleti Oustalet's White-bellied Sunbird<br />
Nectarinia manoensis <strong>Miombo</strong> double-collared Sunbird<br />
Nectarinia shelleyi Shelley's Sunbird<br />
Neocichla gutteralis White-winged Starling<br />
Neolestes torquatus Black-collared Bulbul Shrike<br />
Ortygospiza locustella Locust Finch<br />
Parus rufiventris Rufous-bellied Tit<br />
Parus pallidiventris Cinnamon-breasted Tit<br />
Parus giseiventris <strong>Miombo</strong> Grey Tit<br />
Phylloscopus laurae Laura's Woodland Warbler<br />
Pinacorys nigricans Dusky Lark<br />
Pinarornis plumosus Boulder Chat<br />
Plocepasser rufoscapulatus Chestnut-mantled Sparrow-weaver<br />
Ploceus bertrandi Bertram's Weaver<br />
Ploceus ruweti Ruwet's Masked Weavet<br />
Ploceus olivaceiceps Olive-headed Weaver<br />
Ploceus katangae Katanga Masked Weaver<br />
Ploceus angolensis Bar-winged Weaver<br />
Ploceus reichardi Lake Lufira Weaver<br />
Ploceus burnieri Kilombero Weaver<br />
Ploceus xanthopterus Brown-throated Golden Weaver<br />
Ploceus temporalis Bocage's Weaver<br />
Pyrenestes minor Lesser Seedcracker<br />
Serinus mennelli Black-eared (Mennel's) Seedeater<br />
Serinus reichardi Reichard's Seedeater<br />
Stactolaema anchietae Anchieta's Barbet<br />
Stactolaema whytii Whyte's Barbet<br />
Sylvietta ruficapilla Red-capped Crombec<br />
Tockus pallidirostris Pale-billed Hornbill<br />
Tockus bradfieldi Bradfield's Hornbill<br />
Tricholaema frontata <strong>Miombo</strong> Pied Barbet<br />
Turaco (persa) livingstonei Livingstone's Loerie<br />
Turdoides hartlaubii Hartaub's Babbler<br />
<strong>Miombo</strong> <strong>Ecoregion</strong> <strong>Report</strong>, page 71
Turdoides melanops Black-faced Babbler<br />
Vidua obtusa Broadtailed Paradise Whydah<br />
Vidua codringtoni Peter's Twinspot Indigobird<br />
<strong>Miombo</strong> <strong>Ecoregion</strong> <strong>Report</strong>, page 72<br />
Reptiles 4<br />
Afroedura loveridgei Loveridge's Flat-gecko<br />
Afroedura transvaalica Limpopo Flat-gecko<br />
Afrogecko ansorgii Ansorge's Leaf-toed Gecko<br />
Agama kirkii Kirk's Rock Agama<br />
Amblyodipsas katangensis Katanga Purple-glossed Snake<br />
Amblyodipsas ventrimaculata Kalahari Purple-glossed Snake<br />
Aparallactus moeruensis Mweru Centipede-eater<br />
Atheris katangensis Katanga Bush Viper<br />
Atheris rungweensis Rungwe Bush Viper<br />
Bitis heraldica Bocage's Montane Viper<br />
Causus bilineatus Lined Night-adder<br />
Chamaeleo anchietae Anchieta's Chameleon<br />
Chilorhinophis gerardi Gerard's Black & Yellow Burrowing Snake<br />
Chirindia langi Lang's Round-snouted Worm Lizard<br />
Cordylus angolensis Angola Girdled Lizard<br />
Cordylus depressus Soutpansberg Girdled Lizard<br />
Cordylus mossambicus Gorongosa Girdled Lizard<br />
Cordylus regius Regal Girdled Lizard<br />
Cordylus vandami Van Dam's Girdled Lizard<br />
Dalophia angolensis Angolan Pestle-tailed Worm-lizard<br />
Dalophia ellenbergeri Barotse Pestle-tailed Worm-lizard<br />
Dalophia longicauda Long-tail Pestle-tailed Worm-lizard<br />
Dalophia luluae Sandoa Pestle-tailed Worm-lizard<br />
Gerrhosaurus bulsi Buls' Plated Lizard<br />
Hemidactylus tasmani Tasman's Rock Gecko<br />
Homopholis mulleri Muller's Velvet Gecko<br />
Ichnotropis bivittata Angolan Rough-scaled Lizard<br />
Ichnotropis grandiceps Caprivi Rough-scaled Lizard<br />
Ichnotropis tanganicana Lake Tanganyika Rough-scaled Lizard<br />
Latastia johnstoni Johnston's Scrub Lizard<br />
Leptosiaphos dewittei De Witte's Five-toed Skink<br />
Limnophis bicolor Angolan Striped Water Snake<br />
Loveridgea phylofiniens Udjiji Round-snouted Worm Lizard<br />
Lycodonomorphus bicolor Lake Tanganyika Water Snake<br />
Lycodonomorphus mlanjensis Mulanje Water Snake<br />
Lygodactylus angolensis Angolan Dwarf Gecko
<strong>Miombo</strong> <strong>Ecoregion</strong> <strong>Report</strong>, page 73<br />
Lygodactylus chobiensis Chobe Dwarf Gecko<br />
Lygodactylus stevensoni Stevenson's Dwarf Gecko<br />
Lygodactylus heeneni Heenen's Dwarf Gecko<br />
Mabuya angolensis Angolan Skink<br />
Mabuya bayonii Bayon's Skink<br />
Mabuya ivensii Ivens' Skink<br />
Mabuya lacerti<strong>for</strong>mis Bronze Rock Skink<br />
Monopeltis adercae Lualaba Spade-snouted Worm-lizard<br />
Monopeltis perplexus Perplexing Spade-snouted Worm-lizard<br />
Monopeltis remaclei Witte's Spade-snouted Worm-lizard<br />
Monopeltis rhodesiana Zimbabwean Spade-snouted Worm-lizard<br />
Monopeltis scalper Scalpel Spade-snouted Worm-lizard<br />
Monopeltis zambezensis Zambezi Spade-snouted Worm-lizard<br />
Natriciteres bipostocularis Southwestern Marsh Snake<br />
Pachydactylus oshaughnessyi Oshaughnessy's Thick-toed Gecko<br />
Pachydactylus tetensis Tete Thick-toed Gecko<br />
Pachydactylus tigrinus Tiger Thick-toed Gecko<br />
Panaspis megalurus Blue-tailed Snake-eyed Skink<br />
Panaspis seydeli Katanga Snake-eyed Skink<br />
Pelusios nanus Dwarf Hinged Terrapin<br />
Pelusios upembae Upemba Hinged Terrapin<br />
Philothamnus ornatus Ornate Green Snake<br />
Platysaurus imperator Imperial Flat-lizard<br />
Platysaurus intermedius Matschie's Flat-lizard<br />
Platysaurus maculatus Spotted Flat-lizard<br />
Platysaurus mitchelli Mulanje Flat-lizard<br />
Platysaurus monotropis Orange Flat-lizard<br />
Platysaurus nyasae Shire Flat-lizard<br />
Platysaurus parvus Blouberg Flat-lizard<br />
Platysaurus pungweensis Pungwe Flat Lizard<br />
Platysaurus relictus Soutpansberg Flat-lizard<br />
Platysaurus rhodesianus Zimbabwean Flat-lizard<br />
Platysaurus subniger Mashona Flat-lizard<br />
Platysaurus torquatus Striped Flat-lizard<br />
Psammophis ansorgii Ansorge's Whip Snake<br />
Psammophis sp. nov. Zambian Whip Snake<br />
Rhinotyphlops anomalus Anomalous Beaked Blind-snake<br />
Rhinotyphlops gracilis Gracile Beaked Blind-snake<br />
Rhinotyphlops kibarae Upemba Beaked Blind-snake<br />
Scelotes limpopoensis Limpopo Dwarf Burrowing Skink<br />
Tetradactylus ellenbergeri Ellenberger's Whip-lizard<br />
Typhlacontias gracilis Barotse Burrowing Skink
<strong>Miombo</strong> <strong>Ecoregion</strong> <strong>Report</strong>, page 74<br />
Typhlosaurus jappi Barotse Blind Legless Skink<br />
Typhlops schmidti Schmidt's Blind-snake<br />
Xenocalamus sabiensis Save Quill-snouted Snake<br />
Zygaspis kafuensis Kafue Round-snouted Worm-lizard<br />
Zygaspis nigra Black Round-snouted Worm-lizard<br />
Amphibians 4<br />
Afrixalus wittei De Witte's Leaf-folding Frog<br />
Breviceps poweri Zambian Rain Frog<br />
Bufo fuliginatus Katanga Toad<br />
Bufo melanopleura Upemba Toad<br />
Bufo reesi Rees' Toad<br />
Bufo urunguensis Urungu Toad<br />
Hemisus sp. nov. Barotse Shovelsnout Frog<br />
Hemisus wittei Upemba Shovelsnout Frog<br />
Hildebrandtia ornatissima Angola Ornate Frog<br />
Hylarana darlingi Golden-backed Frog<br />
Hylarana lemairii Lemaire's Forest Frog<br />
Hyperolius bocagei Bocage's Reed Frog<br />
Hyperolius kachololae Kacholola Reed Frog<br />
Hyperolius kibarae Upemba Reed Frog<br />
Hyperolius obscurus Kasai Reed Frog<br />
Hyperolius quinquevittatus Five-lined Reed Frog<br />
Hyperolius reesi Kilombero Reed Frog<br />
Hyperolius vilhenai Luita River Reed Frog<br />
Hyperolius viridis Green Reed Frog<br />
Kassina kuvangensis Kuvangu Running-frog<br />
Kassinula wittei Witte's Running-frog<br />
Leptopelis fiziensis Fizi Forest Treefrog<br />
Leptopelis lebeaui Nyonga Forest Treefrog<br />
Leptopelis parvus Upemba Forest Treefrog<br />
Phrynobatrachus anotis Lusinga Puddle Frog<br />
Phrynobatrachus parvulus Least Puddle Frog<br />
Phrynobatrachus rungwensis Rungwe Puddle Frog<br />
Phrynobatrachus stewartae Stewart's Puddle Frog<br />
Ptychadena ansorgii Ansorge's Ridged-frog<br />
Ptychadena bunoderma Tuberculate Ridged-frog<br />
Ptychadena keilingi Keiling's Ridged-frog<br />
Ptychadena mapacha Mapacha Ridged-frog<br />
Ptychadena obscura Obscure Ridged-frog<br />
Ptychadena upembae Upemba Ridged-frog<br />
Spelaeophryne methneri Methner's Cave Frog
Stephopaedes anotis Chirinda Earless Toad<br />
Freshwater fish 5<br />
Aethiomastecembelus signatus<br />
Bagrus meridionalis<br />
Barbus arcislongae<br />
Barbus argenteus<br />
Barbus bellcrossi<br />
Barbus breviceps<br />
Barbus choloensis<br />
Barbus dorsolineatus<br />
Barbus eurystomus<br />
Barbus johnstonii<br />
Barbus litamba<br />
Barbus manicensis<br />
Barbus owenae<br />
Bathyclarias spp.<br />
Chetia welwitschi<br />
Chiloglanis emarginatus<br />
Engraulicypris sardella<br />
Hydrocynus tanzaniae<br />
Hypsopanchax jubbi<br />
Kneria maydelli<br />
Labeo ansorgii<br />
Labeo mesops<br />
Labeo ruddi<br />
Labeo simpsoni<br />
Labeo worthingtonii<br />
Marcusenius nyasensis<br />
Nothobranchius furzeri<br />
Nothobranchius kafuensis<br />
Nothobranchius sp.<br />
Nyassachromis spp.<br />
Opsaridium microcephalum<br />
Opsaridium microlepis<br />
Opsaridium tweddlorum<br />
Oreochromis shiranus<br />
Orthochromis machadoi<br />
Paramormyrops jacksoni<br />
Sargochromis coulteri<br />
Sargochromis gracilis<br />
<strong>Miombo</strong> <strong>Ecoregion</strong> <strong>Report</strong>, page 75
Schwetzochromis machadoi<br />
Synodontis njassae<br />
Thoracochromis albolabris<br />
Thoracochromis buysi<br />
Tylochromis bangwelensis<br />
Varicorhinus pungweensis<br />
<strong>Miombo</strong> <strong>Ecoregion</strong> <strong>Report</strong>, page 76<br />
NB. In many cases an evolutionary species concept is used; hence subspecies and varieties may<br />
have been raised to specific status.<br />
Sources:<br />
1. WWF Conservation Science Division database, Oct 2001 (original WWF ecoregions)<br />
2. Fenton Cotterill, pers. comm. (Oct 2001)<br />
3. Peter Frost, pers. comm. (Dec 2001)<br />
4. Don Broadley, pers. comm. (Nov 2001)<br />
5. Brian Marshall (2000) and pers. comm. (Nov 2001); excludes species from Great Lakes.
Appendix 2. MIOMBO ECOREGION HABITATS<br />
<strong>Miombo</strong> <strong>Ecoregion</strong> <strong>Report</strong>, page 77<br />
The ecoregion planning process identifies areas of importance based on species diversity and<br />
endemism, as well as ecological or evolutionary processes. Representation of habitats across the<br />
area is not explicitly covered.<br />
Recognising this, the plant/vegetation group at the October workshop attempted to identify many<br />
of the best examples of habitats across the ecoregion, also trying to ensure representation of all<br />
major types. This is presented here and in Figure 7 below, but must be considered very<br />
preliminary.<br />
A total of 29 areas were identified that are considered to be important habitats, and also give<br />
good representation of the major types across the region. These are based on the important plant<br />
areas, and were enlarged to cover all vegetation types and Afromontane <strong>for</strong>ests and grasslands.<br />
Code Area<br />
Ha1 Selous Game Reserve<br />
Ha2 Lower Rovuma & inselbergs<br />
Ha3 Mahale / Karobwa hills<br />
Ha4 Kolwezi / Lumbumbashi<br />
Ha5 Itigi thicket<br />
Ha6 Great Dyke (N & S)<br />
Ha7 Limpopo valley / G-K-G<br />
Ha8 Zambezi headwaters<br />
Ha9 Barotseland<br />
Ha10 Huambo / Huila / Benguela / Bié plateau & highlands<br />
Ha11 Luangwa valley<br />
Ha12 Middle Zambezi valley<br />
Ha13 Shire valley & highlands<br />
Ha14 Mt Mulanje<br />
Ha15 Gorongosa / Marromeu<br />
Ha16 Nyanga mountains<br />
Ha17 Chimanimani mountains<br />
Ha18 Felixburg<br />
Ha19 Nata river<br />
Ha20 Baikiaea woodlands<br />
Ha21 Kafue Flats
Ha22 Nyika plateau<br />
Ha23 Misuku hills / Livingstone mountains<br />
Ha24 Bangweulu swamps<br />
Ha25 Lake Mweru Wantipa<br />
Ha26 Upemba National Park<br />
Ha27 Matobo hills<br />
Ha28 Cuando-Cubango plains<br />
Ha29 Lower Cunene<br />
<strong>Miombo</strong> <strong>Ecoregion</strong> <strong>Report</strong>, page 78
<strong>Miombo</strong> <strong>Ecoregion</strong> <strong>Report</strong>, page 79<br />
Figure 7. <strong>Miombo</strong> <strong>Ecoregion</strong> – areas of significance <strong>for</strong> habitat conservation