image source, BBC/Tony Jolliffe
Secret 'sky island’ rainforests saved by new discoveries
Perched on a remote mountaintop and surrounded by lowlands, Mapu is known as the „Sky Island” and is South Africa’s largest rainforest. BBC Environment Correspondent Joanna Fisher visited Mapu with a team of scientists who have discovered dozens of new species there and are helping to convince Mozambique to protect it.
- author, Joanna Fisher
- stock, BBC Environment Correspondent
- Report from Mapu forest, northern Mozambique
„I’m getting my magic spoon,” Dr. Jimo Daniel says with a smile.
It’s hard to imagine anyone enjoying their job more than the 36-year-old Mozambican beetle expert.
We are crouched around a small hole in the dirt not far from our camp in the heart of the Mapu forest. Dr. Daniel’s mission, like almost everyone else on our journey, is to discover things that science has never seen before.
Dung beetles are Dr Daniel’s specialty and he laughs as he pulls out a large plastic tank of bait – his own excrement.
The smell is as you would expect. Harsh and impossible to ignore.
Dr. Daniel tells me that he has already discovered what he believes to be 15 new species of dung beetles.
„They can smell up to 50 meters from here, so they come as fast as they can,” he says. „It’s Bruns.”
Twenty years ago, Mapu was a secret to all but the locals.
It was 'discovered’ to the outside world in 2004 by Professor Julien Bayliss. A researcher and ecologist now living in North Wales, he was studying satellite images of northern Mozambique when he spotted a previously unknown patch of dark green.
The first expedition the following year found that although the forest was hunted by locals, it was in incredibly good condition and at 75 square kilometers it made Mabu the largest single rainforest in South Africa.
„I was like – oh my god – this is unique,” recalls Professor Bayliss.
image source, Tim Brammer
image source, BBC/Tony Jolliffe
On early trips to Mabu, which I joined in 2009 while working as a BBC reporter in South Africa, Professor Baylis led the 'gold rush’, quickly discovering many new species of chameleons, snakes and butterflies.
In all Professor Bayliss says they have discovered at least 25 new species, and that’s not even counting dung beetles, many of which have yet to be officially recognized.
What makes Mabu so special is its geography. A medium-elevation rainforest, it stretches above the lowlands of Mozambique, effectively making it a 'sky island’.
That means most of the animals and insects that live there have no way to meet and breed with other populations, increasing the chances that they will evolve independently and new to science.
This year’s expedition, which the BBC joined at the invitation of Professor Bayliss, is the first time a team of scientists has based themselves in the heart of the forest.
Mapu is partly protected by Mozambique’s long history of civil war. The longest of these ended in 1992. It also helped that it was very difficult to get there.
After a five-hour drive on dirt roads, more than sixty porters are loaded with camping gear, food and equipment on their backs and heads.
Porters, many of them wearing only flip-flops, marched up the steep slopes of Mount Mapu as we and the scientists repaired our trails and emptied our water bottles of hydration salts.
image source, Tony Jolliffe
Freshwater fish expert Erica Dovela of Mozambique’s Natural History Museum was among the first to discover something new. In the stream running through the camp she caught a species of small catfish she had never seen before.
„I believe we have a new species for this area,” she said with a smile as she held up a bag of dead fish. (They will be preserved in formaldehyde for further analysis and comparison with other similar organisms). “Amazing. This will be my first new race.
The process of definitively identifying a new species can take years. It involves writing a peer-reviewed paper in a journal that is accepted by other scientists and outlines the differences between the new invention and its close relatives.
Ms Dovela’s next step is to have her fish’s DNA analyzed and provide detailed descriptions and pictures. And what could the name be?
“It has to be something mapuensis,” she says. „It’s a nice way to say we have a specific species that came from Mapu.”
image source, Tony Jolliffe
Mapu’s forest is in good shape but that’s not to say that some things haven’t changed.
At one time large mammals such as lions, rhinoceroses and buffalo were all hunted, often for food during war. Although not as bad as other forests in South Africa, deforestation has also taken its toll.
„It is very visible that the forests that I saw 15 to 20 years ago (in South Africa) have now disappeared and have been cut down for various reasons,” says Professor Ara Monadjem, a small mammal expert from the university. Eswatini who was on a journey.
Deforestation in Mapu has been minimal so far, but local residents are certainly poaching. Camera traps show hunters carrying their prey, and we see body traps created by car springs off tracks through the forest.
But at the same time species of small mammals are also discovered. Among them was called the horsetail bat Rhinolophus mabuensis and a pygmy musk shrew scientists are still in the process of naming and describing.
image source, Ara Monadgem
image source, Julian Bayliss
Not everyone on a cruise is looking for new species. Bird experts Claire Spottiswoode and Calum Cohen have a specific mission. Find proof that one of Africa’s rarest birds is still alive.
The Namuli Apalis Lives only at high altitudes and there are fears that a combination of deforestation and warming temperatures elsewhere is pushing the little yellow and black bird towards extinction.
image source, Rose Gallardi
„Climate change is often difficult to predict,” explains Colin Cohen, adding that sometimes warmer temperatures encourage snake activity, meaning more nests and chicks are attacked.
Attempts to locate the rare bird include running it as a record Namuli Apalis With the Bluetooth speaker, wait for any response.
image source, BBC/Tony Jolliffe
The day we join the search there is no sign or sound, but several days later the bird experts return to camp late at night with good news.
They were able to record the soundNamuli ApalisOn one of the highest ridges.
„To be honest, it’s a bit more worrying,” Mr Cohen says of the huge effort it took.
image source, Tony Jolliffe
So what happens next? For Mabu, the signs appear positive.
Bejul Kalenga, director general of Mozambique’s protected areas, tells me in an interview that Mapu is to be turned into a social protection area.
This means that no logging or mining is allowed, but local residents who depend on the forest for their livelihood can manage and use it.
Of the role scientists’ work has played in protecting the area, he says: „It’s very easy to stand against areas where we have unique resources.”
Professor Bayliss, who has conducted several expeditions into the Mabu forests, is cautiously optimistic that if the management plan is done well, Mabu will become a conservation success story.
He is already looking elsewhere in Africa for other sites in need of protection.
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