Mozambique protects Mount Mabu ‘butterfly forest’

Mozambique has formally protected Mount Mabu, a hotspot of endemic wildlife and home to more than 200 species of butterflies, located in the Lugela district of northern Mozambique. The decree, published on Aug. 24 by the Ministry of Agriculture, Environment and Fisheries, created the 9,341-hectare (23,082-acre) Mount Mabu Community Conservation Area, with stewardship of the land granted to the local communities that have preserved the forest for generations. “It’s a great relief,” Julian Bayliss, an ecologist who led several surveys over 20 years that helped build the case for protecting Mount Mabu, told Mongabay by phone. “These forests are very important because they’ve got high levels of endemism.” Map by Emilie Languedoc/Mongabay. Every year in October and November, hundreds of butterflies gather in the morning on the 1,700-meter (5,577-foot) summit of Mount Mabu, a mating behavior scientists call hilltopping. In 2013, the phenomenon was documented by naturalist David Attenborough who lent Mount Mabu the nickname “butterfly forest.” Scientists have recorded more than 200 butterfly taxa at Mabu but say the real number could reach 250 with further surveys. Since 2005, more than 30 species, including frogs, chameleons, bats and insects, have been discovered in the forests of Mabu. Bayliss and colleagues most recently described a new-to-science cobalt-blue butterfly, Iolaus mabuensis, found by a research team he led in Mabu in 2008. Only one specimen of the species has been collected to date, Bayliss said. Front and back of the Iolaus mabuensis butterfly. Image courtesy of Szabolcs Sáfián. Bayliss was also the first scientist to encounter the Mount Mabu forest viper, Atheris mabuensis, described in 2009, after he accidentally stepped on one under a pile of leaf litter. According to the decree, the land is dedicated to the protection, conservation and sustainable use of natural resources by local communities. Any specific restrictions on activities are expected to be defined under the community management plan that has not yet been finalized. From left, researchers Cesária Huo, Mnqobi Mamba and Ara Monadjem during a 2024 expedition. Images courtesy of Christophe Bernier. Mount Mabu hosts “the largest continuous block” of medium-altitude forest left in southern Africa. The terrain has steep ridges and valleys, which create microclimates and isolated flora and fauna that evolved over millions of years into a plethora of species found in few other places, and in some cases nowhere else in the world, Bayliss said. Today, the forest’s main threats are from encroachment of small-scale agriculture and logging, but overall, the area is well-conserved and treated as sacred by locals, according to the 2024 conservation area proposal reviewed by Mongabay. “All of this effort is a recognition of the community that protected the forest,” José Monteiro, executive director of ReGeCom, one of the organizations working with the local communities at Mabu, told Mongabay by phone. “The community, over a long time, kept the forest standing.” Banner image: Butterflies on Mount Mabu. Image courtesy of Julian Bayliss. Credits Topics