High above the savannahs of southeast Africa, where the warm Indian Ocean winds rise and spill over ancient granite peaks, there lies a world apart — an “inland archipelago” of mountains, each crowned with lush forest and home to species found nowhere else on Earth.
In recent years, that world has revealed itself in breathtaking detail: the mountains are not simply scenic outcrops, but cradle unique ecosystems in urgent need of protection.
On the slopes of peaks such as Mount Mabu (Mozambique) and Mount Mulanje (Malawi) — part of what scientists are now formally proposing as the South East Africa Montane Archipelago (SEAMA) — researchers uncovered hundreds of previously undocumented species of plants and animals.
The research team reported the discovery of hundreds of species never before recorded, emphasizing that recognizing this newly defined ecoregion offers a vital foundation for advancing regional conservation strategies and collaboration.
A Fortress Of Biodiversity High Above The Plains
Imagine a mountain rising sharply from flat ground. At low elevation, the landscape is warm and open; but climb upwards and you find cool, mist-swept forest, ancient trees dripping with ferns, moss and orchids, and crevices where shy chameleons cling to boulders.
These are the “sky-islands” — isolated peaks whose forest patches have been cut off from one another by the surrounding savannah for millions of years. On these mountains, new species have quietly evolved, sealed off by their lofty home.
The SEAMA region spans around 30 granite mountains above 800 meters elevation across southern Malawi and northern Mozambique. These mountains, formed 126–600 million years ago, have each hosted distinct lineages of plants and animals.
One vivid example is the bush viper Atheris mabuensis — found only on Mount Mabu — which diverged from its nearest relative some 15 million years ago.
Here, the surveys found:
- Researchers identified no fewer than 127 unique plant species, along with around 90 distinct types of animals—including amphibians, reptiles, birds, mammals, butterflies, and freshwater crabs—that exist exclusively within this isolated mountain archipelago.
- Endemic counts include 11 amphibians, 22 reptiles, 6 freshwater crabs, 4 mammals, and 39 butterflies — all living nowhere else.
- Many of the mountains harbor what are effectively “hidden” species waiting to be described; scientists believe many more remain undiscovered.
It’s a living laboratory of evolution in miniature — isolated forests standing out like emerald islands in a golden sea of grassland.
Human Stories Behind The Scientific Discovery
For decades, these mountains were overlooked. Some stood behind the boundaries of civil conflict or in areas of difficult access. But in recent years, multidisciplinary teams of ecologists, botanists, local conservationists, and community groups have pooled their efforts.
On Mount Mabu, residents from nearby villages such as Nangaze, Limbue, and Ñavava have helped create local associations managing natural resources in collaboration with Mozambican NGOs.
In Malawi, the Mulanje Mountain Conservation Trust has worked alongside local communities and international scientists to document forest-dependent species and map endemic biodiversity on Mount Mulanje.
Their stories are more than inventories. Professor Bayliss once stepped on the viper — unharmed by the snake — which was later described as the new species Atheris mabuensis. Such firsthand moments, years of fieldwork, climbing peaks, digging through vegetation, and analyzing DNA, have pulled into view what nature had concealed for millennia.
Threats Looming — And Hope Rising
The wonder of discovery is tempered by urgency. The same mountains that hide these species also face some of the highest deforestation rates in southern Africa. Between 2000 and 2022, the SEAMA region lost an estimated 18% of its primary humid forest cover, with some individual mountain sites losing up to 43%.
Major drivers include slash-and-burn agriculture, charcoal production, fires, and unsustainable wood-fuel extraction. Many of these forests remain unprotected, and their endemic species have nowhere else to go. The loss of even a small forest patch can mean the extinction of a species unique to that mountain.
Yet there is cause for optimism. The formal recognition of SEAMA as a distinct ecoregion is a turning point. It provides a framework for coordinated trans-boundary conservation between Malawi and Mozambique, and helps mobilize funding, community engagement, and species-level protection.
Local communities are already stepping into custodial roles. In Mount Namuli’s region, conservation efforts link forest health to access to quality healthcare for villagers — showing that nature protection and human wellbeing can go hand-in-hand.
Why It Matters Now
These high-montane forests do more than harbor rare species. They act as natural sponge-like systems, capturing moisture from cloud and wind, regulating rivers, storing carbon, and buffering local climate. The species they support may hold yet-unknown value — pharmaceuticals, ecosystem services, scientific surprises. Losing them would mean losing hidden capital for humanity.
From an evolutionary point of view, the sky-islands are living museums of adaptive divergence. Each mountain is like a separate laboratory of nature, hosting species that evolved in isolation for millions of years. When you lose one mountain’s forest, you don’t just lose habitat — you lose an entire evolutionary lineage.
A Vision For The Future
If we imagine a future where these forests remain intact, then each mountain peak becomes a beacon of conservation, research, local livelihood, and global heritage.
Schoolchildren in Mozambique or Malawi might learn about frogs and butterflies unique to their backyard peaks; ecotourists may climb with local guides to glimpse a pygmy chameleon or rare butterfly; conservationists may map species unknown to science and chart how best to protect them.
The task is not easy — it demands political will, sustainable funding, community empowerment, enforcement of forest protection, and above all, recognition that these mountains are not fringe wilderness but core threads in the planet’s ecological tapestry.
As Professor Bayliss remarked, this is the start of a new chapter.
Final Thought
In the mountains of Malawi and Mozambique, nature whispers its secrets — species that evolved in silence, forests that survived through epochs of change, and now, people who are choosing to listen.
If we respond with care and commitment, these “sky-islands” may become not stories of loss, but legacies of hope — vivid reminders that even in our changing world, discovery still awaits, uniqueness still thrives, and the wild still matters.
Sources:
Forbes
Brookes
IFL science
Mongabay
