Message #171058

[Galathean]

After a few exploratory trips, in October and November this year 28 scientists and support staff from the UK, Mozambique, Malawi, Tanzania and Switzerland, with 70 porters, drove to an abandoned tea estate where the road ended and hiked the last few kilometres into the forest to set up camp for four weeks. One highlight was emerging from the canopy on the peak of Mount Mabu, 1,700m up, where "hundreds upon hundreds" of male butterflies had gathered in the sunlight to attract mates by flying as high as possible. "There were swifts flying in and peregrines in the air above: it was phenomenal," said Timberlake.

Outside the forest the land has been devastated by a civil war that lasted from 1975 to 1992, but inside scientists found the landscape was almost untouched. Ignorance of its existence, poor access and the forest's value as a refuge for villagers during the fighting had combined to protect it, Timberlake explained.

The scientists fear that with local people returning to the area, and Mozambique's economy booming, pressure to cut the forest for wood or burn it to make space for crops will threaten the ecology.

Visiting and describing what they found was the first step to conserving the new species, said Timberlake. "They are not propping up the earth in most cases, but if you know about them what right have you to destroy them? If you don't know about them, it was an accident; if you know about them, it's malicious."