The WCS Southern Highlands Conservation Program

The WCS Southern Highlands Conservation Program

The Southern Highlands Conservation Program (SHCP) was started by WCS in 2000 to conserve important upland habitats and species across southwest Tanzania. The Highlands lie between Lakes Nyasa/Malawi and Tanganyika on the junction of the eastern and western arms of the Great Rift Valley. Sites of particular interest are plateau grasslands, montane forests and crater lakes including Kitulo Plateau, Mt Rungwe, Livingstone Mts, Mbisi, Mporoto and Mbeya Range.

The Livingstone escarpment within Kitulo National Park viewed from the summit of Mt Rungwe. Photo: Noah Mpunga / WCS The Poroto Three-horned Chameleon (Chamaeleo fuelleborni) is one of the rarest chameleons on the continent, globally restricted to just four sites in Tanzania's Southern Highlands. Reaching a length of 22 cm, the males of this arboreal species are highly territorial, using their horns to fight for females. They give birth to as many as 15 live young (Photo (c) Tim Davenport / WCS) Bustani ya Mungu - God's garden. Satyrium and Habenaria orchids on Kitulo Plateau. Photo: Tim Davenport / WCS

With a staff of 20, the SHCP carries out a variety of research, protected area management support, and community conservation initiatives. Successes include bringing the international trade in orchids to light, involvement in the gazettement of Kitulo Plateau as a new and innovative national park, and comprehensive biodiversity and socio-economic surveys of Mt Rungwe, Kitulo and other unexplored areas. An environmental education component reaches thousands of people targeting schools and village environment committees. The SHCP provides support to District and Regional Governments as well as Tanzania National Parks. Indigenous tree nurseries have been developed in Rungwe, Sumbawanga and Mbeya, and over 150,000 seedlings have been raised and planted. The Program also works with local NGOs in tourism development, awareness raising, fuel efficiency and capacity building. The unique flora and fauna of the Southern Highlands are being characterised through biodiversity surveys of plants, mammals, birds, reptiles, amphibians, fish and invertebrates. The endemic and highly endangered Abbott’s Duiker is the focus of a novel conservation strategy targeting hunters, and the distribution, threats and status of all carnivore species are being monitored. Ecological research of important habitats are identifying the key threats to them. Furthermore, in-depth socio-economic studies are helping to determine natural resource use by communities across the region.

The WCS Southern Rift Program

The Southern Rift Program is a new regional initiative building on current WCS projects including the Southern Highlands Conservation Program (SHCP) in Tanzania and the Mt Mulanje Biodiversity & Monitoring Project in southern Malawi. Conservation work in the Mozambique Mts and the Nyika National Park in northern Malawi are being planned. Regarded biologically as ‘globally outstanding’, the Southern (or Nyasa) Rift begins at the junction of the Eastern and Western (Albertine) Rifts in southwest Tanzania. It extends southward through Malawi and central Mozambique.

Through the management of these projects and the development of additional ones, the Southern Rift Program aims to assist in the conservation of important habitats and species across the region.













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