Inspiring excellence, transforming lives
through quality, impact, and care.

Manica Highlands Initiative

The Manica Highlands is a linear (north-south) transboundary mountain system some 8 500 km² in extent, shared between Zimbabwe and Mozambique in south-central Africa. The mountains are characterised by mosaics of moist evergreen forests, miombo woodlands, and high moorlands.

The dramatic scenery includes the highest peaks in both Zimbabwe (Mt Nyangani, 2 593 m) and Mozambique (Monte Binga, 2 440 m). Various land uses beginning in prehistoric times have left a complex legacy of human-environment interactions that continues today.

The Manica Highlands Initiative (MHI) was founded in 2011 by Prof Ralph Clark (then a postdoctoral research fellow at Rhodes University) as a network to encourage research and interventions for sustainability in the Manica Highlands.

In November 2023, the coordination of the MHI was transferred to the care of regional expert Dr Anthony Mapaura, currently a postdoctoral research fellow with the Afromontane Research Unit at the University of the Free State (UFS). Secretariat assistance is provided by the African Mountain Research Foundation. Dr Mapaura graduated from the UFS with his well-deserved PhD in 2023, after completing his studies with the UFS Department of Plant Sciences with support from the ARU, the Centre for Invasion Biology (Stellenbosch University), and the Centre for Biological Control (Rhodes University).

Key MHI activities

An ‘r4d’ application to the Swiss National Science Foundation (SNSF), which reached the final 15 shortlisting but was ultimately not funded, focusing on ecosystem services valuation. However, the proposal was published as the first review of the Manica Highlands as a social-ecological system (perhaps the first such paper for a whole mountain system in Southern Africa).

Kind sharing by Darryl Plowes of the data and information catalogue he had gathered on the Manica Highlands over many years.

Various engagements in Zimbabwe with key academics, policy makers, and citizen scientists.

Mapping of woody alien invasive species density in Nyanga National Park in 2016.

An alien invasive species workshop in the Bvumba in 2016, hosted by Seldomseen.

A special issue on the Manica Highland in 2017 in the journal Kirkia (Zimbabwean Journal of Botany). Content included the first enumeration of plant diversity and endemism on the Nyanga Massif and a revision of Chimanimani plant diversity and endemism.

The first enumeration of plant diversity and endemism on the Bvumba, published in 2020.

An assessment of evergreen forest loss over a 50-year period and the phytogeography of moist forests in eastern Zimbabwe, both published in 2021.

Installation of two weather stations by the African Mountain Research Foundation, one each in Nyanga National Park and the Bvumba, in 2022.

Capacity development investment by the African Mountain Research Foundation in four emerging academics and practitioners in 2023, facilitated by Seldomseen.

Current activities

The first comprehensive enumeration of plant endemism in the Manica Highlands (Timberlake and Clark in prep.).

Invasive species research and management in the Manica Highlands, building on the ‘r4d’ application and coordinated by the Centre for Biological Control (Rhodes University) in partnership with Zimbabwean agencies.

Contact details:

MHI Coordinator
Dr Anthony Mapaura
Afromontane Research Unit, UFS
E: mapaura@yahoo.com / mapauraa@ufs.ac.za

Secretariat Support
Clara Hickman
African Mountain Research Foundation
E: clara@africanmountainresearch.com

Contact us

Sithando Jwara
Administrator: Afromontane Research Unit
Private Bag X13, Phuthaditjhaba, 9866, Republic of South Africa
T: +27 58 718 5271
C: +27 73 512 7671
E: JwaraS@ufs.ac.za