Coastal Mozambique Photograph by Judy Oglethorpe   Southeastern Africa: Mozambique, Tanzania, Malawi, Zimbabwe Tropical and Subtropical Moist Broadleaf Forests   55,900 square miles (144,800 square kilometers) -- about the size of Iowa Critical/Endangered

· Variety of Vegetation
· Special Features
· Did You Know?
· Wild Side
· Cause for Concern
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Variety of Vegetation

This ecoregion contains a variety of vegetation types but is mainly made up of dry forest. It runs along the coast of southeastern Africa for about 1,375 miles (2,200 km). However, it never extends inland more than a couple of hundred miles.

Special Features

The coastal forests are tropical in the north, and subtropical in the south where temperatures are cooler on average and there is a significant difference between the length of day in winter and summer. The vegetation varies from savanna woodland, forest patches, and thickets, to swamps. Also included in this ecoregion are some important offshore islands, such as the Bazarruto Archipelago.

	Duikers have the largest brains in relation to their body size of all antelopes.

Wild Side

The majority of the Southern Zanzibar-Inhambane Coastal Forest Mosaic ecoregion is in Mozambique, which has had a long civil war. Because of this, plants and animals have not been studied and are poorly known for the most part. But we do know that the biodiversity of the ecoregion is amazing. The northern portion has many endemic plants. Most of the mammals are small by African standards, although hippopotamuses, buffaloes, elephants, and leopards are found here. Small antelopes include several species of duikers and two species of dwarf antelopes, including the endangered suni. Here you can find a small bird called Reichenow’s batis searching for insects in the middle forest canopy, while majestic elephants dig for roots and knock down trees as they feed. Tireless hunters, weasels bound and zig-zag across the brushy grounds after rodents and small birds such as the east coast akalat. Buffaloes and antelopes graze on abundant grasses near coastal sand dune formations. Carefully watching for leopards, troops of baboons roam the landscape in search of plants, roots, insects, and small mammals such as the endemic Vincent’s bush squirrels. After sundown, hippopotamuses leave the rivers and streams, climbing their steep banks to nibble on the bank-side grasses, while numerous bats fly from their roosts in search of fruits and insects.

Cause for Concern

In this ecoregion, the most important forested habitats are scattered in places that are either unprotected or very poorly protected. In Tanzania the forests are generally in forest reserves, however they are not completely safe. The main threats to the reserves come from companies illegally cutting trees and farmers turning forests into agriculture. These problems have resulted from the decay of the country’s forestry division to the point that they have no effective presence in the region. In Mozambique the condition and size of the forests is largely unknown. It is likely that people have reduced the forests for thousands of years, although the Mozambique war probably slowed this trend and has allowed some of the forest to return. Many of the large animals were probably killed during the war.

For more information on this ecoregion, go to the World Wildlife Fund Scientific Report.