Growing up in Domboshava, a village nestled in central Zimbabwe, Edwin Tambara, now the African Wildlife Foundation’s director of global leadership, recalls the Miombo woodland as an integral part of daily life. This vast forest wasn’t just a natural backdrop; it served as a pharmacy, hardware store, and supermarket for the community.
“Whenever someone had a cough, headache, or other ailments, my grandmother would simply venture into the forest,” Tambara reminisces. “She’d return with leaves that were either boiled for sniffing or used in some other traditional remedy, and that was that.”
What Makes the Miombo Unique?
The Miombo woodlands are a vast semi-deciduous forest, dominated by leguminous trees from the Brachystegia, Julbernardia, and Isoberlinia genera. Spanning across Central and Southern Africa, it’s the most extensive dry tropical forest in the world.
However, the Miombo is under threat, and its shrinking expanse is troubling for the millions of people who rely on it for a myriad of resources.
The Miombo’s Bounty: More Than Just a Forest
The Miombo woodlands, particularly those in places like Mozambique’s Niassa Special Reserve, are a rich mosaic of habitats, including rocky outcrops and seasonally flooded areas known as dambos. These woodlands provide thatching grass for roofing, poles for fencing and construction, bark for fibers, and even termite mound soils to enrich agricultural fields.
But for Tambara, the Miombo’s wild foods hold a special place in his heart. As a child, he often snacked on termites and indulged in the many edible mushrooms the forest offered.
“Some people I knew preferred certain mushrooms over meat,” Tambara shares. “And then there were the mazhanje fruits, small, greenish-yellow gems that turned brown when ripe. They were a real treat, especially when we were out herding cattle; the forest provided everything we needed.”
An Ecological and Cultural Treasure
The Miombo woodlands do more than sustain local communities—they play a critical role on a global scale. These ancient forests protect vital watersheds, including the Zambezi, and are home to iconic wildlife such as elephants, lions, and leopards. Additionally, they sequester significant amounts of carbon, making them crucial in the fight against climate change.
Despite their importance, the Miombo remains largely overshadowed by more famous forests like the Amazon and Congo rainforests. Yet, with deforestation rates climbing, the need to protect this lesser-known ecosystem is more urgent than ever. To address this, the Republic of Mozambique’s President Filipe Jacinto Nyusi launched the Miombo Initiative in April, in partnership with several conservation organizations. This initiative seeks to mobilize resources to combat deforestation and restore this vital forest, which is essential to the well-being of the 300 million people living in the region.
The World’s Largest Dry Tropical Forest Ecosystem
The Miombo woodlands stretch across 1.9 million square kilometers (726,000 square miles), covering parts of Angola, the Democratic Republic of Congo, Malawi, Zambia, Zimbabwe, Tanzania, and Mozambique. These woodlands, characterized by their tall, drought-resistant trees that shed leaves during the dry season, are an integral part of the landscape.
While the Miombo may not support the dense populations of large mammals seen in Africa’s savannas, it is exceptionally biodiverse. “From a pure biodiversity standpoint, the Miombo is globally significant,” says James Deutsch, executive director of the Rainforest Trust. With over 8,500 plant species, half of which are unique to the Miombo, and iconic wildlife like elephants and wild dogs, the ecological value of this region cannot be overstated.
A Lifeline for Millions
The Miombo woodlands have sustained human populations for millennia, fostering “socio-ecological relationships that are vital for both people and ecosystems,” explains Natasha Ribeiro, a professor of ecological restoration at Eduardo Mondlane University in Mozambique. One fascinating example is the mutualistic relationship between honey collectors and the greater honeyguide bird, which leads collectors to wild hives in exchange for leftover wax.
Fire is another key element in the Miombo ecosystem, particularly the low-intensity fires set by honey collectors early in the dry season. These fires help maintain the balance between trees, shrubs, and grasses, contributing to the unique mosaic of habitats found within the Miombo.
Resilient Yet Fragile
The Miombo’s trees have evolved remarkable resilience, with many species capable of regenerating quickly after being cut. “If you so much as sneeze on a tree, it starts sending out loads of shoots,” says Casey Ryan, a professor of land systems science at the University of Edinburgh. This resilience allows the forest to recover from disturbances, but only up to a point.
Today, the Miombo’s resilience is being tested as never before. Booming populations and economic development are driving deforestation at an alarming rate. Smallholder and commercial agriculture, alongside the demand for firewood and charcoal, is rapidly depleting the Miombo’s resources. Fuelwood now accounts for three-quarters of energy usage in the region, and commercial logging and mining are exacerbating the problem.
From 1980 to 2020, the Miombo lost 800,000 square kilometers (309,000 square miles), shrinking its area by nearly a third. This forest loss has “dire consequences” not only for the millions who depend on the Miombo but also for the global climate, as the forest stores immense amounts of carbon.
The Miombo Initiative: A Ray of Hope
In response to these challenges, President Nyusi spearheaded the Miombo Initiative, building on the 2022 Maputo Declaration on the Miombo Forest, which was signed by 11 African nations. The initiative aims to secure the resources and political support needed to halt deforestation and promote sustainable management of the Miombo.
While the specific actions of the Miombo Initiative are still being developed, James Deutsch notes that Nyusi’s leadership offers a significant opportunity to drive meaningful change. “Simply by adding political will to existing efforts, this initiative could make a real impact,” he says.
