Scientific Exploration of the Nyika National Park, Malawi 2008 Edited by C.P. and M.J. Overton Scientific Exploration of the Nyika National Park, Malawi, Central Africa 2008 Edited by C. P. & M. J. Overton 1 Printed and published by Biosearch Nyika Wayfarer Lodge, Welbourn, Lincs LN5 0QH Tel: 01400 273323 e-mail:[email protected] www.biosearch.org.uk Price £15.00 © April 2009, Biosearch Nyika C.P. & M. J. Overton Copyright, Designs and Patents Act, 1988: All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any means whatsoever, without the prior written permission of the Publishers. Reference: Overton, C.P. & M.J. (ed.) 2008 Scientific Exploration of the Nyika National Park, Malawi 2008 Wayfarer Lodge, Welbourn, Lincolnshire, UK LN5 0QH Cover photographs; front and back by Marianne Overton 2 CONTENTS Foreword Peter Overton 5 Maps Hilary Strickland and Sophie Martin 7 Leader report Peter Overton 11 Expedition Team Personal submissions 25 Provisions Peter Overton 31 Cameras in the field Ian Pilcher 35 Temperatures Kaele Pilcher 39 Women in Malawi Laura Humphries 41 Birds Peter Overton and Richard Nyirenda 45 Herpetology Shaun Allingham and Michael Overton 51 Photo pages List with credits 63 Bats Kaele and Ian Pilcher 77 Poaching Bridget Starling 85 Large mammals Katie Cottrell and Philippa Stubbs 95 Plant communities Steven Mphamba and Martin Preston 131 Medicinal Plants Imran Khan and Lewis Mtumbuka 123 Expedition Song Philippa Stubbs 141 Memories of Africa 143 Biosearch Team Photo 145 Artwork Sophie Martin 147 3 4 FOREWORD Peter Overton The 2008 Expedition was the latest in a series that has run since 1997. Each year we accumulate data on poaching activity, large mammal populations and plant life. We also survey other other biodiversity too, depending on the skills and interests available to us at the time. This year it was the turn of bats and herpetology to have their special study and what a fascinating opportunity this turned out to be! We are very grateful for the energetic input of our specialists and their desire to seize the opportunity to discover things wherever and whenever they occurred. There is so much to find in the Nyika National Park and Vwaza Game Reserve and a huge opportunity to work in parts that are never visited. Even the most unpromising areas seem to turn up something fascinating. Over more than ten years we have explored many parts of the park, especially the remoter areas, which are well away from the tracks network on the high plateau itself. We are very grateful to have had long-running support from the Department of National Parks and Wildlife in Malawi. Latterly we have also been able to work with the Millenium Seeds Bank to assist in collecting further seed for future plant conservation. “The beauty of quietness, just the noises of nature” In the early years we concentrated mainly on the northern valleys, where we knew poaching activity was very high, with little patrolling taking place. This gave us a series of data that could be used for comparative purposes within an area of some 500 km2. Later we moved to other parts of the park, including the western escarpment and the southern parts, around Fingira, Juniper Forest and Vitinthiza. We made a major departure from our previous work pattern in 2008. We spent a full week in the north of Vwaza Marsh Game Reserve, in the area of and including the marsh itself. This was quite an experience and not always pleasant. Parts of the marsh are infested with very aggressive Tsetse flies and at times we were beaten into retreat. A bee keeper‟s protective suit might well be a useful piece of accessory equipment, at least to keep to hand for some of the worst localities. Walking in the marsh area, even in August when water levels are dropping, was hard Nyika landscape near Vitinthiza Pippa Stubbs work. There were 3m tall grasses. There were also many sumps, where it was easy to sink down to the knees if you fail to keep your feet firmly planted on the tenuous and spongy tussocks. Yet looking ahead you could aim for magical islands of vegetation, some of them formed on giant termite mounds and covered with perhaps the odd palm tree and at least a raised viewpoint to take a bearing through the next hour of boggy trekking. Happily, those who ventured into the great swamp came out of it intact and apparently sufferend no lasting traumas. The small group who remained on drier ground at our base camp at Chelanya, two hours walk away, had their own problems; they had to decamp very 5 rapidly when a poacher-set fire raged towards them and threatened to destroy everything, including our vehicle. In the event the fire failed to engulf the camp in its clearing and they were able to set off on another bat hunt with yet another photo story to bring home. Biosearch continues its programme of adventure, exploration and research. We have been able to provide continuity of work over the years and published a fascinating biodiversity inventory from one of Africa‟s great wilderness areas. Furthemore we have established a very close working relationship with many of the local wildlife staff, to the point where they are keen to take part in our future explorations and expectantly ask us to return as soon as we are able to assemble a further team. We have also given many people of all ages an opportunity to enjoy the wilderness area and contribute to our knowledge of it: “The expedition experience I will treasure for the rest of my life. My, what an adventure!” OUR RECORD After over a decade of exploration it seems timely to summarise the parts of the Nyika National Park where we have worked (there were no expeditions in 2000 and 2002): 1997 March/April: Northern Valleys. Base camp at Nganda 7400ft. (928461), survey areas of plateau edge 7,500ft and above, Mondwe Valley around 6000ft, dropping into the Chipome valley at 4000ft and over the water shed ridge into the Sawi valley down to less than 4000ft. 1998 July: Northern valleys, similar area as 1997 1999 July: Northern valleys, similar area as 1997 followed by a second expedition team 1999 September: Juniper Forest area; base camp at 6850ft. (970115) and south to the edge of the Park. 2001 July: Northern valleys, similar area as 1997 2003 March/April Northern valleys, similar area as 1997 followed by a second team: 2003 July: Northern valleys, similar area as 1997 2004 July: Approached from Uledi in the far north of the park. Plot surveying from 3,500ft to Mpanda peak 6600 ft and the ridge to Kawozya up to 7200 ft. Basecamp on slopes enabled much study below 5000ft. Discovered Bleak House overlooking the Lake. 2005 July: Basecamp at Zungwara 6750ft on the west of the plateau, surveying the western escarpment down to 4,600ft on the North Rukuru River, including Chisanga Falls area at 6000ft. 2006 July: Basecamp at Nyambwani on the Fingira road south of Chilinda, 6950ft (865148) surveying the southern part of the Park in the Fingira area. We then trekked across the Chilinda River to set up the Juniper Forest Camp at 6850ft. (970115). The third phase was a repeat of some 2005 plots near Zungwara. The fourth camp was on the Wovwe above Njalayankhunda at 4000ft (139436) to cover parts of the eastern escarpment. 2007 August: Base camp was at the Old horse camp at 6,500ft on the western side of the plateau 6,500ft (791377). Three groups surveyed the Mondwe and the Sawi Valleys and the Nganda plateau area at 7750ft (916482), to the west of the original 1997 base camp. In phase two, one group spent six days camped near Chisanga Falls (6000ft) and the other group trekked from Jalawi all the way to Uledi to inspect the new foot bridge over the North Rukuru. 2008 August: Basecamp to the south of Vitinthiza at 6,000ft (723171). The second phase was a week in the north of Vwaza Marsh Game Reserve followed by three days in the south. 6 MALAWI Landlocked Malawi lies at the southern end of the Great Rift Valley and is bounded by Mozambique, Zambia and Tanzania. It lies between 9° and 17° south of the equator. Its climate may be loosely described as sub-tropical but varies considerably, being much influenced by altitude and Lake Malawi, which forms much of the country„s eastern border. The dry season is from May to November. Malawi has a rural economy based on subsistence farming and fishing on the lake but also with large tobacco and tea estates. The country is one of the world„s poorest and is slightly smaller than England at 45,747 square miles. As more of the population migrates from the countryside, the towns are growing fast. The population, living mainly in the the south of the country, is around 13 million. The varied countryside is characterised by a string of high plateau regions from the north to the south of the country, of which Nyika is one, and isolated rocky intrusions which conspicuously stick out of the flat landscape. Maps © Hilary Strickland, Biosearch Expeditions 7 MAP OF NYIKA NATIONAL PARK 8 SURVEY AREA IN THE NYIKA NATIONALPARK 9 SURVEY AREA IN VWAZA MARSH RESERVE 10 LEADER REPORT C Peter Overton, Expedition Leader TRAINING PROGRAMME Most of the UK team assembled for a training weekend on the early May Bank Holiday weekend.