Flora And Fauna In Malawi

Malawi is a landlocked country in East Africa that shares its southern frontiers with Tanzania, its western borders with Mozambique and the north and northwest border with Zambia. It extends over a total area of over 118,000 sq km but 20% of this is taken up by the beautiful Lake Malawi, which runs southwards parallel to the main strip of land area. Lake Malawi lies in a trough of the Great Rift Valley extending into neighbouring Tanzania. It is the southern-most and greatest of the chain of lakes in the Great Rift Valley of Africa and the third largest lake in Africa.
Narrow and longer than it is wide, Malawi is a beautiful country made up of mountain ranges and high plateaus that rise up from the shores of the lake. Malawi's main highland areas are the Nyika and Viphya Plateaux and Mt Mulanje. The mountain ranges lie in the north of the country, towering over 3,000m at their highest point. This mountainous area consists of the Nyika Plateau and the rugged escarpments, valley and the thickly forested slopes of the Viphya Plateau. In the south of Malawi, lies the 2,100m high Zomba Plateau with the huge isolated Mulanje massif in the southeast. The central region is a 1000m high table top, Malawi’s main agricultural area. The main river in the country is the Shire (pronounced 'Shir-ee'), which flows out of the southern end of Lake Malawi before merging into the Zambezi River in Mozambique.

Flora & Fauna
The protected wildlife areas, game reserves and the scenic beauty of the lake attract many visitors to Malawi. The vegetation of Malawi consist of the Miombo woodlands at 1500m, the Mopane woods found in the valley of the River Shire and along the southern shores of Lake Malawi; evergreen forests and Montane grassland in the rolling hills of the north and the wetland areas around the banks of the lake and the river. Most of the wooded area is under constant threat from timber exports and from the slash and burn methods of the farming communities. But the woods are home to over 400 species of orchids and a number of wildflowers like gladioli, aloes and helichrysums as well as many coloured proteas.

While Malawi does not have as many animals as neighbouring Tanzania, it does have herds of impala, antelopes, kudu and elephants and hippos in the area designated as the Liwonde National Park. Zebra, warthog, eland, jackal, leopard and hartebeest are more commonly found in the north, especially in Nyika National Park. Malawi is famous for its fish - Lake Malawi has over 500 species, more than any other inland water body in the world.