Malawi

About 9% of Malawi's total area is protected in the form of national parks and game reserves. Outside these areas deforestation and erosion are extremely serious problems. Malawi's burgeoning population and its reliance on agriculture mean that natural vegetation outside the protected areas is under great pressure.

Malawi is botanically diverse, due largely to its great altitudinal range, and variety of habitats. Most of its 5,500 plant species (with about 115 endemics) are associated with the wetter areas such as the Nyika and Viphya plateaus, and Mounts Zomba and Mulanje. Some of the lower lying areas on the Mozambique border in the south are above the 600 mm isohyet; however the rest of the country is subject to a prolonged dry season. 

Malawi has joined the MSB project, with an Access and Benefit Sharing Agreement signed in December 2002. Since then, the project has implemented an ex situ conservation programme for threatened and useful plants in the country. In addition to these activities, the project has developed ex situ living collections of rare and threatened plants, and particular attention has been paid to developing germination and propagation protocols. The project also provided population data on rare and threatened species to the Malawi conservation authorities, which will enable in situ management of plants for rare and threatened populations to be developed.

Research capacity building activities are underway. For example staff in Malawi are investigating long term conservation of Widdringtonia whytei, the Mulanje cedar, also known as the Malawi national tree. New equipment has been installed at the MSBP counterparts National Tree Seed Centre and the National Plant Genetic Resources Centre, and staff from RBG Kew have been training Malawi staff in its proper use. Training activities also include the enrolment of Malawi students for higher degrees both in Malawi and at RBG Kew, in the UK.