Skip to main content
Home

Information for:

  • Alumni
  • Applicants
  • Current Students
  • Staff
  • Job Vacancies
  • Covid-19
  • Cymraeg
My country:

Main Menu

    • Study Options
      • Study Home
      • Why Study at Bangor?
      • Undergraduate Study
      • Postgraduate Taught Study
      • Postgraduate Research
      • Part-time Courses
      • January Start Courses
      • Degree Apprenticeships
      • Study Abroad
      • Work Experience
    • Study Advice
      • Apply
      • Already Applied?
      • Fees and Finances
      • Scholarships and Bursaries
      • Get Ready for University
    • Explore Bangor
      • Virtual Open Days and Visits
      • Virtual Student Experience

    Find a Course

    Order a Prospectus

    • Student Life
      • Student Life Home
      • Bangor and the Area
      • Social Life and Entertainment
      • Accommodation
      • Clubs and Societies
      • Sport
      • Virtual Student Experience
    • Your Experience at Bangor
      • Student Support
      • Skills and Employability
      • Study or Work Abroad
      • Fees and Finances

    Welcome 2021

    Student Profiles

    Student Videos and Vlogs

    • Choose Bangor
      • International Home
      • Why Bangor?
      • Location
      • Student Support
      • Contact Us
    • Apply
      • Entry Requirements
      • Tuition Fees and Scholarships
      • How to Apply
      • Already Applied
      • Study Abroad
      • Exchanges

    January Intake Courses

    Country Specific Information

    Bangor University International College

    Covid-19 Information

    • Research
      • Research Home
      • About Our Research
      • Research in our Academic Schools
      • Research Institutes and Centres
      • Research Portal
      • Research, Innovation and Impact Office (RIIO)
      • Energy
      • Research News
    • Postgraduate Study and Research Opportunities
      • Postgraduate Research Study
    • Events and Training Opportunities
      • Researcher Development
    • The University
      • About Us
      • Our Mission
      • Our Location
      • Academic Schools and Colleges
      • Services and Facilities
      • University Management and Governance
      • Vice Chancellor's Office
      • Working with Business
      • Working with the Community
      • Sustainability
      • Contact Us
    • Working for Us
      • Job Vacancies
    • University Management and Governance
      • Policies and Procedures
      • Slavery and Human Trafficking Statement
    • University and the Community
      • Pontio
      • Sports Facilities
      • Conference Facilities
      • Places to Eat and Drink
      • Public Events
      • Widening Access
      • Services to Schools
    • Business Services
      • Business Services Home
    • Collaboration Hub
      • Collaboration Hub
      • Funding for Collaborative Research and Development (R&D) & Innovation
      • Business Facilities and Networks
      • Consultancy, Specialist Expertise and Knowledge
      • Commercialisation and Intellectual Property (IP)
      • Student Placements and Internships in Business & Enterprise
      • Training and Continuing Professional Development
      • Degree Apprenticeships
    • Conferencing and Business Dining
      • Conferencing Facilities
      • Business Dining
    • Contacts
      • Research, Innovation and Impact Office (RIIO)
      • Get In Touch
    • News
      • Current News
      • Research News
      • Student News
    • Events
      • Events

    • Study Options
      • Study Home
      • Why Study at Bangor?
      • Undergraduate Study
      • Postgraduate Taught Study
      • Postgraduate Research
      • Part-time Courses
      • January Start Courses
      • Degree Apprenticeships
      • Study Abroad
      • Work Experience
    • Study Advice
      • Apply
      • Already Applied?
      • Fees and Finances
      • Scholarships and Bursaries
      • Get Ready for University
    • Explore Bangor
      • Virtual Open Days and Visits
      • Virtual Student Experience

    Find a Course

    Order a Prospectus

    Covid-19 information

    • Student Life
      • Student Life Home
      • Bangor and the Area
      • Social Life and Entertainment
      • Accommodation
      • Clubs and Societies
      • Sport
      • Virtual Student Experience
    • Your Experience at Bangor
      • Student Support
      • Skills and Employability
      • Study or Work Abroad
      • Fees and Finances

    Welcome 2021

    Student Profiles

    Student Videos and Vlogs

    • Choose Bangor
      • International Home
      • Why Bangor?
      • Location
      • Student Support
      • Contact Us
    • Apply
      • Entry Requirements
      • Tuition Fees and Scholarships
      • How to Apply
      • Already Applied
      • Study Abroad
      • Exchanges

    January Intake Courses

    Country Specific Information

    Bangor University International College

    Covid-19 Information

    • Research
      • Research Home
      • About Our Research
      • Research in our Academic Schools
      • Research Institutes and Centres
      • Research Portal
      • Research, Innovation and Impact Office (RIIO)
      • Energy
      • Research News
    • Postgraduate Study and Research Opportunities
      • Postgraduate Research Study
    • Events and Training Opportunities
      • Researcher Development
    • The University
      • About Us
      • Our Mission
      • Our Location
      • Academic Schools and Colleges
      • Services and Facilities
      • University Management and Governance
      • Vice Chancellor’s Office
      • Working with Business
      • Working with the Community
      • Sustainability
      • Contact Us
    • Working for Us
      • Job Vacancies
    • University Management and Governance
      • Policies and Procedures
      • Slavery and Human Trafficking Statement
    • University and the Community
      • Pontio
      • Sports Facilities
      • Conference Facilities
      • Places to Eat and Drink
      • Public Events
      • Widening Access
      • Services to Schools
    • Business Services
      • Business Services Home
    • Collaboration Hub
      • Collaboration Hub
      • Funding for Collaborative Research and Development (R&D) & Innovation
      • Business Facilities and Networks
      • Consultancy, Specialist Expertise and Knowledge
      • Commercialisation and Intellectual Property (IP)
      • Student Placements and Internships in Business & Enterprise
      • Training and Continuing Professional Development
      • Degree Apprenticeships
    • Conferencing and Business Dining
      • Conferencing Facilities
      • Business Dining
    • Contacts
      • Research, Innovation and Impact Office (RIIO)
      • Get In Touch
    • News
      • Current News
      • Research News
      • Student News
    • Events
      • Events

Information for:

  • Alumni
  • Applicants
  • Current Students
  • Staff
  • Job Vacancies
  • Covid-19
My country:

Search

Close

Breadcrumb

Share this page:
  • Twitter
  • Facebook
  • LinkedIn
  • Cymraeg

Share this page:
  • Twitter
  • Facebook
  • LinkedIn

Why we explored an undisturbed rainforest hidden on top of an African mountain

This article by Simon Willcock, Lecturer in Environmental Geography, Bangor University and Phil Platts, Research Fellow, University of York was originally published on The Conversation. Read the original article.

Atop Mount Lico in northern Mozambique is a site that few have had the pleasure of seeing – a hidden rainforest, protected by a steep circle of rock. Though the mountain was known to locals, the forest itself remained a secret until six years ago, when Professor Julian Bayliss spotted it on satellite imagery. It wasn’t until last year, however, that he revealed his discovery, at the Oxford Nature Festival.

Mount Lico emerges through the tree canopy.Mount Lico emerges through the tree canopy.We recently visited the 700 metre-high mountaintop rainforest in an expedition organised by Bayliss, in collaboration with Mozambique’s Natural History Museum and National Herbarium. As far as anyone knew (including the locals), we would be the first people to set foot there (spoiler: we weren’t).

Since the rainforest’s discovery, Lico has received worldwide attention. That it captured the public’s imagination speaks volumes about how rare such places are. Humans are nothing if not adventurous, pushing our range boundaries like no other species can. But when almost every corner of the planet now shows signs of human activity, how do conservation scientists justify visiting and publicising these last bastions of untrodden nature?

From our perspective, the answer depends on what expeditions like this can teach us about the natural world, our place in it, and how to shepherd the wildest of places through the Anthropocene. Standing back and crossing our collective fingers is not always a winning strategy. This expedition formed part of a long-standing research programme into these mountains, that aims to provide evidence to legally protect Mozambique’s mountain forests. Currently none of northern Mozambique’s mountains are formally protected, either nationally or internationally. Finding new species is one way to highlight the importance of such sites and justify their protection.

As well as exploring Mount Lico, the expedition was the first to undertake a biological survey of nearby Mount Socone. Every bit as majestic and species rich as the iconic Lico, Socone highlights the threat faced by many forests in Mozambique, Africa and elsewhere. Globally, one football pitch worth of forest is lost every second, driving countless species to extinction. The removal of trees from mountain slopes also leads to soil erosion, flooding in the wet season and water shortages in the dry season.

A caterpillar found on Mount LicoA caterpillar found on Mount LicoOn our first day on Socone, we set out to locate the middle of the forest using a satellite image and GPS. However, the difference between what this image was telling us and what we could see was vast. As we walked towards what the image showed as the heart of lush rainforest, we could see the warm glow of the African sun. Soon enough, we emerged from beneath the canopy and into newly established farmland. Without the protective cover of the forest, heavy rains will pound these exposed mountain soils, fresh cuts will need to be made, and so the cycle repeats. Media attention on neighbouring Lico, and the new species descriptions coming out of both sites, help to bring these conservation and livelihood issues to the world’s attention.
Time capsules

Our brief footsteps on Lico will soon be overgrown, and the plants and animals that live there will continue to be protected by the same towering cliffs (more than 125 metres high) that have saved them up to now (without the help of world-class climbers, our expedition would not have been possible).

But the impact of people goes far beyond where we have actually managed to set foot. Since the industrial revolution, humans have increased the amount of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere to levels higher than at any time in the past 400,000 years, increasing temperatures and changing weather patterns. Despite being situated on a fortress of rock, Lico’s forest is vulnerable to climate change, like every other ecosystem on the planet.

The contrast between protection from direct human activities but exposure to climate change means that Lico has a lot to teach us. Most forests experience both of these processes simultaneously, and so it is difficult to unravel their relative and interacting impacts. Through the data collected on Lico, Socone and other forests worldwide, we gain a greater understanding of how human disturbance affects the ability of forests to respond to environmental change.

Lico is a rare data point on this map: millennia of climate change and ecological response, played out in the absence of direct human disturbance. Reconstructing this history meant digging a two metre-deep pit in the forest, so that we could sample the layers of soil in the order that they accumulated. We tried to minimise any lasting effects on the forest (the hole was filled and topsoil replaced) but nonetheless, reasonable objections can be made against our disturbing this previously pristine site.

What we gained were a series of time capsules: each little tin of soil contains information on the plants that grew, the fires that burned and the water that flowed, data that will be shared in open-access repositories, allowing people worldwide to investigate this unique site without the need for further disturbance. What we learn from Lico will help the world understand how forests might be affected by future changes in climate.

So were we really the first humans on Lico? Well, not quite. To everyone’s surprise, we found ancient pots, ceremonially placed near the source of a stream that flows to a waterfall down the side of the cliff. Were these placed there during a time of drought, as the waterfall ran dry and the crops failed?

Archaeologists and climate scientists are investigating. Given the pots pre-date local knowledge, the incredible inaccessibility and lack of any other signs of human activity, Lico’s forest remains one of the least disturbed on the planet. One thing’s for sure though – humans really do get everywhere.

The Conversation

Publication date: 29 June 2018

Home

About Us

Academic Schools and Colleges

  • School of Natural Sciences
    • Home
    • About the School
      • Our Location
      • Bangor and the Area
      • Commercial Facilities
      • Our Staff
      • Teaching
      • Athena Swan
    • Our Staff
    • Key Subjects
      • Biology
      • Conservation
      • Food Security
      • Environment
      • Forestry
      • Geography
      • Zoology
    • Undergraduate Study
      • Order a prospectus
      • University Open Days
      • Why Bangor?
      • Get ready for University
      • Accommodation
      • Scholarships & Bursaries
      • Fees & Finances
      • Applying to Bangor
      • Careers & Employability
      • Student Life
      • Studying at Bangor
      • Student Support
      • UCAS Visit Days
      • Study or Work Abroad
      • Our Videos
      • What our Students say
    • Postgraduate Study
      • Why study with us?
      • Order a prospectus
      • Fees & Finances
      • Scholarships & Funding
      • Entry requirements
      • Applying to Bangor
      • Accommodation
      • Student Support
      • Student Life
      • Studying at Bangor
      • Student Profiles
    • Order a Prospectus
    • Open Days
    • Distance Learning
      • About us
      • Our Courses
      • Teaching and Learning
      • What our students say...
      • Our Videos
      • Careers and Employability
      • How to Apply
      • Course Structure
      • Publications and News
      • Fees
      • Entry Requirements
      • Contact details
    • Professional Accreditation
    • Our Research
      • Biology and Zoology
        • Molecular Ecology and Evolution
        • Biogeochemistry and Plant Science
        • Animal Physiology, Behaviour and Conservation
        • Microbiology, Parasitology and Biotechnology
        • Research degrees
      • Environment and Natural Resources
        • Research Students
        • Opportunities
        • Project websites
        • Facilities
        • Partners and Collaborators
    • Outreach activities
      • Chemistry
        • Salters Events
        • Welsh and English Interactive Periodic Table
    • News
    • Opportunities
    • Contact us
Home

Follow Us

  • Twitter
  • Facebook
  • Instagram
  • Youtube
  • LinkedIn

Bangor University

Bangor, Gwynedd, LL57 2DG, UK

+44 (0)1248 351151

marketing@bangor.ac.uk

Visit Us

Maps & Directions

Policy

  • Legal Compliance
  • Modern Slavery Act 2015 Statement
  • Accessibility Statement
  • Privacy and Cookies
Map

Bangor University is a Registered Charity: No. 1141565

© 2020 Bangor University