In our school days, many of us learned that the Amazon is the largest rainforest in the world. However, few are aware of the Miombo woodlands in Africa.
This expansive forest, roughly the size of Mexico, covers around 1.9 million square kilometers across Zimbabwe, Angola, Malawi, Tanzania, Zambia, Mozambique, and the Democratic Republic of the Congo. It comprises tropical grasslands, savannas, and shrublands.
Renowned as the world's largest mammal migration hotspot from October to December, the Miombo attracts approximately 10 million bats from various parts of Africa to Zambia's Kasanka National Park.
Not only is the Miombo home to Africa’s most iconic megafauna and the continent's endangered elephant species, but it also supports the livelihoods of over 300 million people by providing vital resources.
Between 1980 and 2020, the forest cover in the Miombo decreased by nearly a third, raising concerns about the significant carbon release that could occur if deforestation continues.
The forest has played a crucial role in mitigating global warming.
The Miombo woodlands represent a unique type of semi-deciduous forest dominated by trees from the legume family.
This ecoregion, stretching across Central and Southern Africa, is recognized as the world's largest dry tropical forest.
In Mozambique's Niassa Special Reserve, the Miombo thrives alongside diverse habitats such as rocky outcrops and seasonally flooded grassy areas, known as dambos.
The local population relies on the Miombo for essential resources, including thatching grass for roofing, poles for fencing and construction, bark for fiber production, nutrient-rich termite mound soil for agriculture, and firewood for cooking.
A recent study revealed that the Miombo forest stores over twice the carbon dioxide in its soils and trees than previously estimated, according to CNN.
It stores an additional 3.7 billion metric tons of carbon—more than what China emitted in 2023.
This extra carbon storage is crucial for combating climate change by keeping excess carbon out of the atmosphere. Edwin Tambara, director of Global Leadership at the African Wildlife Foundation, emphasized that dry forests such as the Miombo are often undervalued and understudied compared to more famous rainforests like the Amazon and the Congo Basin.