Country

Malawi: 7 ecoregions. Each with its climate now and toward 2050, and its conservation tier.

Miombo defines Malawi. The Central Zambezian wet miombo woodlands and Dry miombo woodlands account for most of the country, joined by Zambezian mopane woodlands and Zambezian-Limpopo mixed woodlands in the low, hot valleys and Zambezian flooded grasslands on seasonally wet ground. Above them rise two montane ecoregions: the Southern Rift Montane forest-grassland along the highlands and the tiny Mulanje Montane forest-grassland, at 364 square miles one of the smallest units in the region and Half Protected. The gardening rhythm is the miombo rhythm: a pronounced wet season and a long dry one, so plants must either ride out months without rain or be carried with irrigation. The cooler, moister highlands support a different palette entirely, which is exactly what the montane forest-grasslands signal.