Mulanje Massif
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How it came to be
Mount Mulanje is a vast inselberg rising sharply from the plains of southern Malawi, and Sapitwa Peak, at 3,002 m, is the highest point in the country. It formed about 130 million years ago when magma intruded into the crust and the softer rock around it eroded away. Archaeology shows people visiting the massif from the Stone Age onwards.
For the Yao, Mang'anja and Lhomwe peoples the mountain is a sacred place inhabited by gods, spirits and ancestors. Rituals, taboos and codes of conduct govern access to the sacred space and the use of its resources. In the 19th century Yao people migrated in from the north-east, and slave raids on Mang'anja villages increased.
The Mount Mulanje Forest Reserve was established in 1927. The Mulanje cedar, found only here, has been heavily logged, and in 2004 its forests were estimated at about 8.5 km2, half of their original cover. The mountain was inscribed as a cultural landscape in 2025.
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