Location: Cloudlands Forest, Vumba

Photo: Bart Wursten
View of the Cloudlands' Forest taken from the summit of Chinziwa.

Photo: Mark Hyde
View of other side of road and the lay-by itself.

Photo: Mark Hyde
The sharp bend in the main Vumba rd where the layby occurs.

General Information

Description

The Cloudlands area, between the 16 and 17 km pegs on the main Vumba rd, is marked by two adjacent lay-bys, where the road winds through a well preserved sample of montane evergreen forest.

The first lay-by is an open grassy area at VP713914 and the second, at a very sharp bend in the road is at VP712912. This second area in particular, offers many interesting and unusual plants, as it is wet and marshy for most months of the year.

The evergreen forest above the road is a typical example of "gwasha" forest, formed in a depression on the side of a hill. Here run-off water collects in underground seepage areas and steams start. The water table and permanent humidity encourage evergreen forest to develop in such depressions, while the drier, surrounding areas are more suitable to open woodland and grassland. These open areas are subject to regular fires, which cause the boundaries between the forest and open grassland to become very marked with minimal fluctuation.

From January 2007, this location has been extended to include the quite extensive forest area running back from the layby to Chinziwa Mountain. Plants from this forest and its edge have been included but not those from the surrounding submontane grassland.

Useful links

View a list of records for Cloudlands Forest, Vumba

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