The Mulanje Mountain Conservation Trust (MMCT) is a conservation

Conservation movement

The conservation movement, also known as nature conservation, is a political, environmental and a social movement that seeks to protect natural resources including animal, fungus and plant species as well as their habitat for the future....

 trust

Trust law

In common law legal systems, a trust is a relationship whereby property is held by one party for the benefit of another...

 in Malawi

Malawi

The Republic of Malawi is a landlocked country in southeast Africa that was formerly known as Nyasaland. It is bordered by Zambia to the northwest, Tanzania to the northeast, and Mozambique on the east, south and west. The country is separated from Tanzania and Mozambique by Lake Malawi. Its size...

.

It is an environmental endowment trust funded by the World Bank

World Bank

The World Bank is an international financial institution that provides loans to developing countries for capital programmes.The World Bank's official goal is the reduction of poverty...

 through the Global Environmental Facility (GEF) and aims at providing long-term reliable support for biodiversity

Biodiversity

Biodiversity is the degree of variation of life forms within a given ecosystem, biome, or an entire planet. Biodiversity is a measure of the health of ecosystems. Biodiversity is in part a function of climate. In terrestrial habitats, tropical regions are typically rich whereas polar regions...

 research and conservation of biological diversity and sustainable utilization of natural resources of the Mulanje Mountain Forest Reserve

Mulanje Mountain Forest Reserve

Mulanje Mountain Forest Reserve is a nature reserve founded in 1927 in Malawi. It is operated by the Mulanje Mountain Conservation Trust.-Geographical background:The mountain is composed of syenite, quartz-syenite and granite rock materials...

.

Mulanje Mountain has a very rich forest reserve, which is a home to a rich and diverse endemic plant and animal species. It is also a catchment of headwaters and a source of nine perennial river

River

A river is a natural watercourse, usually freshwater, flowing towards an ocean, a lake, a sea, or another river. In a few cases, a river simply flows into the ground or dries up completely before reaching another body of water. Small rivers may also be called by several other names, including...

s and tens of streams.

The Malawi Government allocated Mulanje Mountain and its Forest Reserve as a protected area in 1927 primarily to safeguard the water catchment and to control the extraction of endemic tree species, Mulanje Cedar, which is Malawi's national tree.

The Trust is working in collaboration with the Department of Forestry through the district forestry offices in Mulanje

Mulanje

Mulanje is a town in the Southern Region of Malawi close to the border of Mozambique. It is near the Mulanje Massif.Mulanje is the headquarters of the conservation group, the Mulanje Mountain Conservation Trust....

 and Phalombe

Phalombe

Phalombe is a town approx. 40 km northeast of Mulanje in southern Malawi.It is situated below the Fort Lister Gap between the two larger parts of the Mulanje Massif. Due to this location it is vulnerable for flash floods, which can easily occur during the rainy season...

. The main objective is to manage the resources in the forest reserve by bringing in community participation and maximising benefits among resource users