Mount Lico is an inselberg mountain in the Alto Molocue District of Zambezia Province in northern Mozambique, most notable for its old-growth rainforest and its lack of penetration by humans. Mount Lico is approximately 1,100 metres (3,600 feet) above sea level but is distinctive in having sheer rock walls of up to 700 metres (2,300 feet) above the surrounding countryside that have all but prevented human intrusion. The forest on top, within a volcanic crater, covers only about 30 hectares (74 acres).
| Mount Lico | |
|---|---|
.jpg) Satellite image of Mount Lico, taken March 2020 by a SkySat satellite | |
| Highest point | |
| Elevation | 1,100 m (3,600 ft) |
| Coordinates | 15°47′27″S 37°21′46″E / 15.79083°S 37.36278°E |
| Naming | |
| Language of name | Portuguese |
| Geography | |
  Mount Lico Location of Mount Lico in Mozambique | |
| Location | Mozambique |
| Climbing | |
| First ascent | May 2018 |
In 2012, Mt Lico was "discovered", or more correctly, identified as a place of special scientific interest, by Julian Bayliss[1][2] of Oxford Brookes University, who had earlier similarly identified Mount Mabu some 70 kilometres (43 miles) southwest, by using Google Earth to search for significant landforms and vegetation features.[3][4]
In May 2018, Bayliss led a multidisciplinary expedition to scale the sheer walls of Mount Lico and begin the study of its unique habitat.[5][6] Although it had been considered unlikely that humans would have entered the mountain's forest prior to this expedition, evidence was discovered in the form of several pots which had been placed, possibly for religious reasons, at the source of a stream on the mountain top.[7][6]
See also edit
References edit
- ^ "The man who discovered an unseen world". BBC Earth. Retrieved 2019-03-07.
- ^ "Audio: Exploring a hidden rainforest on an isolated mountain in Mozambique". Mongabay Environmental News. 2019-05-14. Retrieved 2019-09-16.
- ^ "Mozambique: the secret rainforest at the heart of an African volcano". The Guardian. 17 June 2018. Retrieved 29 August 2018.
- ^ "Secrets revealed: Researchers explore unique, isolated forest in Mozambique". Mongabay Environmental News. 2018-10-19. Retrieved 2019-02-28.
- ^ "The Secret Garden: How Google Earth led a team of scientists to discover an untouched mountaintop rainforest". TheVerge.com. 28 August 2018. Retrieved 29 August 2018.
- ^ a b Barbee, Jeff (17 June 2018). "Mozambique: the secret rainforest at the heart of an African volcano". The Guardian. Retrieved 26 April 2020.
- ^ "Why we explored an undisturbed rainforest hidden on top of an African mountain". TheConversation.com. 29 June 2018. Retrieved 29 August 2018.
External links edit
- Audio: Exploring a hidden rainforest on an isolated mountain in Mozambique
- Why we explored an undisturbed rainforest hidden on top of an African mountain
- Lico: Mountain of Mystery
- The story of an expedition into an unexplored forest...
- Scientists are exploring a lost rainforest hidden in a Mozambique volcano for the first time
- Mozambique: the secret rainforest at the heart of an African volcano
- The Secret Garden: How Google Earth led a team of scientists to discover an untouched mountaintop rainforest
- Mongabay: Secrets revealed: Researchers explore unique, isolated forest in Mozambique
- Lonelyplanet: A hidden mountain rainforest has been uncovered using Google Earth
- DMM Climbing: Monte Lico’s rainforest ‘lost world’
- BBC News Mundo: El científico que descubrió gracias a Google Earth un bosque recóndito a más de 8.000 kilómetros de distancia de su casa (Spanish)
- Julian Bayliss: Mount Lico photos (Feb17, Nov17, May18 expedition)
- Outthere.fr: Comment Google Earth permet de faire d’incroyables découvertes naturelles (French)
- The man who discovered an unseen world