Mount Lico is an

inselberg An inselberg or monadnock () is an isolated rock hill, knob, ridge, or small mountain that rises abruptly from a gently sloping or virtually level surrounding plain. In Southern Africa a similar formation of granite is known as a koppie, a ...

mountain in the

Alto Molocue District Alto Molocue District is a district of Zambezia Province in Mozambique. It covers, 6,368 km2 and has a population of, 278,064.Mozambique September 2007 census References Further readingDistrict profile(PDF Portable Document Format (PDF) ...

Zambezia Province Zambezia ( pt, Zambézia) is the second most-populous province of Mozambique, located in the central coastal region south-west of Nampula Province and north-east of Sofala Province. It has a population of 5.11 million, according to the 2017 censu ...

in northern

Mozambique Mozambique (), officially the Republic of Mozambique ( pt, Moçambique or , ; ny, Mozambiki; sw, Msumbiji; ts, Muzambhiki), is a country located in southeastern Africa bordered by the Indian Ocean to the east, Tanzania to the north, Malawi ...

, most notable for its old-growth rainforest and its lack of penetration by humans. Mount Lico is approximately above sea level but is distinctive in having sheer rock walls of up to above the surrounding countryside that have all but prevented human intrusion. The forest on top, within a volcanic crater, covers only about . In 2012, Mt Lico was "discovered", or more correctly, identified as a place of special scientific interest, by Julian Bayliss of

Oxford Brookes University Oxford Brookes University (formerly known as Oxford Polytechnic (United Kingdom), Polytechnic) is a public university, public university in Oxford, England. It is a new university, having received university status through the Further and High ...

, who had earlier similarly identified

Mount Mabu Mount Mabu is a mountain in northern Mozambique, famous for its old-growth rain forest. Mount Mabu is approximately high and the forest covers about . While well known locally, the Mount Mabu forest and its extremely diverse wildlife were unkn ...

some southwest, by using

Google Earth Google Earth is a computer program that renders a 3D computer graphics, 3D representation of Earth based primarily on satellite imagery. The program maps the Earth by superimposition, superimposing satellite images, aerial photography, and geog ...

to search for significant landforms and vegetation features. In May 2018, Bayliss led a multidisciplinary expedition to scale the sheer walls of Mount Lico and begin the study of its unique habitat. Although it had been considered unlikely that humans would have entered the mountain's forest prior to this expedition, evidence of some limited human visitation 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.

References

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External links

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

Lico Lico may refer to: Sports *Lico (footballer, born 1951), real name Antônio Nunes * Lico (footballer, born 1974), real name Fladimir da Cruz Freitas * Lico (footballer, born 1984), real name Paulo Cândido Serafim da Cruz *Lico Kaesemodel Orla ...

Alto Molocue District

Inselbergs of Africa

See also

References

External links