The Bunga Forest Botanical Reserve conserves mist-forest along the southern slopes of the

Bvumba Mountains The Bvumba Mountains or Vumba Mountains straddle the Zimbabwe-Mozambique border, and are situated some 10 km south east of Mutare. The Bvumba rise to Castle Beacon at 1,911 metres, and are, together with the Chimanimani Mountains to the south ...

in the

Eastern Highlands :''"Eastern Highlands" also refers to Eastern Highlands Province in Papua New Guinea, and part of the Great Dividing Range, Australia.'' The Eastern Highlands, also known as the Manica Highlands, is a mountain range on the border of Zimbabw ...

Zimbabwe Zimbabwe (), officially the Republic of Zimbabwe, is a landlocked country located in Southeast Africa, between the Zambezi and Limpopo Rivers, bordered by South Africa to the south, Botswana to the south-west, Zambia to the north, and ...

. It is the largest conserved area in the Bvumba highlands, and can be accessed from various points along the circuitous Burma Valley Road. The forest was logged for timber up to the mid 20th century.

Flora

'' Syzygium guineense'' predominates the primary forest, and ''

Dracaena fragrans ''Dracaena fragrans'' (cornstalk dracaena), is a flowering plant species that is native throughout tropical Africa, from Sudan south to Mozambique, west to Côte d'Ivoire and southwest to Angola, growing in upland regions at altitude.JSTOR Plant ...

'' is common in its shaded undershrub. Pioneer plants include '' Aphloia theiformis'', ''

Macaranga mellifera ''Macaranga'' is a large genus of Old World tropical trees of the family Euphorbiaceae and the only genus in the subtribe Macaranginae (tribe Acalypheae). Native to Africa, Australasia, Asia and various islands of the Indian and Pacific Oceans ...

'' and ''

Maesa lanceolata ''Maesa lanceolata'', the false assegai, is a tree species that is widespread in the Afrotropics, including Madagascar. It occurs from the southern Arabian Peninsula, southwards to the Eastern Cape The Eastern Cape is one of the provinces of ...

''. ''

Albizia gummifera ''Albizia gummifera'' is a species of legume in the family Fabaceae, native to sub-saharan Africa and Madagascar, and naturalized in Brazil Brazil ( pt, Brasil; ), officially the Federative Republic of Brazil (Portuguese: ), is the large ...

'' and '' A. schimperiana'' dominate the lower slopes and western rain shadow. Bracken-briar on the forest verges is populated by ''

Pteridium aquilinum ''Pteridium aquilinum'' (bracken, brake or common bracken), also known as eagle fern, is a species of fern occurring in temperate and subtropical regions in both hemispheres. Originally native to Eurasia and North America, the extreme lightness o ...

'', ''

Smilax anceps ''Smilax anceps'' is a vigorous scrambling vine or shrub, and is one of some 278 species in the genus ''Smilax'' in the family Smilacaceae. The species is widespread in Tropical Africa, Southern Africa, Réunion, Mauritius, Comoros, and Madagas ...

'', ''

Buddleja salviifolia ''Buddleja salviifolia'', common names sage bush and sagewood, is endemic to much of southern and eastern Africa, from Kenya and Angola south, where it grows on rocky hillsides, along forest margins and watercourses. The species was described and ...

'', besides ''

Vangueria ''Vangueria'' is a genus of flowering plants in the family Rubiaceae. The genus is named for , as '' V. madagascariensis'' is known in Malagasy. Distribution The genus contains over 50 species distributed in Africa south of the Sahara with one ...

'' and ''

Vernonia ''Vernonia'' is a genus of about 350 species of forbs and shrubs in the Daisy family Asteraceae. Some species are known as ironweed. Some species are edible and of economic value. They are known for having intense purple flowers. There have been ...

'' species.

Fauna

Marshall's pygmy chameleon Marshall's pygmy chameleon (''Rhampholeon marshalli''), also called Marshall's leaf chameleon, Marshall's dwarf chameleon, or Marshall's stumptail chameleon, is a species of chameleon found in the forests of Zimbabwe and Mozambique in Africa. It ...

is present, as is several range-restricted birds, including

Swynnerton's robin Swynnerton's robin (''Swynnertonia swynnertoni'') is a species of bird in the family Muscicapidae. It is monotypic within the genus ''Swynnertonia''. The common and Latin names commemorate the entomologist Charles Swynnerton. Range and habitat ...

, Stripe-cheeked greenbul,

Chirinda apalis The Chirinda apalis (''Apalis chirindensis'') is a species of bird in the family Cisticolidae. It is found in the Eastern Highlands of Zimbabwe and Mozambique. Its natural habitats are subtropical or tropical moist lowland forest Tropical an ...

and

White-tailed crested-flycatcher The white-tailed crested flycatcher (''Elminia albonotata'') is a species of bird in the flycatcher family Stenostiridae. It has a discontinuous distribution in eastern Africa. There are three subspecies, ''E. a. albonotata'' of central Kenya, an ...

Vicinity

The Vumba Botanical Gardens, Leopard Rock Hotel, White Horse Inn, Seldomseen Cottages, Genaina Guest House and coffee shop are all in its immediate vicinity.

Banti Forest Reserve Banti is an Italian surname. It may refer to: *Anna Banti (1895-1985), Italian writer *Brigida Banti (1757-1806), Italian soprano * Luisa Banti (1894-1978), Italian archaeologist * Luca Banti (born 1974), Italian football referee *Guido Banti (1852 ...

is situated some 22 km to the south.

References

{{reflist

External links

Topographic map of the area
Eastern Highlands Eastern Zimbabwe montane forest-grassland mosaic Mutare District Protected areas of Zimbabwe