The Endangered Mulanje cedar Widdringtonia whytei, endemic to the Mount Mulanje massif in Malawi, has undergone a drastic decline due to increased fire incidence and illegal logging. Valued for its fine timber, attractive fragrance, and pesticide-resistant sap, the tree has been regarded as highly desirable since its discovery in the late 19th century. Because of its steep slopes and isolated high altitude plateau, Mount Mulanje is also a refuge for a number of other endemic plant species. The first assessment of the Mulanje cedar since 1994 was commissioned by the Mulanje Mountain Conservation Trust to ascertain the species' current extent and status. This study identified an area of 845.3 ha of Mulanje cedar, which represents a loss of 616.7 ha over the previous 15 years. Of the recorded trees 32.27% (37,242 m3) were dead cedars. Therefore, under current Department of Forestry harvest licensing, there remains in theory sufficient dead cedar to last >30 years. At this stage it is imperative that cedar nurseries are established and saplings planted out across the mountain on an annual basis, small cedar clusters are protected to facilitate regeneration, and a strict monitoring programme is followed to prevent the cutting of live cedar.

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Both development practitioners and conservation organizations are focused on community ownership and management of natural resources as a way to create incentives for the conservation of biodiversity. This has led to the implementation of a number of large community-based conservation projects in sub-Saharan Africa, in countries including Namibia, Zimbabwe, Malawi, Zambia, and Rwanda. While the concept is logical, and valuation studies may suggest that conservation is more valuable than other uses of the resources in some areas, there has been little detailed analysis of the financial costs and benefits to the communities, to determine whether they would actually have an incentive to conserve if they had more extensive legal rights to the resources. This paper assesses the conditions under which this approach may be viable, based on a valuation study of the resources of Mount Mulanje in southern Malawi.