Zimbabwe boasts of two single site and endemic Aeranthes orchids, the endangered Aeranthes Africana and the critically endangered Aeranthes parkesii both from the Zimbabwean Afromontane Biodiversity Hotspot. Aeranthes Africana wild populations endemic to the Montane mist belt of the Vumba Mountains are being threatened by orchid collectors and continuously dwindling natural habitats. Due to extreme budgetary constraints, the national herbarium has been unable to consistently embark on timely post research monitoring focusing on this plant.

This project will take place in the Zimbabwean part of the Eastern Afromontane Biodiversity Hotspot which covers five Key Biodiversity Areas (KBA). Specifically, the project will take place in the Vumba Mountains priority corridor in on the Eastern side of Zimbabwe’s border. It is partially protected with a small area protected as a Botanical Reserve, but most of it is unprotected privately owned properties. Threats to biodiversity in the Vumba Highlands include encroachment by humans, alien species and wild fires. Since researches related to the Aeranthes Africana conservation have been far in between and sporadic there is need for more and constant research to continuously update on the Population size, distribution, ecology and Monitoring specifically focusing on population trends.

The researcher will contact several Herbaria in Zimbabwe and researchers with interest in Orchid conservation to have a proper mapping of the area where remaining populations of Aeranthes Africana have been reported and later to identify potential sites with suitable habitat for species gene banks. During field work trips, the research team will perform extensive field surveys around the known habitat for the species and will physically count adult individuals of the Aeranthes Africana and register the GPS coordinates for groups of adults, estimating population sizes, Locating and mapping of wild populations. Using counts for adult individuals in the field surveys we will estimate the total “adult population size”. Moreover, we will explore the possibilities and logistics for coordinating collection of seeds, adult plants or seedlings that can be taken to enrich the ex-situ collection of the local botanical gardens managed by the local ministry of agriculture.