Mount Lico’s secret rainforest, Mozambique, 2012
It was 2012 when researcher Dr. Julian Bayliss first spotted a rainforest atop Mozambique’s 3,600-foot Mount Lico on Google Earth.
Though potentially known to locals, the mountain rainforest remained virtually untouched by humans due to its remote location. In 2017, Bayliss flew a drone over the peak and confirmed the forest’s existence. In May 2018, he assembled a team to scale the mountain and explore the forest properly for the first time.
The expedition was a success and, though research is still underway, the team is thought to have uncovered a string of new species from small mammals to insects – already confirmed is a previously undocumented breed of butterfly.
