Two decades of expeditions carried out by a hundred scientists have revealed the most threatened ecoregion on the continent. South East Africa Montane Archipelago is dominated by 30 granite hills, some of which exceed 3,000 meters in altitude.
It is home to dozens of endemic species that grow among an ocean of grass and coral reefs. The landscape is a result of the isolation of the hills, since the rest of the Pan-African forests have been separated by the hills. The Montane archipelago has 117 species of strictly endemic plants, which is a remarkably high number for such a geographical area.