moabi

[…] Moreover, moabi trees situated in the agroforestry zone outside the UFM, reserved to the local communities, will not be exploited, increasing the availability of resource for the villagers. Surveys realized in the agroforestry zones show an average density of moabis (more than 70 cm of diameter) of 0,019/ha, representing an average of 314 tree stands for the agroforestry zone next to the UFM 10 039 (PFC, 2003a, b, c).

In these forests the biggest moabis emerge from the canopy at a height of 70 metres and their large sinuous branches overhang the old growth (or "primary") forest. […] To reach such proportions, the moabi must withstand competition from the other species in the undergrowth, and wait for an old tree to fall in order to make the most of the resultant gap in the canopy. Moabis which dominate the forest are therefore very old, generally between 600 and 700 years of age, although some scientists have even reported trees which were up to 2,500 years old.