There are nine national parks and reserves in Malawi.
National parks
Kasungu National Park — situated approximately 165 km north of the capital city, Lilongwe, this is, at over 2,000 km2, the second largest of Malawi's parks Lake Malawi National Park — designated a National Park in 1980 to protect the unique diversity of tropical fish living in Lake Malawi, some not found anywhere else on earth Lengwe National Park — most famed for the nyala antelope, not found in the other northern parks of Malawi Liwonde National Park — situated 120 km north of Blantyre, on the banks of the Upper Shire River Nyika National Park — the first (certified in 1965), the largest (over 3,000 km2) and the highest (average height 1,800 m)
Game and wildlife reserves
Majete Wildlife Reserve — in the southwest of Malawi, with an area of 691 km2
Mwabvi Wildlife Reserve — the smallest of the parks, at 350 km2, Mwabvi was adopted by Project African Wilderness in 2007 (PAW is a charitable organisation based in Malawi and the UK) Nkhotakota Wildlife Reserve — the oldest and largest established reserve in Malawi Vwaza Marsh Game Reserve — southwest of the Nyika Plateau, to the north of the South Rukuru River, Vwaza Marsh covers an area of 1,000 km2
Other protected areas
Lake Chilwa - Ramsar wetland of international importance
Forest reserves
Malawi has a system of forest reserves, the first of which were established over a century ago. Grazing and cultivation have encroached on many forest reserves, and many reserve forests have been replaced with exotic plantation trees including pine and eucalyptus.
Northern Region
Bunganya Forest Reserve 34.7 km2 est. 1973
Chikhang’ombe Forest Reserve 5921 ha. est. 2002
Chisasira Forest Reserve 3447 ha. est. 1973
Jembya Forest Reserve 13,764 ha. est. 1981
Kalwe Forest Reserve 159 ha. est. 1956
Kamphoyo Forest Reserve 635 ha. Kaning’ina Forest Reserve 14,007 ha. est. 1935 Kawiya Forest Reserve 643.9 ha. Kuwirwe Forest Reserve 661.5 ha. est. 1935 Litchenya Forest Reserve 316 ha. est. 1948 Lunyangwa Forest Reserve 374 ha. est. 1935 Mafinga Hills Forest Reserve 4734 ha. est. 1976 Mahowe Forest Reserve 59.168 km2 est. 2002 Matipa Forest Reserve 1055 ha. est. 1948 Mkuwazi Forest Reserve 1608 ha. est. 1927 Mtangatanga Forest Reserve 8099 ha. est. 1935 Mughese Forest Reserve 771 ha. est. 1948 Musisi Forest Reserve 7034 ha. est. 1948 North Karonga Escarpment Forest Reserve 7907 ha. est. 2002 Perekezi Forest Reserve 14,482 ha. est. 1935 Ruvuo Forest Reserve 4792.9 ha. est. 1935 South Karonga Escarpment Forest Reserve 13,050 ha. est. 2002 South Viphya Forest Reserve (Chikangawa Forest Reserve) 157,728 ha. est. 1958 Uzumara Forest Reserve 754 ha. est. 1948 Vinthukutu Forest Reserve 1957 ha. est. 1948 Wilindi Forest Reserve 937 ha. est. 1948