Envision Science Animation: Biodiversity of the Eastern Arc Mountains

This animated video introduces the Eastern Arc Mountains of Tanzania and Kenya, an ancient and extraordinarily biodiverse ecosystem that is home to species found nowhere else on Earth, and the research being carried out to understand how these forests are changing under climate change.

Rosie Clear Hill, a researcher from Rothamsted Research as part of the Envision PhD programme, is studying tree reproduction in the Eastern Arc Mountains and how shifts in the timing and success of this process could affect the long-term stability of the forests. The animation is available with voiceover in both English and Swahili to make it as accessible as possible to the communities living in and around the range.

animation Type

Research and Science Communication

Author: Mair Perkins

Clients

Envision Rothamsted Research

Credits & Associates

  • Script written by Rosie Clear Hill and Mair Perkins
  • Direction by Rosie Clear Hill
  • Style and storyboard design by Mair Perkins
  • Illustration by Mair Perkins
  • Animation by Mair Perkins
  • Voiceover sourced and edited by Ben Haynes
  • Music from Adobe Stock

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This animation was commissioned to communicate Rosie's research to a broad, non-specialist audience, in particular communities living in and around the Eastern Arc Mountains, for whom the health of these forests has direct and everyday significance. It is designed to be accessible without any prior scientific knowledge, while conveying why research into these ecosystems matters for both people and wildlife.

This is one of a series of animations produced for Envision PhD researchers. Envision runs a competition in which early-career researchers submit a brief for an animated film; selected winners have their research brought to life through professional animation.

Script & style concept

We collaborated Rosie to write a 2 minute script for the animation based on the competition entry that explained her research and pitched the storyline concept.

A style concept was created using colours inspired by the environment of The Eastern Arc Mountains in an organic, textured style with pencil marks and pastel smudges to give an idea of how the animation would look.

Style concept for animation

Sketched storyboards

A storyboard was sketched out based on the script in Photoshop then uploaded to Boords. The storyboard images were then put into a video sequence with a draft voiceover recording so we could test the timings and ensure the script and images made sense when played together.

At this point we made some script and image revisions before moving to the next stage.

Sketched storyboards - animation about biodiversity of The Eastern Arc Mountains

Illustrated storyboards

Once the sketched storyboards were signed off, the storyboards were illustrated in the style design.

The illustrations were created using Adobe Photoshop with a mix of digital painting and photo collage techniques for textures.

Some revisions were made before moving onto the next production phase.

Illustrated storyboards - animation about biodiversity of The Eastern Arc Mountains

Animation

The animation phase started by preparing all the illustrations for animation. This involved separating artwork out onto layers and naming them.

The illustrated storyboard files were imported into Adobe After Effects then animated.

A professional voice over artist recorded the script then the audio track was mixed and edited so it could be animated in time to.

Research Insights

The Eastern Arc Mountains stretch across Tanzania and into Kenya, forming one of the most ancient mountain ranges in Africa at over 30 million years old, they predate Mount Kilimanjaro many times over. Their age has allowed extraordinary biodiversity to develop: the forests are home to elephants, leopards, and a remarkable number of species found nowhere else on Earth, including the Sanje Mangabey, the Kipunji monkey, the Udzungwa red colobus, and the African Violet.

These forests are also vital for the communities that live in and around them. They provide water, fertile soil, and livelihoods, from food growing to beekeeping, making their health and continuity a matter of direct human importance as well as ecological significance.

But the Eastern Arc Mountains are under growing pressure. Farming, firewood collection, and the accelerating impacts of climate change are putting both the forests and the species within them at risk. As temperatures rise and rainfall patterns shift, the ability of these ecosystems to sustain themselves and recover from disturbance is increasingly uncertain.

Rosie's research focuses on one of the most fundamental processes underpinning forest survival: tree reproduction. By measuring tree growth, recording species composition, and tracking the timing of flowering and fruiting events, her work is building a detailed picture of how the forests are responding to a warming climate. This includes combining new field observations with historical records to identify how reproductive patterns have shifted over time, since the ongoing regeneration of the forest through seed production and sapling establishment is critical to its long-term stability.

The goal is to understand how the Eastern Arc Mountains are being affected, and to generate the knowledge needed to support their conservation and sustainable use, ensuring that these ancient forests can continue to provide for the communities and wildlife that depend on them for generations to come.

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