Thuma Forest Reserve has been gazetted in 1926 and covers an area of roughly 19.700 ha (197 km²) in the Great Rift Valley Escarpment near Lake Malawi, approximately 80 km from Malawi's capital Lilongwe. 

The altitude of Thuma Forest Reserve varies from 575 to 1564 meters (Thuma Mountain) above sea level.

Generally the topography is rugged. The upper levels are covered in Brachystegia woodland (miombo woodland) whilst the lower levels are characterized by mixed low altitude woodland with patches of bamboo.

Thuma is one of a few forest reserves in Malawi which is still home to elephant and buffalo. Other game include greater kudu, bushbuck, Sharpe's grysbok, common duiker, klipspringer, baboon, vervet monkey, bushbaby, leopard, spotted hyena, genet, African civet, honey badger, warthog, bushpig, porcupine and many other smaller species.

But Thuma is not only of interest for this mammals. There is a variety of trees and plants, birds and insects, which have hardly been recorded or studied (see our lists of recorded wildlife). 

Besides the poaching of wildlife, Thuma Forest Reserve was, like all other forest reserves in Malawi, under serious threat of deforestation because of illegal tree felling for firewood, charcoal burning and timber plus illegal cutting of bamboo, causing serious habitat degradation and serious disturbance of the wildlife.

In August 1996 the Wildlife Action Group started, in co-operation with the Malawi Department of Forestry, the "Thuma Forest Reserve Eco-System Rehabilitation Project".

A scout and volunteer camp has been established, more than 35 km of roads and tracks for patrolling have been built. Many wire snares have been collected since and over 50 elephant and buffalo pit traps have been destroyed. Several lorry loads of illegal cut fire wood have been confiscated and due to the permanent patrolling, the surrounding community more often buys bamboo now legally and this has increased government's revenue by hundreds of percent.