View source for Conservation in Angola

[[File:Parque Nacional do Bicuar.png|thumb|Landscape in [[Bicuari National Park]]]]
'''Conservation in Angola''' is centered around the protection of the country's [[biodiversity]] and [[natural heritage]]. While [[Angola]] contains a remarkably diverse array of ecosystems and species, conservation has not been a priority for most of its history. Three decades of intense conflict during the [[Angolan Civil War]] had a catastrophic effect on the nation's environment, but since the end of the war in 2002, both the Angolan government and non-state actors have gradually established programs to protect the ecological well-being of the country.<ref name=":0" /> However, major structural issues and lack of political will have so far kept intervention limited, and many habitats and species remain deeply threatened.<ref name=":6" />

== Background ==

=== History ===
Modern conservation efforts began in 1911 under [[Portuguese Angola|Portuguese rule]] when a conservation fund paid into by the sale of hunting licenses was set up; this was followed in the 1930s by the establishment of natural parks and game reserves.<ref>{{Cite journal|last=Huntley|first=Brian J.|date=1974-01-01|title=Outlines of wildlife conservation in Angola|url=https://journals.co.za/content/wild/4/3/AJA03794369_2870|journal=South African Journal of Wildlife Research|language=en|volume=4|issue=3|page=162|issn=2410-7220}}</ref> During the early 1970s, the colonial government greatly expanded its conservation efforts, and the outlook for Angola's ecological future looked promising.<ref name=":6" /> At the time of independence in 1975, about 6% of Angola's land area was officially protected.<ref name=":0">{{Cite book|title=Biodiversity of Angola: science & conservation: a modern synthesis|date=January 2019|others=Huntley, B. J. (Brian J.), 1944-, Russo, Vladimir,, Lages, Fernanda,, Ferrand, Nuno|isbn=978-3-030-03083-4|location=Cham, Switzerland|pages=4, 495, 3, 8–9|oclc=1088721908}}</ref> However, the outbreak of war saw functionally all conservation efforts abandoned, and formerly protected areas ceased to be managed.<ref name=":1" /> [[Poaching]] was rampant, especially of the country's large mammals.<ref name=":1" /> Infrastructural and agricultural collapse caused by the war, along with the associated mass migrations within the country, dramatically reduced the environment's capacity to sustain the nation's population.<ref name=":1">{{Cite journal|last=Stone|first=David|date=1993|title=Angola|url=https://portals.iucn.org/library/node/6756|journal=IUCN Environmental Synopsis|pages=16, 22}}</ref>

=== Biodiversity ===
{{Main|Wildlife of Angola}}Angola is one of the most biodiverse countries in Africa, owing in large part to highly varied ecological regions within its borders.<ref name=":0" /> However, recent speciological data is greatly lacking, to such an extent that USAID claimed that there was less known about Angola's biodiversity in 2013 than there was in 1975.<ref>{{Cite report|url=https://usaidgems.org/Documents/FAA&Regs/FAA118119/Angola2013.pdf|title=Angola: Biodiversity and Tropical Forests: 118/119 Assessment|date=February 2013}}</ref> Nonetheless, a 2019 synthesis of all available data reports that the country is home to a verifiable 6,850 vascular plants, 940 bird species, 358 freshwater fish, and 291 mammal species (these numbers are expected to significantly increase as more surveys are conducted).<ref name=":0" />

== Major issues ==

=== Deforestation ===
Since the end of the civil war in 2002, the rate of [[deforestation in Angola]] has been increasing.<ref name=":2">{{Cite journal|last1=Cabral|first1=A.I.R.|last2=Vasconcelos|first2=M.J.|last3=Oom|first3=D.|last4=Sardinha|first4=R.|date=2011|title=Spatial dynamics and quantification of deforestation in the central-plateau woodlands of Angola (1990–2009)|journal=Applied Geography|language=en|volume=31|issue=3|pages=1185–1193|doi=10.1016/j.apgeog.2010.09.003}}</ref> During the war, mass urbanization took place as people fled the countryside, and as a result the amount of land used for agriculture decreased.<ref name=":2" /> When the violence died down, hundreds of thousands of people returned to their native homes and began farming and ranching on land that the forest had begun to reclaim.<ref name=":2" /> This deforestation presents two major problems. First, the Guinea-Congolian forest system, of which much of Angola's forests are a part, provides [[carbon sequestration]] that is vital to efforts to reduce net greenhouse gas emissions.<ref name=":3" /> Second, a large portion of the population lives in rural areas and relies on subsistence, which requires a healthy and diverse ecosystem to support.<ref name=":3">{{Cite journal|last1=Leite|first1=Ana|last2=Cáceres|first2=Aimy|last3=Melo|first3=Martim|last4=Mills|first4=Michael S.L.|last5=Monteiro|first5=Antonio T.|date=2018|title=Reducing emissions from Deforestation and forest Degradation in Angola: Insights from the scarp forest conservation 'hotspot'|journal=Land Degradation & Development|language=en|volume=29|issue=12|pages=4291–4300|doi=10.1002/ldr.3178|s2cid=133842375 |issn=1085-3278}}</ref>

=== Threatened species ===
[[File:Giant Sable Antelope (22018702922).jpg|thumb|Stuffed specimen of the [[Giant sable antelope]] at the [[American Museum of Natural History]]]]
Angola has historically been home to a large number of [[African bush elephant]]s, though their population was severely diminished during the civil war.<ref name=":4" /> Researchers who studied the elephant population in 2005 found their numbers to be increasing as a reasonable pace.<ref>{{Cite journal|last1=Chase|first1=Michael J.|last2=Griffin|first2=Curtice R.|date=2011|title=Elephants of south-east Angola in war and peace: their decline, re-colonization and recent status|journal=African Journal of Ecology|language=en|volume=49|issue=3|pages=353–361|doi=10.1111/j.1365-2028.2011.01272.x|issn=1365-2028}}</ref> Between 2006 and 2015, the Angolan government refused to allow surveys of elephant populations.<ref name=":4" /> New research conducted in 2015 revealed a 21% decline in population over the previous ten years, likely due to increased poaching and human habitat encroachment.<ref name=":4">{{Cite journal|last1=Schlossberg|first1=Scott|last2=Chase|first2=Michael J.|last3=Griffin|first3=Curtice R.|date=2018-03-14|title=Poaching and human encroachment reverse recovery of African savannah elephants in south-east Angola despite 14 years of peace|journal=PLOS ONE|language=en|volume=13|issue=3|article-number=e0193469|doi=10.1371/journal.pone.0193469|issn=1932-6203|pmc=5851583|pmid=29538387|bibcode=2018PLoSO..1393469S|doi-access=free}}</ref>

The [[giant sable antelope]] is a major national symbol of Angola.<ref name=":5" /> While it once could be found across Africa, numbers declined in the 20th century to the point that it was thought potentially extinct until one was photographed in 2004.<ref name=":5" /> Currently there are estimated fewer than 200 extant individuals, with habitat loss and the bushmeat trade driving this massive decline in numbers.<ref name=":5">{{Cite thesis|last=Vaz Pinto|first=Pedro|title=Evolutionary history of the critically endangered giant sable antelope (Hippotragus niger variani). Insights into its phylogeography, population genetics, demography and conservation|date=2018|publisher=University of Porto}}</ref>

== Government intervention ==
Over the last decade the Angolan Ministry of Environment has begun taking steps to rebuild the country's conservation programs. They are currently working with the [[United Nations Environment Programme]] to rehabilitate coastal and wetland habitats as well as establish a sustainable chemical and waste management infrastructure.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.unenvironment.org/explore-topics/climate-change/what-we-do/climate-adaptation/ecosystem-based-adaptation/ecosystem-2|title=Ecosystem-based Adaptation in Angola|date=21 January 2019|website=UN Environment Programme}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.unenvironment.org/news-and-stories/story/partnering-strengthen-chemicals-and-waste-management-angola|title=Partnering to Strengthen Chemicals and Waste management in Angola|date=4 July 2019|website=UN Environment Programme}}</ref> In an effort to restore their national parks system, in January 2020 Angola entered into a partnership with [[African Parks]], a South Africa-based [[non-governmental organization]] that manages national parks in multiple African countries.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2020-01-31/angola-signs-deal-with-african-parks-in-bid-to-revive-tourism|title=Angola Signs Deal With African Parks in Bid To Revive Tourism|last=Bax|first=Pauline|date=January 31, 2020|website=Bloomberg}}</ref> However, strong concerns about [[Corruption in Angola|governmental corruption]] persist, with officials in the past having sold off mining rights to protected lands and embezzled money through sham construction projects.<ref name=":6">{{Cite book|last=Huntley, B. J. (Brian J.), 1944-|title=Wildlife at war in Angola: the rise and fall of an African Eden|year=2017|isbn=978-1-4853-0611-5|edition=First|location=Pretoria|oclc=957134976}}</ref>

== References ==
<references />
{{National Parks of Angola}}
{{World topic|prefix=Conservation in|title=Conservation by country|link_Thailand=Thailand#Biodiversity_and_conservation|noredlinks=y}}
{{Conservation of species}}
[[Category:Nature conservation in Angola| ]]