118/119 Biodiversity and Tropical Forest Assessment for Angola

It is important to note that Angola’s protected area “system” does not include some ofthe most biodiverse ecosystems in Angola: the afro-montane cloud forests representedin the country’s highest points, such as the Morro do Moco in Huambo, and othersites in Bié Province. These residual patches are repository of a significant number ofbird and plant species endemic to Angola. They are severely threatened by burningand felling.The semi-deciduous humid forests of Angola’s northwestern highland (Uíge, CuanzaNorte, and Bengo) are also excluded from the country’s protected area system.Floristically, they are related to the Guineo-Congolian biome in what was Angola’scoffee producing area. These coffee plantations have been abandoned and nowsupport a healthy population of small antelopes, primates, and an impressive avifauna.The wildlife, primarily primates and antelopes, are under heavy hunting pressure aswitnessed by the large number of fresh carcasses and smoked game meat observed atroadside stalls.C2. Forests, Savannas, and WoodlandsC2a. GeneralAntelopes and primates thatescaped the period of warfare inAngola’s humid forests are nowunder hunting pressure, primarilyfor commercial purposes, asdocumented by the photograph inthe highlands of Bengo Province.In three decades of warfare, Angola experienced massive population movements fromrural areas to urban centers. IUCN’s mission in 1992 (IUCN 1992) reported that thevirtual depopulation of rural areas, save for certain zones in the Central Plateau,allowed the vegetation cover, rivers, and streams to recover in areas that were oncecultivated or used for livestock production. Poaching, however, had decimated animalpopulations in most of the country. On the other hand, the semi-arid and arid regionsin the country’s southwest, where the dominant production system is transhumantpastoralism, escaped this trend. In these areas the production systems remainedrelatively unaffected while the urban areas and transport network were destroyed.These pastoral systems were being compromised, however, by the implementation ofcattle ranches that interfered with migratory routes and access to water resources.Now, five years after the cessation of hostilities the situation remains much the same:healthy habitats virtually devoid of wild animals. The trends have not changedsubstantially, as predicted by the IUCN team; a result of the massive movement ofpeople to their original rural areas. Angola continues to be one of the most urbanized118/119 BIODIVERSITY AND TROPICAL FOREST ASSESSMENT FOR ANGOLA 27