Serra do Pingano in northern Angola is experiencing significant forest loss, with large areas rapidly vanishing. In the last twenty years, central Serra do Pingano has seen a decline of 43% in its original forest cover. The broader Serra do Pingano Forest Ecosystem (SPFE) has lost 21%, which amounts to 536 square kilometers (207 square miles) of forest. These findings were published in the journal Nature Ecology & Evolution earlier this year, with contributions from two Angolan authors among the 11 researchers from various institutions involved in the study. This research serves as an urgent call to safeguard the remaining forest.
In response to these concerns, the Angolan government created the Serra do Pingano Conservation Area in April. This area, located in Uíge province, includes several mountain ranges rich in biodiversity. Pingano acts as an ecological bridge between tropical rainforest and miombo savanna, combining characteristics of western Central African forests with species and evolutionary ties to southern and eastern Africa. It is also home to some of Angola’s last tropical forests located south of the Congo River.
The research in Nature Ecology & Evolution draws on extensive studies of the SPFE. One of the study’s co-authors, Thea Lautenschläger, an ethnobotanist from Germany who focuses on northern Angola and serves as the scientific director of the Botanical Garden of Hamburg, talked about the challenges facing the forest and its dependent species. What do you think about the conservation efforts in this area?
Sources:
Source: Mongabay Animals, by Mongabay Editor