Spotlighting Angola’s biodiversity as the country celebrates 50 years of independence

Since 2015, the National Geographic Okavango Wilderness Project (NGOWP) has been working with communities and governments to secure permanent, sustainable protection for the greater Okavango Basin, which spans Angola, Namibia and Botswana. A team of National Geographic Explorers, local and regional experts, and partners at the Wild Bird Trust are working to accomplish this through elevating traditional knowledge, rigorous scientific research, impactful conservation education projects, and storytelling about the ecosystem, people, and species who live there.

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Featured photograph by Chris Boyes

The team has undertaken extensive and repeated biodiversity surveys of the Lisima landscape of Angola, which is home to the Angolan Highlands Water Tower, a crucial source for some of Africa’s major rivers. Their work has been especially focused in remote parts of Angola that were, and in many cases remain, inaccessible due to the aftermath of decades of civil war and the presence of landmines. These research surveys are crucial in forming a baseline of scientific data for better understanding the health of the ecosystem and how it may be responding to pressures over time, as well as helping to establish the case for the permanent, sustainable protection of the landscape.

To date, these biodiversity surveys have resulted in 73 species newly described to academic science, an estimated 275 species potentially new to science, and about 300 species scientifically documented in Angola for the first time. New technologies work in tandem with traditional knowledge shared by local community members helping researchers to speed up the documentation of species for the scientific records. The work of NGOWP remains rooted in the traditional knowledge of local communities whose expertise and insight has been critical in this research.

“Together, these habitats support specialist species found nowhere else. Decades of war and isolation kept the region poorly studied. Rigorous biodiversity studies are now vital to set baselines, map endemism and connectivity, clarify ecological processes, and generate compelling evidence that can raise awareness, unlock funding, and translate political will into lasting protection,” says Rob Taylor, Research Manager for the Wild Bird Trust as part of the National Geographic Okavango Wilderness Project.

Original image: Götz Neef gathers a fyke net to collect samples from the Cuando River, Angola. *(Photograph by Kostadin Luchansky, National Geographic)*

“The unique biodiversity of the eastern Angolan plateau arises from a mosaic of upland miombo woodlands, wet valley grasslands, and spring‑fed streams that feed into several of Africa’s major river systems,” says Taylor.

Alongside the miombo woodlands, dry Cryptosepalum forest grows in the Kalahari sands harboring dense evergreen thickets and a mossy floor. This is an uncommon forest type with a very narrow distribution and represents a key stronghold in eastern Angola. The area’s grasslands host distinctive geoxylic suffrutices (“underground trees”) that have adapted to frequent fire and dry conditions. The team has identified two of these “underground tree” species new to academic science including Cochlospermum adjanyae sp. nov and Baphia arenicola sp. nov., (Baphia arenicola sp. nov. is considered a tree, but is in actuality a member of the bean family). These kinds of trees can grow with up to 90% of their structure underground in order to access moisture under the surface.

Baphia arenicola sp. nov. *(Photograph by David Goyder, National Geographic)*

Cochlospermum adjanyae sp. nov. This species is named after National Geographic Explorer Adjany Costa. *(Photograph by Chris Boyes/National Geographic)*

Highly seasonal rains, held and slowly released by nutrient‑poor sands, also sustain wetland habitats rare elsewhere including: grassy bogs, open sandy rivers, and peaty lakes.

“We work from before sunrise to well into the night—alongside taxonomic specialists we overturn logs, wade through wetlands, set traps, and swing nets by day; and run light traps and search with UV torches by night. At any hour a species may appear that is not yet formally described — or one that is rare, threatened, or endemic,” says Taylor. “From miombo woodlands and dense Cryptosepalum forest to grasslands rich in underground trees to grassy bogs, peaty lakes, and open sandy rivers, every habitat adds a fresh page to the region’s scientific biodiversity record. It’s exhausting and exhilarating: this is how field encounters with organisms are turned into verifiable, citable records.”

Rob Taylor gathers samples in the field near Cascata Cunde, Angola. *(Photograph by Paulo Perestrelo, National Geographic)*

Entomologist Martin Villet does nighttime field work near Cuemba, Angola. *(Photograph by Paulo Perestrelo, National Geographic)*

Researchers with NGOWP and the Wild Bird Trust do field work near Lungwevungu, Angola. *(Photograph by Paulo Perestrelo, National Geographic)*

On the occasion of this 50th anniversary since Angola gained independence, the Into The Okavango social media channels have been spotlighting a selection of 50 species the NGOWP team, in collaboration with local community members, has helped document for academic science in the Lisimia landscape of Angola.

Check out some of our favorites from among the highlights:

Xenopus poweri, documented for academic science in Angola for the first time. According to the Smithsonian’s National Zoo & Conservation Biology Institute, African clawed frogs are almost totally aquatic and prefer warm, stagnant ponds and calm streams. They have been known to burrow in the mud and go dormant for up to a year in cases where their ponds dry up. Their skin has also been found to produce a type of antibiotic that can rapidly heal wounds.

This Porpax sp. nov. dragonfly is newly described to academic science by the team and is the smallest true dragonfly recorded in Angola. It is estimated that there are over 300 species of dragonflies and damselflies in Angola, making it one of the richest countries for Odonata order in Africa.

Both dragonflies and damselflies are important environmental indicator species whose populations’ health and success can offer valuable insight into the wellbeing of the waterways and environments in which they live.

Newly described to academic science in 2019, this horned baboon spider, Ceratogyrus attonitifer, has a long, soft “horn” on its back whose function still remains a mystery to researchers. Baboon spiders are a subspecies of tarantula, the largest spiders on the planet, native to Africa. These spiders are often prized as pets for their charisma – yes, charisma – and illegally traded in the exotic pet market. Baboon spiders remain largely understudied and many are still undescribed to academic science. This, in addition to the continued threats they face on the exotic animal market, make scientific research and understanding of these species essential for their future health and conservation.

The Lisima landscape is a globally important center of endemism — an area with a high concentration of species found nowhere else in the world — as such, the area holds novel insights for scientific inquiry with every expedition. This growing scientific body of knowledge is helping to also make the case for the permanent, formal protection of the Lisima landscape with local communities at the forefront of these conservation efforts as the guardians of their ancestral lands, managing and protecting them for generations.

In 2021, National Geographic and De Beers entered a partnership, Okavango Eternal, to expand and accelerate the work of the NGOWP. The partnership has two objectives: protecting the natural world and supporting communities. To date, across the entire Okavango Basin, Okavango Eternal has supported several of these biodiversity surveys; the deployment of environmental DNA (“eDNA”) technologies that can reveal hidden biodiversity and track endangered or invasive species, and monitor ecosystems in a non-invasive, cost-effective way; and science-based scholarships for 24 students — helping to ensure the region is stewarded by those who know it best. Together, this work is furthering the case for the long-term, formal protection of this vital landscape.

ABOUT THE NATIONAL GEOGRAPHIC OKAVANGO WILDERNESS PROJECT

Since 2015, the National Geographic Okavango Wilderness Project (NGOWP) has been working with communities and governments to secure permanent, sustainable protection for the greater Okavango Basin - which spans Angola, Namibia, and Botswana. A team of Explorers, local and regional experts, and partners at the Wild Bird Trust are working to accomplish this through rigorous scientific research, advancing traditional knowledge, impactful conservation education projects, and storytelling about the ecosystem and people who live there. In 2021, National Geographic and De Beers entered a partnership, Okavango Eternal, to expand and accelerate work already underway.

ABOUT OKAVANGO ETERNAL

Okavango Eternal is a partnership between National Geographic and De Beers to help address one of Africa’s most critical conservation challenges: protecting the source waters of the Okavango Delta. Over the course of five years, De Beers is working together with National Geographic by providing support, expertise and funding to expand and accelerate work already underway, helping to establish sustainable local livelihoods in harmony with the Okavango Basin’s conservation. The five-year partnership has two objectives: protecting the natural world by supporting community-based systems of protection and local governments to protect biodiversity, striving to reach 5.4M hectares around the headwaters of the Okavango River Basin by 2026, and supporting communities by enabling stronger economic foundations and providing access to as many as 10,000 livelihood opportunities by 2026.

More details of the Okavango Eternal partnership are available at www.nationalgeographic.com/okavango-eternal and https://www.debeers.com/en-us/okavangoeternal.html.

Learn more about the partnership’s progress to date in its midterm report.

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