WORLD ENVIRONMENT DAY 2016
Angola
A host with a mission
This year’s World Environment
Day celebrations are hosted
by Angola, a country seeking
to restore its elephant herds,
conserve Africa’s biodiversityrich wildlife, and safeguard the
environment as it continues to
rebuild after more than a quartercentury of civil war.
Every World Environment Day (WED) is organized
around a theme that reflects a pressing environmental
concern. The theme for WED 2016 is the illegal trade
in wildlife, which threatens species such as rhinos and
tigers with extinction. Wildlife crime also undermines
economies and security, especially in developing
countries.
“Angola is delighted to host World Environment Day,
which will focus on an issue close to our hearts,” said
Angolan Environment Minister Maria de Fatima Jardim.
“The illegal wildlife trade, particularly the trade in
ivory and rhino horn, is a major problem across our
continent. By hosting this day of celebration and
awareness-raising, we aim to send a clear message that
such practices will soon be eradicated.”
Angola boasts environmental assets including pristine
coastline as well as forests and grasslands comparable to
those that draw many tourists to neighbours Namibia and
Zambia.
The country’s wildlife includes lions, great apes and giant
sable antelope, a critically endangered species found
only in Angola and listed as critically endangered by the
International Union of Conservation of Nature. The
Great Elephant Census is expected to release the results
of its Angola survey in the coming months. Bird life
includes African Grey Parrots, whose decline across the
continent is widely blamed on their illegal harvesting for
the pet trade.
The government recently launched a string of initiatives
to enhance conservation and stiffen law enforcement. To
demonstrate its commitment to curb elephant poaching,
Angola last year submitted a National Ivory Action Plan
as part of its membership of CITES, the UNEP-hosted
international convention designed to prevent trade in
wild animals and plants from threatening their survival.
The plan includes stiff penalties for poaching and ivory
trafficking and stronger policing, including more training
for wildlife rangers and the posting of a wildlife crime
unit to the international airport in the capital, Luanda.
In March, officials presented a draft law banning the
sale of ivory, a move that would end
the open sale of ivory artefacts at
Luanda’s bustling Benfica market.
Angola also is discussing the
establishment of several vast transfrontier conservation areas, including
one that would include the wildliferich Okavango delta in Botswana, and
another that incorporates Namibia’s
wild Skeleton Coast.
Angola is embracing this ambitious
agenda – and the high-profile role as host of WED –
even as it continues to rebuild after a long and damaging
civil war that only ended in 2002. The country can look
to other African countries, especially safari destinations,
and the growing revenues they earn from ecotourism to
appreciate the value of safeguarding the environment
and protecting iconic species from illegal poaching and
trafficking.
With organized crime increasingly involved in the trade,
experts also warn that trafficking also threatens to
heighten corruption and insecurity in source countries as
well as destroying their national heritage.
Key Facts
Angola
Host Country Key Facts
Population: According to a 2014 census, 25.8 million
people live in Angola. The official language is Portuguese,
though indigenous Bantu languages are widely spoken.
Area: At 1.25 million square kilometres, the country is
about the same size as Peru or South Africa, and more
than twice as big as Spain or Thailand.
History: Angola is still rebuilding after a 27-year civil war
that ended in 2002. It began when rebel factions fought
each