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Angola: National Council Set up to Stop Deforestation, Wildfires

Angola: National Council Set up to Stop Deforestation, Wildfires

Angola’s President João Lourenço has created the National Council for the Protection of Forests and Wildlife (CNPFFS) to prevent and control deforestation, uncontrolled burning and forest fires, according to a presidential order.

The CNPFFS, provided for in the Basic Law on Forests and Wild Fauna, is a body that consults the head of the government on the coordination of measures to protect and exploit forests and wild life in a country where there are weekly reports of burning and deforestation carried out mainly by farmers and hunters, situations that, according to the authorities, jeopardise infrastructure and the sustainability of biodiversity.

According to the presidential decree, consulted by Lusa on Thursday, this organisation arose out of the need to ensure the participation of the social actors concerned in the participatory management of forests and wildlife and to contribute to institutional coordination in the preparation of decisions, especially on forest and wildlife management.

Its remit includes promoting measures to prevent and control all activities that contribute to the emission of carbon dioxide and the consequent worsening of climate change, particularly deforestation, uncontrolled burning and forest fires.

This body also proposes to promote measures on the production, processing, circulation, and commercialisation of forestry and wildlife products, research, scientific investigation, and extension in the field of forests and wildlife, as well as guide the adjustment of the National Policy on Forests, Wildlife, and Conservation Areas.

The CNPFFS, chaired by João Lourenço, as head of the government, will have a plenary session, a national government secretariat and provincial and municipal commissions.

Recently, Angolan journalist and activist Rafael Maques, director of the Maka Angola portal, said, citing the Global Forest Fire Information System, that forest fires are a problem. In the second week of this month alone, forest fires devastated 6% of Angola’s total land area.

“This is the highest percentage of burnt land in the world, followed by our neighbour, the Democratic Republic of Congo, with 2.6%,” said Rafael Marques in his article on the fires.

For its part, Global Forest Watch, also cited by the researcher, revealed that, in 2024 alone, the international monitoring organisation registered 109,349 forest fire alerts in Angola. It estimates that, from 2001 to 2023, Angola lost close to four million hectares of tree cover, equivalent to 7% of the country’s total tree cover.

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