In northern Angola, Serra do Pingano has lost nearly half of its central forest—and the remaining trees now have a new layer of legal protection. In April, the Angolan government established the Serra do Pingano Conservation Area after years of calls to protect the mountain forest.
The designation comes amid rapid forest loss across the wider Serra do Pingano Forest Ecosystem, or SPFE, in Uíge province. Over the past two decades, the central part of Serra do Pingano lost 43% of its original forest cover. Across the broader ecosystem, forest cover fell by 21%, or 536 square kilometers (207 square miles), according to research published this year in Nature Ecology & Evolution. The study was signed by 11 researchers, including two Angolans.
The SPFE includes several forested mountain ranges and some of Angola’s last tropical forest south of the Congo River. Its mix of tropical rainforest and miombo savanna brings together wildlife and plant life linked to western Central Africa, as well as species and ancient lineages associated with southern and eastern Africa. In its law establishing the conservation area, the government described the site as a refuge for Afromontane forest, rich in biodiversity and geology, and a place to observe rare and endemic species.
The protection follows a long effort. Scientists first proposed adding Serra do Pingano to Angola’s protected-area strategy in 2010. Authorities responded positively to recommendations for a national park in 2021, but the plan did not move forward then. German ethnobotanist Thea Lautenschläger, a co-author of the recent study and scientific director of the Botanical Garden of Hamburg, said researchers had shared evidence and warnings for years. She noted that at least half of Serra do Pingano has already been deforested.
Agricultural clearing and charcoal production are driving pressure on the forest. The losses threaten species that rely on intact habitat, including the Pingano balsam, the Angolan dwarf galago and two dragonflies, Eleuthemis eogaster and Notogomphus kimpavita. Several forest amphibians have yet to be formally described by science, raising the risk that they could vanish before researchers know them well. A recently discovered population of critically endangered African forest elephants in Serra Vamba, part of the wider ecosystem, may also be in danger.
The cost reaches beyond wildlife. Forests store carbon, help regulate water, protect soil and support the relationships among species. Losing them could also mean the permanent disappearance of plants and animals found nowhere else. Lautenschläger said the protected area covers less ground than the larger zone scientists originally proposed, and some highly diverse areas beyond its limits are being cleared now.
The new designation gives Serra do Pingano formal recognition as a place worth protecting, but it does not cover every threatened forest in the region. The next test will be whether protection can reach the remaining areas of exceptional biodiversity—and whether it can slow clearing before more of the ecosystem is lost.