Time is running out to save Angola's remaining Afromontane forests, such as those at Mount Moco (Photo by Gerrit Laubscher)

The highlands of Angola are home to a few isolated pockets of montane forest, which host several rare and localised birds, including Swierstra's Francolin. Some of the best remaining examples of montane forest in Angola are located at the country's highest mountain, Mount Moco, where currently only 85 ha of forest remains. This makes Mount Moco a critical site for the conservation of montane forest-dependent species in Angola.

However, the few remaining patches are being eroded at a concerning rate, largely by the population of a single, small village, Kanjonde. Our aims are to:

(i) work with the community of Kanjonde to reduce their impacts on the remaining forest
(ii) to ultimately increase forest cover at Mount Moco by establishing a nursery and forest replanting project.
(iii) promote sustainable tourism at the mountain, with the community of Kanjonde as the primary beneficiary
(iv) lobby for the formal recognition of Mount Moco as a conservation area