FAO Forestry country profiles - forest management
Practices
The main plantation species are Eucalyptus spp.(comprising 80 percent of the plantations), Pinus spp. and Cupressus lusitanica. Angola is the only country in Africa with such extensive Eucalyptus plantations. These plantations, public and private alike, as well as the natural forests, totally lack any sort of management plan or silvicultural treatments and are in all likelihood highly degraded for a great many reasons, most having to do with the civil war.Forest conservation measures
The first mention of national parks and reserves dates back to 1936. The first national park, the Parque nacional de Caça do Iona, was established in 1937. Decree Law n°40/040 of 20 January 1955 featured the first conservation legislation, covering all aspects of conservation, wildlife utilization and hunting, plus the establishment of national parks, reserves and hunting areas. It also set up a Council for the Conservation of Nature (conselho de protecçâo de natureza), which issued regulations governing the national parks.
Protected area legislation dates from 1972. Decree Law n°43/77 of 5 May 1977 defined the categories of protected area. These included six national parks covering an area of 5 423 000 hectares, two strict nature reserves covering 828 000 hectares, four partial reserves covering 1 920 000 hectares, and one regional nature park of 10 000 hectares. Legally established protected areas today cover an area of some 8 million hectares, including nearly one million ha of forest, or 6.6 percent of the total land area. There are also 18 forest reserves covering about 18 560 km², though these have received little attention since their establishment.