Angola - Environment

Long-standing environmental problems in Angola have been aggravated by a 30-year war. The main problems are land abuse, desertification, loss of forests, and impure water. The productivity of the land is continually threatened by drought and soil erosion, which contributes to water pollution and deposits silt in rivers and dams. The cutting of tropical rain forests for international timber sale and domestic use as fuel contributes to the destruction of the land. Angola's forests and woodland declined 3.1% between 1983 and 1993. Safe drinking water is available to 46% of the urban population and only 22% of rural dwellers.

Endangered species in Angola include the black-faced impala, three species of turtle (green, olive ridley, and leatherback), the giant sable antelope, the African slender-snouted (or long-snouted) crocodile, the African elephant, Vernay's climbing monkey, and the black rhinoceros. As of the late 1990s, threatened species in Angola include: 17 of the 276 species of mammals; 13 of the 765 species of birds; and 20 of the 5,185 species of plants.