Angola-Portugal partnership strengthens protection of the country’s last forest elephants
News
A partnership between Angola’s Kissama Foundation and CIBIO has secured major funding from the Elephant Crisis Fund (ECF) to strengthen research and conservation efforts for one of Africa’s most threatened elephant populations: Angola’s forest elephants. The US$1.2 million investment, the largest ever provided by the ECF in its 13-year history, will support a three-year conservation programme.
A partnership between Angola’s Kissama Foundation and CIBIO has secured major funding from the Elephant Crisis Fund (ECF) to strengthen research and conservation efforts for one of Africa’s most threatened elephant populations: Angola’s forest elephants. The US$1.2 million investment, the largest ever provided by the ECF in its 13-year history, will support a three-year conservation programme.
Fewer than 200 forest elephants are believed to survive in Angola, inhabiting the forested escarpments east and northeast of Luanda. These elephants represent the southernmost population of African forest elephants and live entirely outside protected areas, where they face increasing pressure from habitat loss, poaching, road mortality and human–elephant conflict.
The funding will support the expansion of Project Nzau, an initiative led by the Kissama Foundation in partnership with CIBIO. Since 2019, the project has significantly improved scientific knowledge of these elusive elephants while raising awareness of their conservation status. The new investment will allow the team to scale up its work from three provinces to all eight Angolan provinces where forest elephants may still persist.
The project is coordinated by Angolan conservationist Pedro Vaz Pinto and Angolan biologist Ninda Baptista, bringing together researchers, conservation practitioners and national authorities to implement an integrated conservation strategy. CIBIO contributes scientific expertise, particularly in biodiversity monitoring, wildlife ecology and conservation genetics, supporting evidence-based management and long-term conservation planning.
By combining scientific research, community engagement, and conservation action, the Angola–Portugal partnership aims to secure a future for one of Africa’s least-known and most threatened elephant populations. The project also reinforces the long-standing collaboration between CIBIO and Angolan institutions in biodiversity research, conservation and capacity building.
The Portuguese press release is available here