Angola
My subject representing Angola is the marine biologist and ethno-conservationist,
Adjany Costa
Geography
The Republic of Angola is located on the west coast of Southern Africa. It is the seventh-largest country in Africa, bordered by Namibia to the south, the Democratic Republic of the Congo to the north, Zambia to the east, and the Atlantic Ocean to the west. Angola has an exclave province, the province of Cabinda that borders the Republic of the Congo and the Democratic Republic of the Congo. The capital and largest city is Luanda.
Source Wikipedia
Environmental issues
Angola was war torn from 1975 to 2002 and many of the main Environmental Concerns follow on from this conflict. Chemical and waste management remains uncoordinated. Angola produces the biggest source of freshwater in southern Africa and this is under threat from human activities
About Adjany
Born and raised in Angola, Adjany always had a passion for nature. At 16 she went to university to study biology before completing her Masters in Marine Biodiversity and Conservation. Following more fieldwork, Adjany joined the National Geographic Okavango Wilderness Project in 2015, as part of their Ichthyology team. The concept was to navigate the entire length of the main tributaries of the Okavango basin, registering the wildlife encountered. This four month wilderness survey was recorded and became the topic for the critically acclaimed movie, Into The Okovango.
Adjany completed another 5 research trips in to the Angolan Highlands and became the National Geographic Project’s Country Director for Angola.
Adjany realized natural science and research would never be sufficient to activate conservation in such a vast landscape if not coupled with national policies and involving communities. She therefore stepped down from the National Geographic project to pursue her PhD with the Wildlife Conservation Research Unit WildCRU, working to develop a bottom-up Community Based Natural Resource Management Model (CBNRM), tailored to the needs, beliefs, traditions and aspirations of the local Luchaze people, in Eastern Angola.
She aims is to couple research and traditional knowledge to improve policy making, achieving maximum and realistic protection of wildlife and natural resources by tackling poverty through the introduction of alternative livelihoods in poor and remote rural communities.
Adjany is a 2017 National Geographic Emerging Explorer, 2019 National Geographic Explorer of the year, a 2019 UN Young Champion of the Earth for Africa, a member of the IUCN Freshwater Conservation Committee and in the process of co-founding an all Angolan foundation that aims at protecting the wilderness of Angola through CBNRM.
If you would like to hear more of Adjany’s story or watch the painting of her portrait please click here.
