Mavinga is a National Park in Kuando Kubango Province in south-eastern

Angola , national_anthem = " Angola Avante"() , image_map = , map_caption = , capital = Luanda , religion = , religion_year = 2020 , religion_ref = , coordina ...

. It covers an area of . The Park was proclaimed in 2011 along with the neighbouring Luengue-Luiana National Park, which measures . The two parks are

contiguous Contiguity or contiguous may refer to: *Contiguous data storage, in computer science *Contiguity (probability theory) *Contiguity (psychology) *Contiguous distribution of species, in biogeography *Geographic contiguity of territorial land *Contigu ...

and managed as a single unit. The parks were created to conserve the areas’ high ecological and biological value. Mavinga forms the western border of Africa's largest conservation area, the Kavango-Zambezi Trans-Frontier Conservation Area (KaZa TFCA).

History

Wildlife populations were drastically reduced during the

Angolan Civil War The Angolan Civil War ( pt, Guerra Civil Angolana) was a civil war in Angola, beginning in 1975 and continuing, with interludes, until 2002. The war immediately began after Angola became independent from Portugal in November 1975. The war was ...

(1975 to 2002). The Park was proclaimed in 2011 along with

Luengue-Luiana National Park Luengue-Luiana National Park ( pt, Parque Nacional do Luengue-Luiana) is a national park in Angola. Geography The park covers an area of 22,610 km². It located in Cuando Cubango Province in the southeastern corner of Angola. The park is boun ...

Climate

The region has a

Tropical Savanna Climate Tropical savanna climate or tropical wet and dry climate is a tropical climate sub-type that corresponds to the Köppen climate classification categories ''Aw'' (for a dry winter) and ''As'' (for a dry summer). The driest month has less than of p ...

. Average annual rainfall varies from about 600 to 1000 mm.

Geography and access

The road network within the park is fairly well developed, though many of these roads are either in poor condition, or inaccessible because of landmines remaining from the Angolan Civil War.

Biology and ecology

There are five identified habitats in the two parks: open woodland, dense woodland, open grassland, aquatic vegetation, and cultivated land.

Flora

Dense

miombo woodland The Miombo woodland is a tropical and subtropical grasslands, savannas, and shrublands biome (in the World Wide Fund for Nature scheme) located primarily in Central Africa. It includes four woodland savanna ecoregions (listed below) characterized b ...

occurs between the Longa and Cuito rivers and dominated by ''Brachystegias'', ''Julbernadia'', ''Guibortia'', and probably ''Cryptosepalum'' species. Cultivated land is prominent in the northern areas around the towns of Longa and Cuito Cuanavale.

Fauna

The three-decades long Angolan Civil War contributed to the serious decline of the once abundant wildlife communities, particularly larger mammals. VERISSIMO (2008) states that more than 150 species of mammals occurred historically in Kuando Kubango.

Fire

The landscape of Mavinga National Park is characterized as a fire-dependent Savanna. Lightning during the rainy season can ignite fire. Fires ignited by subsistence farmers resident in the park also occur.

Recreation

Kavango-Zambezi Trans-frontier Conservation Area

The park falls within the Kavango Zambezi (KAZA) Transfrontier Conservation Area (TFCA), which embraces contiguous parts of southeast Angola, northern Botswana, northeast Namibia, southwest Zambia, and western Zimbabwe (Figure 1). It contains a mosaic of protected areas, interspersed with extensive communal lands in which small-scale pastoral and agro-pastoral land use is practiced.

Park Management

A park Management Plan was produced in 2016 for the period: 2016–2020. This plan focuses on key management and development issues with a short-term perspective of 5 years. It sets out the following priorities: Management priorities: Ecological • Controlling fires • Combatting poaching and

illegal logging Illegal logging is the harvest, transportation, purchase or sale of timber in violation of laws. The harvesting procedure itself may be illegal, including using corrupt means to gain access to forests; extraction without permission, or from a pro ...

• Improving connectivity with neighbouring conservation areas • Reducing human-wildlife conflicts • Stopping the spread of urban and cultivation areas • Improving knowledge about biodiversity in the park. From an institutional and development perspective, the top priorities are: • Removing landmines • Clarifying staff structures, job descriptions and performance indicators • Construction of park entrance gates and the accompanying offices to control entry/exit • Construction of staff accommodation, garages, store-rooms etc.8 • Developing partnerships with local communities • Raising awareness about the park among residents and authorities • Developing park-specific regulations (23) • Identifying tourism potential and initiating an investor conference to attract interest.

References

{{authority control Angolan miombo woodlands National parks of Angola