Boschi di Miombo Angolani – Wikipedia

I Boschi di Miomomo Angolani They are an eco-lacation of the Afrotropic Ecozona, defined by the WWF (Ecoregione Code: AT0701), which occupies most of the Angola and a small region of the south-west of the Democratic Republic of the Congo ^[first] .

It is a savannah echoregition that occupies an area of ​​660,100 km². It borders to the west with the savannah and boscaglie of the Angolan escarpment, to the north with the mosaic of Foresta and Savana of the western pelvis of the Congo, to the north-east with the mosaic of forest and Savana Congolese Southern, east with the woods of Miombo by Zambesi central, the dry zamesian forest a Cryptosepalum and the western Zambesi prairie, to the south and south-east with the woods of Bai strength of the Zamhesi, and to the south-west with the woods of Mopane Angolani, the tree-lined savannah of Namibia and the Kookoveld desert. It includes the mountain mosaic of forest-prateries of the Angola. It extends over a region of plateaus and wavy hills of the central Angola, in the Basin of the Cubango and Zamsi rivers, east of the hills chain that runs parallel to the Atlantic coast and north of the Kalahari desert, pushing up to the rain forests of the Congo. It has a tropical climate, more humid than that of the surrounding savannah, with rains that fall especially during the hottest summer months (November-March) ^[first] .

The vegetation consists of a wet -shaped savannah characterized by caduche leaves. Among these areas, an open prairie extends. Three species of trees dominate this Miombo Boscaglia: Brachystegia , Julbernardia It is Isoberlinia . In the shade of the trees there is a rich variety of other plant species, while the Prairia areas of the region develop on sandy soil. A particular characteristic of Miombo’s bush is their vulnerability to fires, as the region is dry for most of the year ^[first] .

The fauna of the region includes a large number of species of birds and mammals, including the giant black antelope ( Hippotragus niger variani ). Among the endemic mammals there is Vernay’s climber mouse ( Dendromus vernayi ). Among the larger species appear the giraffe ( Giraffe giraffe ), the striped tragelaf ( Tragelaphus by ), the blue cephalopic ( Philantomba monticola ) and the yellow back cefaloper ( Cephalophus silvicultor ) in the areas of shrub stepping, the Sitatunga ( Tragalaphus spekii ) and the COBO ( Kobus ellipsiprymnus ) in the most humid areas, and the common damage ( Damalcus lunatus ) in the meadows.

Other large mammals present in the eco -core are the hippopotamus ( Hippopotamus amphibius ), the common zebra ( Equus quagga ) and their predators, like the lion ( Panthera leo ), the leopard ( P. leopard ), the cheetah ( Acinonyx jubatus ), the Licaone ( Lycaon Pictus ), the striped jackal ( Dog’s ) and the spotted hyena ( Crocuta Crocuta ), as well as smaller carnivores such as the wild cat ( Felis ), he serval ( Leptailurus on the edge ), Il Caracal ( Caracal Caracal ) e The Genetta dell’angola ( Genetta angolensis ). Before the civil war broke out in the seventies, the area housed large populations of black elephants and rhinos, but these animals have disappeared almost completely, victim of poachers.

The only endemic species among birds is the cystic cyt off ( Cisticola Meranurus ), but the avifauna is quite rich. After the rains, in wetlands you can find the major cannaiola ( Acrocephalus rufeseens ), yellow chloropeta ( Iduna Natalesis ), the chirping cystic ( Cisticola pipiens ), the Bocage weaver ( Ploceus temporary ), the saddered stork ( Ephippiorhynchus senegalensis ), the Marabù ( Leptoptilos Crumenifer ), the Airone Golia ( Ardea goliath ) and La Gru Caruncolata ( Crane carunculata ).

Amphibians are less common. Two endemic frog species belong to them, Hildebrandtia ornatissima It is Leptopelis anchietae , as well as another widespread almost entirely in this region, Hyperolius Wilhen .

Finally, in the Boscaglia di Miombo Termiti and Bruci, both very numerous, they play an important role in keeping the soil free from the leaves ^[first] .

Among the main countries and cities of this region there are Kuto, Menongue and Luena, all heavily damaged by the civil war which is raged in Angola from 1975 to 2002 ^[first] .

The terrible and lasting civil war caused immense damage to this environment, leaving the forests exposed to poaching and uncontrolled deforestation; Obviously, during this period, conservation was not one of the main priorities of the government. Also because of this conflict, the area has not yet been studied in depth by scientists. However, the bush is not threatened by deforestation to make room for agriculture or by the wood industry, since, in addition to the consequences of the war, other factors also limit the human settlement in the region: the sandy soil, in fact, does not allow the Agriculture, and the woods and grasslands are infested by the TSE-TSE Moscow. Some areas of forest, however, have been destroyed, for example on the outskirts of the cities or even elsewhere, by the surface mining extraction.

A number of national Angola parks are located in this area, but for long periods of time they all had to be left to themselves because of the fights. One of these in particular, the Cangandala National Park, constitutes an important refuge for the Giant Black Antelope ^[first] .