Wild Bird Trust

08/05/2026

Water quality monitoring in places like the Okavango Delta can be strengthened by combining scientific methods with traditional ecological knowledge. For generations, local communities have closely observed the river system, understanding seasonal water changes, fish behaviour, plant indicators, and subtle shifts in water taste, colour, and flow. These observations can provide early signals of environmental change that complement scientific monitoring.

For example, many community members in the Delta recognise that the flood front, leleme la noka, is usually more turbid and brown in colour when it first arrives. Because of this, some communities avoid drinking the water at that stage until it clears. This aligns with water quality measurements, where the initial flood waters show higher turbidity and shifts in water chemistry. This kind of local knowledge helps guide safe water use.

By bringing together laboratory-based water quality data with the lived experiences and knowledge of river-dependent communities, we can build a holistic understanding of ecosystem health and how water quality changes over time. This approach not only improves monitoring but also supports more informed conservation and water management decisions grounded in both science and local knowledge.

This work is made possible through the partnership between National Geographic Society and De Beers Group.




📷 IMG 1,3: Monthusi Monkhanda, IMG 2: Bathusi Moatswi

08/05/2026

After five intensive days in Huambo, Lisima concluded a workshop forming part of Projecto Lisima, Angola’s national initiative to conserve the Angolan Highlands Water Tower (AHWT), a critical headwater system supporting biodiversity, water security, and livelihoods across southern Africa.

Through a combination of theory and practical field visits to forest areas and active concessions, participants strengthened technical capacity in forest certification methodologies, environmental risk identification and management, and the use of field assessment, monitoring, and management tools.

The workshop was delivered in partnership with Conserve Global, with funding support from Rainforest Trust and the Soil Association, and in collaboration with the Ministry of Environment (MINAMB), the National Institute of Biodiversity and Conservation Areas (INBAC), and Centro de Ecologia Tropical e Alterações Climáticas (CETAC), alongside specialists from across government and civil society.

As a next step, participating institutions will use the collaboratively developed framework as a foundation for adapting interim forest certification standards to Angola’s national context, helping strengthen long-term sustainable forest management across the region.


📷 Victoria Marques

07/05/2026

Five of Africa's great river systems are born in the highlands of eastern Angola. The Okavango. The Zambezi. The Congo. The Kwanza. The Cuando. Together they carry water and life across a continent, feeding communities, sustaining ecosystems, underpinning the food security of seven nations. The Okav...

07/05/2026

Pink, the classically feminine color, is often associated with being a "proper," girly, girl. Pink has never been a representation of science, technology, engineering or math—but why can't it be?...

07/05/2026

New DNA analysis by Stanford’s Petrov Lab in the School of Humanities and Sciences reveals the Ghost Elephants of Angola’s Lisima Landscape are closely related to populations in Namibia – hundreds of miles away.

The samples were collected from elephant dung as part of recent expeditions chronicled in the documentary film – GHOST ELEPHANTS – by acclaimed director Werner Herzog and featuring Steve Boyes. The film follows Boyes, fellow Explorer and Angola Country Director .costa, a team of three KhoiSan master trackers and local community experts and guides, on a quest to uncover the secret lives of Angola’s ghost elephants. They embark on a journey to reveal how these elusive giants have remained hidden to the outside world, known only to the local communities with which they share this highland landscape. Read more:https://news.stanford.edu/stories/2026/05/ghost-elephants-dna-research

Ghost Elephants is now streaming on and .

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📸 Kostadin Luchansky / The Wilderness Project Archive

24/04/2026

The miombo woodlands of Angola’s headwaters underpin the ecological integrity of the entire Okavango Basin. In these remote landscapes, where consistent state monitoring is limited, conservation success depends on strengthening locally governed systems grounded in community knowledge and long-standing relationships with place.

The Tunyiungi va Lisima, the Watchers, are a community-led forest monitoring and protection system operating across the Lisima landscape in Angola. Selected by their communities and guided by traditional leadership, they build on generations of customary management. They patrol forests, rivers, and savannahs, monitoring wildlife, fire, and human activity, while mapping traditional land domains and key ecological and cultural sites using a combination of local knowledge and modern tools.

In 2025 alone, the Watchers network grew to 82 active monitors across eight regedorias, working with eight Regedores and 35 Sobas. Patrols led to the apprehension of illegal wildlife traders and the confiscation and interception of bushmeat from dozens of animals. They also supported 20 women and girls monitoring river systems and fishing in two villages. With 15,000 km² now mapped and under strengthened traditional management, community leaders report early indications of reduced hunting pressure and increased wildlife presence in previously impacted areas.



📸 Tucunaré Lopez

21/04/2026

21/04/2026

Introducing Batho ba Metsi (People of the Water).

15/04/2026

Lisima is co-leading a five-day technical training workshop in Huambo, bringing together government and conservation partners to strengthen sustainable forest management in one of Angola’s most important ecological landscapes.

The workshop forms part of Projecto Lisima, Angola’s national initiative to conserve the Angolan Highlands Water Tower (AHWT), a critical headwater system supporting biodiversity, water security, and livelihoods across southern Africa.

They are delivering the training in partnership with Conserve Global and the Soil Association, in collaboration with the Ministry of Environment (MINAMB) and the National Institute of Biodiversity and Conservation Areas (INBAC), with specialists from across government and civil society.

The AHWT feeds into major freshwater systems across the region, including the Okavango Delta. The landscape faces increasing pressure from deforestation and unsustainable land use, with limited technical capacity for long-term forest management.

10/04/2026

The Government of Angola, providing institutional support through the Ministry of the Environment (MINAMB) and the National Institute of Biodiversity and Conservation Areas (INBAC), has formalised enhanced international cooperation to strengthen Projecto Lisima, a national initiative dedicated to the conservation of the Angolan Highlands Water Tower, recognised as one of the most important ecological landscapes in Africa.

The initiative will be implemented by Fundação Lisima, in collaboration with Conserve Global, with funding support from Rainforest Trust.

The Angolan Highlands Water Tower forms the headwaters of the Cubango, Cuito, Zambezi, and Kwanza rivers, sustaining ecosystems and communities across southern Africa, including the internationally recognised Okavango Delta. Protecting this landscape is critical for regional water security, biodiversity conservation, and climate resilience, targets that might be strengthened through government-led action, building on the conservationist framework of MINAMB and INBAC.



📸 Jeny Guyton