Angola’s Long War Changed the Way Farmers Used Fire – Why It Matters

Few places in Africa have been as isolated and understudied as eastern Angola, particularly the highlands of the Moxico provinces, a region rich in biodiversity, culture and history. The country’s political past helps explain this isolation. Having achieved independence from Portugal in 1975 after 11 years of war, Angola descended into a civil war that lasted 27 years, one of the longest conflicts in Africa.

Since peace was established in 2002, development has concentrated in the capital Luanda,…