| Abstract |
According to satellite-based MODIS MCD64A1 version 6.1 burnt area fire data from 2001 to 2024 , an average of around 29 % of Angola’s land surface area, corresponding to almost 365 000 km², burns every year due to naturally occurring wildfires or anthropogenic actions. Anthropogenic fires are driven by slash-and-burn and hunting practices in Angola. Between 2001 and 2024, the years 2003 to 2005 were the most catastrophic for Angola with about 406 000, 408 000 and 401 000 km² burned respectively. This high intensity and extent of burning was not a result of higher fuel loads but rather the burning associated with clearing land after the civil war in Angola ended in 2002 and the population started to resettle.
The above average areas burned in 2007, 2010 and 2011 are more likely to have been the result of high fuel loads, resulting from five consecutive above average rainfall years starting in 2006/2007 and ending in 2010/2011. |
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