The researchers estimate that overall peatlands cover between 2.28\u20132.94 % of the of the AHWT. They found 8,662 km\u00b2 (3,344 square miles) of peatland cover with high certainty (81\u2013100% probability) and 11,167 km\u00b2 (4,311 square miles) with low certainty (51\u2013100% probability).<\/p>\n
Peatlands are areas of land where the surface layer consists of plant material that has partially decomposed. According to the study, they cover around three per cent of the world\u2019s land surface but are estimated to store up to a third<\/a> of the world\u2019s soil carbon.<\/p>\n In October 2025<\/a>, Angola designated an area of 53,000 km\u00b2 (20,463 square miles) in the AHWT as the country\u2019s first Ramsar Site or Wetland of International Importance. The site was selected due to its sponge effect which absorbs, retains, filters, and ultimately supplies freshwater into the rivers that carry water to wetlands far and wide.<\/p>\n A water tower is a highland area that produces a large amount of water, relative to its spatial scope.<\/p>\n One of them is the Okavango Delta<\/a> in neighboring Botswana, a world heritage site and one of the world\u2019s few inland delta systems that don\u2019t drain into a sea or an ocean, but into the Kalahari Desert.<\/p>\n \u201c[The Angolan Highlands Water Tower] is crucial for water security, development, and ecosystem services in Southern African countries,\u201d lead author Mauro Louren\u00e7o, a geospatial ecologist and data analyst at the Wild Bird Trust, told Mongabay via email. \u201cThe groundwater-fed peatlands store carbon, regulate river flow and sustain water supplies far beyond Angola, yet remain remarkably understudied.\u201d<\/p>\n He added that until now, decision makers were missing a thorough understanding of where the peatlands are. \u201cOur map provides a timely baseline for protecting them before significant degradation takes place.\u201d<\/p>\n Louren\u00e7o, who has been studying the Angolan Highlands Water Tower since 2020, said this research is closing previous research gaps. His earlier study covered an area of 61,590 km\u00b2 (23,780 square miles) with estimated peatland covering 1,634 km\u00b2 (631 square miles) of this area\u2014 the new study was done across the entire 380,382 km\u00b2 (146,866 square miles) of the AHWT.<\/p>\n While the previous study mostly relied on remote geospatial data<\/a>, this time the researchers went on five field expeditions to 51 locations they had identified as potential peatlands. They used imagery from the Sentinel-2 Earth observation satellite and combined it with improved satellite data, in order to locate the drainage lines and low-relief landscapes where peat forms.<\/p>\n The study was a collaborative effort between the Wild Bird Trust and its local non-profit Funda\u00e7\u00e3o Lisima, the National Geographic Okavango Wilderness Project and US-based non-governmental organization the Nature Conservancy (TNC). As the region was a conflict hotspot during the Angolan civil war, access to some areas was facilitated by the Halo Trust which maps and clears landmines in Angola.<\/p>\n One of the study\u2019s co-authors, TNC\u2019s Okavango Program Director Sekgowa Motsumi, told Mongabay in a video interview that TNC and its partners are working with the Angolan government to integrate peatlands and their value for carbon storage into the country\u2019s climate agenda.<\/p>\n The peatlands identified in the study face growing anthropogenic stresses that require mitigation in order to prevent the area from becoming a source of carbon emissions, the authors noted.<\/p>\n The AHWT is known as the Lisima Lya Mwono<\/a> locally, which translates as \u201cThe Source of Life\u201d in the indigenous Luchaze language. The area is home to the Luchazi people, an ethnic group of Bantu extraction who hail from eastern Angola and are named after the Luchazi River. They later settled in Zambia and Namibia.<\/p>\n Motsumi said that most communities in the area rely on subsistence farming for their livelihoods, as well as hunting. However, agriculture has been identified as one of the biggest threats to the peat carbon sink. Practices like ditching and draining, which is used to dry out deeper layers of peat soil in order to plant crops, can release a lot of the carbon stored in the peat.<\/p>\n Another threat is the unregulated use of fire for clearing which is the main source of carbon emissions from the peat, Shannon Flaugh, a conservation scientist at TNC, told Mongabay. Flaugh said that samples they took for the study showed that some of the carbon stored in these peatlands is 11,000 years old.<\/p>\n \u201cOnce that carbon is lost, we\u2019re not going to sequester it again within our lifetimes,\u201d she said, adding that they are working with communities to co-design solutions and peatland conservation strategies which include the improved management of fires.<\/p>\n More studies are underway to fully understand the relationship between fires and the conditions of the wetlands in the course of the seasons, Flaugh said.<\/p>\n But even though this study provides improved estimates for peat in AHWT, other questions remain. The authors said more measurements are needed to define the characteristics of the peat present in the area.<\/p>\n One of the reasons that Angola\u2019s land features are poorly mapped is the presence of landmines in some region. The researchers also noted that the mapped peatlands are most probably a fraction of Angola\u2019s total extent of peatlands, as other major floodplain systems including the Cameia, Luena, Cuando\/Luanginga, Congo tributaries, have not been examined yet.<\/p>\n While the study establishes important data on peatland presence, more research is currently being done to verify the actual amount of carbon the AHWT stores in order to use it for climate action and Angola\u2019s Nationally Determined Contribution<\/a> (NDC).<\/p>\n Motsumi told Mongabay that he sees an opportunity for Angola to leverage the massive carbon storage potential of its peatlands. Integrating peat carbon storage into its NDC can distinguish Angola from other African countries who mostly focus on adaptation, he said. Currently, the Angolan highlands are not formally protected in national laws, and only about 11%<\/a> of the country\u2019s terrestrial areas are under protection \u2013 which is far from the goal set under the Kunming-Montreal Global Biodiversity Framework, which calls on countries to protect 30% of their land and seas by 2030.<\/p>\n Motsumi added that these peatlands are important for the largest terrestrial<\/a> transboundary conservation area in the world, the Kavango-Zambezi Transfrontier Conservation Area, which is nourished by water from the Okavango and the Zambezi rivers.<\/p>\n Peatlands and other wetlands in the AHWT help regulate water flow by holding rainwater, which is gradually released feeding channels that feed rivers, providing a steady supply of water.<\/p>\n \u201cWithout the Angolan Highlands Water Tower and its peatlands, that water doesn\u2019t drain into the landscape. And without water, there\u2019s no biodiversity \u2014 the very biodiversity this region is known for globally,\u201d Motsumi said.<\/p>\n Banner image: Aerial view of the Cuanavale river, which runs through the Angolan Highlands and joins the Cuito River. Image courtesy of Zach Vincent for National Geographic.<\/p>\n Citation:<\/p>\n Lourenco MC et al. 2026 A probabilistic map of tropical peatlands in the Angolan Highlands Water Tower. Phil. Trans. R. Soc. B 381: 20240481. https:\/\/doi.org\/10.1098\/rstb.2024.0481<\/a><\/p>\n![\"Study](\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/africa\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/DSC03374.jpg\")
Study author Mauro Louren\u00e7o collecting the peat material during the research for this study. Image courtesy of Jennifer Guyton.<\/p>\n![\"Peat](\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/africa\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/DSC03377.jpg\")
Peat material collected during the research. Image courtesy of Jennifer Guyton.<\/p>\n![\"Aerial](\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/africa\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/NS17712488_NGSOWP2018CUA_Luchansky_00142-2.jpg\")
Aerial view of the mokoros on the shore of the Cuando River at sunrise taken during The Okavango Wilderness Project\u2019s 2018 expedition. Image courtesy of Kostadin Luchansky for National Geographic.<\/p>\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/africa\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/2026_074_AA_Angola_Peat_v3-scaled.jpg\")
<\/p>\n![\"The](\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/africa\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/NS123670379_NGSOWP24_20241102_Paulo_Perestrelo_0023-scaled.jpg\")
The Tchansengwa Source Lake is located in the Angolan Highlands Water Tower, which is part of vital peatlands and wetlands that feed major regional river systems. Image courtesy of Paulo Perestrelo\/National Geographic.<\/p>\n