Ovimbundu Cultural Survival

The environment and whether or not it is being used properly largely affect the Ovimbundu culture. Many of the Ovimbundu people depend on the land to support them. However, forest and woodland make up just fewer than fifty percent of Angola and these areas are being destroyed over time. Deforestation is due to commercial logging, subsistence agriculture, trade in charcoal, and forced migration. Land degradation is also an issue that is being caused by unsustainable agriculture, mining, and overgrazing of rangelands. Wildlife was also widely destroyed because of the civil war in Angola and the massive amount of destruction that came along with it.

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            Fishing is also another large aspect of Ovimbundu survival and coastal degradation and overfishing are threatening their culture.  Overfishing by local and even foreign fleets is threatening fish stocks and even going as far as causing extinction of some of the species of fish. Many of the Ovimbundu live along the western coast of Angola and fishing is how they make their living. Pollution from offshore oil production is also becoming a threat to the marine environment of Angola and causing issues for the Ovimbundu. If both the land and the marine environment continue to be destroyed, the Ovimbundu will have a hard time surviving.  

            Another factor that might become an issue for the Ovimbundu is the climate change. Reports suggest that the temperature of Angola is rising at the rate of 0.33 degrees Celsius per decade and annual rainfall is decreasing at an average rate of 2mm per month per decade. This may cause coastal lowlands to become vulnerable to rising sea levels over time. Also rising sea temperature could potentially threaten many fish species over time. All of these elements put together are working against the survival of this culture.