Angola's Lisima Plateau Yields Dozens of New Species in First Major Survey

A scientific expedition to Angola's remote Lisima plateau in February 2026 recorded dozens of species previously unknown to science, providing the first comprehensive biodiversity assessment of the headwaters that feed the Congo, Okavango, Zambezi, and Cuanza river systems. The Cassai Life Atlas expedition, organized by The Wilderness Project with support from Fundação Lisima and The HALO Trust, brought 16 African and international specialists into a landscape that decades of civil war and persistent landmines had left largely uncharted.

The survey documented 103 dragonfly and damselfly species, raising the plateau's known total to 163, with 34 species newly recorded for the region and six added to Angola's national list for the first time. Eight undescribed dragonfly species first detected in 2019 are now being formally described by taxonomists. Researchers also recorded 47 grasshopper, katydid, and cricket taxa, including three species entirely new to science, with more expected as laboratory examination continues.

Butterfly and moth diversity proved especially rich, with over 1,000 individuals recorded. Geometer moths showed an unusual mixing of Congo forest, Cape fynbos, and miombo woodland species, with striking turnover across short distances and different watersheds. By rearing caterpillars, researchers linked 25 geometer moth species to 19 host-plant species across 13 plant families; eight of the moths reared appear entirely undescribed. Preliminary estimates suggest up to 6% of all recorded moth species could be new to science.

The herpetology survey recorded 47 taxa, comprising 24 amphibians and 23 reptiles, capturing substantial portions of the region's known fauna in a single wet-season survey. Notable records included the Gaboon adder, variable bush viper, Anchieta's cobra, Oates's twig snake, and a rich assemblage of wetland frogs, underscoring the ecological importance of the plateau's dambos and swamp forests.

In caves throughout the plateau, researchers documented Sundevall's roundleaf bat and Rüppell's horseshoe bat alongside associated bat flies and other ectoparasites, revealing additional layers of ecological interaction. Plant surveys yielded more than 320 collections across miombo woodland, wet grassland, dambos, swamp forest, river margins, and rocky stream habitats, demonstrating the botanical richness of a landscape spanning multiple distinct ecosystems within a compact area.

The Cassai Life Atlas builds on earlier surveys in the Okavango and Lungwevungu catchments conducted by the National Geographic Okavango Wilderness Project over the past decade. Together, these efforts have documented over 70 new species, with nearly 300 more awaiting taxonomic description, transforming a once poorly known headwater landscape into one of the region's best-documented emerging conservation frontiers.

The findings carry urgency alongside scientific excitement. The region's remoteness and landmines historically protected it from large-scale human disturbance, but expanding road networks and mine clearance are increasing accessibility. Diamond mining, slash-and-burn agriculture, timber harvesting, and settlement expansion already place pressure on these ecosystems, with forest cover being lost and rivers growing more turbid through erosion and sedimentation.