Recovery of the Yona National Park, in Angola’s Namibe province is expected to cost US$10.5 million, the secretary of State for Biodiversity, Paula Coelho said Tuesday.

Coelho also said that the project had been approved, was in its initial stage of execution and was partly funded by the central government and the remaining funding was provided by the European Union (EU) and the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP).

According to Coelho, cited by Angolan news agency Angop, the project is based on the Financing Convention of the National Project for Biodiversity and Conservation of the Yona National Park, signed by the Angolan government and the EU.

“The agreement has a lifetime of six years and involves three areas, the first of which is recovery of the park and adding to the national system for protected areas included in the Strategic Plan for Climate Change, approved by the Council of Ministers in 2010,” she noted.

The second area will improve skills for management of protected areas, and the third involves management and coordination of the project itself.

Angola’s biggest cross-border park is 95 kilometres form the city of Namibe and covers an area of 15,150 square kilometres. It is home to numerous species, some of which are threatened with extinction. (macauhub)