The HALO Trust
Clearing minefields to enable sustainable livelihoods and nature conservation in Angola
The Trafigura Foundation is supporting the removal of mines and other unexploded ordnance from farmland and national parks, opening the way for sustainable, resilient development and biodiversity protection.
The challenge
When Angola’s civil war ended in 2002, landmines and explosives remained scattered across fields, villages and towns, killing and wounding thousands of people. Despite more than two decades of clearance efforts, Angola remains one of the world’s most heavily mined countries.
Besides posing a deadly threat, these explosive devices make large areas of land too dangerous for farming or other productive activities, making it harder for communities to build sustainable, resilient livelihoods in the face of climate change.
Angola also holds some of the world’s most pristine wilderness areas, including the headwaters of the Okavango Delta. These ecosystems have significant tourism potential and are important for biodiversity conservation. By undermining livelihoods and conservation, landmines are fuelling the poaching of wildlife and timber, and eroding one of the planet’s largest carbon sinks.
The solution
The HALO Trust is a non-governmental organisation specialised in clearing the explosive remnants of war to protect people affected by conflict and to help them restore their livelihoods, including by preserving biodiversity and healthy ecosystems.
HALO has been working in Angola since 1994. In that time, it has cleared more than 5,000 hectares of minefields, educated more than 600,000 people on the risks, and collected and destroyed weapons and ammunition.
By making more areas safe, HALO enables sustainable agricultural and forestry and supports conservation activities and the development of ecotourism in Angola’s national parks.
Partnership impact
With support from the Trafigura Foundation and other donors, HALO will clear hazardous areas of Bié Province, in the centre of the country, and in the national parks of the Okavango Basin to the south.
HALO will use our funding to:
- Clear 39.6 hectares of land
- Benefit 8,920 people
- Increase the resilience of 65% of people in affected communities
Visit the HALO Trust’s website.
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