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WildCRU’s Adjany Costa appointed as Angola’s Minister of Culture, Tourism and the Environment

David Macdonald congratulates Adjany Costa and reflects that almost every WildCRU graduate student for the last thirty years has aspired to use their understanding of nature and its process to inform policy and influence government. None, however, has accomplished this, or even dreamt of accomplishing it, with the speed and aplomb of Adjany Costa. Adjany is a doctoral student researching the community-based conservation of the remarkable Angolan wetlands whose waters feed the Okavango Delta in neighbouring Botswana. Last week, Adjany was summoned from her Oxford lodgings, flown to Luanda, tested (negative) for Covid-19, and appointed as Angola’s Minister of Culture, Tourism and the Environment. WildCRU is very proud of her and heartily congratulates Adjany, who adds this remarkable achievement to her habit of collecting prestigious conservation awards, including the United Nations Young Champion of the Earth award and the National Geographic Rolex Explorer of the Year Award. As the Angolan government’s youngest Minister, she will oversee three Secretaries of State, and her own continuing doctoral work will be highly relevant to her ministerial portfolio.