▁ ▁B iod iversity ▁ ▁Ang ola ▁is ▁one ▁of ▁the ▁most ▁b iod iverse ▁countries ▁in ▁Africa , ▁ow ing ▁in ▁large ▁part ▁to ▁highly ▁varied ▁e colog ical ▁regions ▁within ▁its ▁borders . ▁However , ▁recent ▁spe ci ological ▁data ▁is ▁greatly ▁lack ing , ▁to ▁such ▁an ▁extent ▁that ▁USA ID ▁claimed ▁that ▁there ▁was ▁less ▁known ▁about ▁Ang ola ' s ▁b iod iversity ▁in ▁ 2 0 1 3 ▁than ▁there ▁was ▁in ▁ 1 9 7 5 . ▁Non eth eless , ▁a ▁ 2 0 1 9 ▁synth esis ▁of ▁all ▁available ▁data ▁reports ▁that ▁the ▁country ▁is ▁home ▁to ▁a ▁ver ifiable ▁ 6 , 8 5 0 ▁v asc ular ▁plants , ▁ 9 4 0 ▁bird ▁species , ▁ 3 5 8 ▁fresh water ▁fish , ▁and ▁ 2 9 1 ▁m amm al ▁species ▁( th ese ▁numbers ▁are ▁expected ▁to ▁significantly ▁increase ▁as ▁more ▁surve ys ▁are ▁conducted ). ▁ ▁Major ▁issues ▁ ▁De for est ation ▁ ▁Since ▁the ▁end ▁of ▁the ▁civil ▁war ▁in ▁ 2 0 0 2 , ▁the ▁rate ▁of ▁def or est ation ▁in ▁Ang ola ▁has ▁been ▁increasing . ▁During ▁the ▁war , ▁mass ▁urban ization ▁took ▁place ▁as ▁people ▁fled ▁the ▁coun tr ys ide , ▁and ▁as ▁a ▁result ▁the ▁amount ▁of ▁land ▁used ▁for ▁agricult ure ▁decre ased . ▁When ▁the ▁violence ▁died ▁down , ▁hundreds ▁of ▁thousands ▁of ▁people ▁returned ▁to ▁their ▁native ▁homes ▁and ▁began ▁far ming ▁and ▁ran