Luanda - The Ministry of Environment will start charging licenses to tourism agents and firms that provide services at Kissama game reserve, on Thursday here announced the incumbent minister, Fátima Jardim.

The minister said that she noticed on the spot that various firms have been making commercial exploration in the region, with highlight on ourism, but without the authorisation of this organ.

To overcome the situation, the minister defended the maintenance of the natural reserves and improve the mechanisms of management, a task for which he called the collaboration of the intervening sectors, in order to avoid acts that do not meet the existing law of environmental resources.

"We have been making restructuring studies on the game reserves, not only at Kissama, but all over the country, so that they become areas of excellence, with better profit taken from bio-diversity and other existing wealth", minister Fátima Jardim said.

Kissama game reserve located in Bengo Province received in 2001 animals from Botswana and South Africa, and currently has 65 elephants, 70 zebras, 70 gnus, 14 giraffes among other kinds.

It has an area of 9,600 square kilometres.