Spatial information about plant species composition and the distribution of vegetation types is an essential baseline for natural resource management planning. In Angola, the first countrywide vegetation map was elaborated by Gossweiler in 1939. Subsequently, Barbosa published a revised map with much higher detail in 1970 and his work has remained the main reference for the vegetation of Angola until today. However, these early maps were expert drawn and were not based on systematic surveys. Instead, the delimitation of vegetation units was based on many years of field observations and also incorporated results of local studies carried out by other authors. In spite the rich history of the scientific exploration of Angola’s vegetation in colonial times, quantitative and plot based studies were rare. After the end of the armed conflict, new vegetation surveys making use of new methodological developments in numerical approaches to vegetation classification in combination with modern remote sensing imagery have provided spatial information of unprecedented detail. However, vast areas of the country still remain seriously understudied. At the same time, sustainable land management strategies are urgently needed due to the increasing pressure on natural resources driven by socio-economic development and global change, thus calling for a new era of vegetation surveys that will enable data-based landuse and conservation planning in Angola. Keywords: Conservation, Landuse planning, Natural resources, Plant communities, Remote sensing.