The Zambezi River

Africa's Fourth Largest River

Bubbling up from a marshy bog in Zambia's northwestern corner, the 1,500-mile Zambezi River is Africa’s fourth largest river. The local Bundu people believe the Zambezi contains a spirit called Nyami Nyami, or "river of life," which brings them water for crops and fish to eat. Women catch and carry the fish in traditional woven baskets.

Throughout its course, the Zambezi River winds through numerous cultures, political boundaries and varying climates. In some places, its flow appears as a placid lake, while in others, it is a busy display of tumbling rapids and waterfalls. Eighty percent of more than 42 million people residing in the river's basin depend on agriculture for their livelihood. One-third of the population relies on healthy fisheries for food.

Several dams and reservoirs provide power and employment for the people of he region. Spectacular natural features like Btoka Gorge and Victoria Falls—one of the seven wonders of the world—attract recreational and wildlife enthusiasts from around the globe.

While important to local economies and human livelihoods, competing demands among agriculture, power generation, tourism and other land-based activities have taken a toll on the Zambezi's ecological health—especially aquatic life.

Harnessing water at various points along the river, dams hinder natural processes such as flooding and divert flows from where they once benefited wildlife, causing severe erosion downstream to the river's delta.

Untreated sewage and other pollution escapes into the river from major urban areas. Makeshift slash-and-burn agriculture fragments forests and other habitats that naturally filter waters entering the river. Inconsistent monitoring and enforcement of fishing regulations across national boundaries results in fish overharvesting, and poses a significant and long-term threat to the entire system.

Coordinating countries, cultures and conservation

The Great Rivers Partnership and the African Wildlife Foundation have united staff, resources and knowledge towards crafting a basin-wide land and water conservation plan that will identify conservation opportunities and promote the well-being of its residents. Since current information focuses on the terrestrial landscape, a first step in this collaboration involves collecting and analyzing data related to the river's flow patterns, ecology, fishery resources, water quality and general condition. Once assembled, this information will provide a snapshot of the region's most biologically important places, and highlight priorities for conservation, crop production, national and international policies, future protected areas and sustainable development.

Instituting a fishing ban in one nation, and not in others, for instance, will fail to adequately protect a dwindling species. Curbing pollution in one urban area will only minimally improve water quality if places upstream continue to pollute. Banning harmful agricultural practices in one country may lead offenders to neighboring areas where regulations may be less stringent. All of these represent reasons why conserving the Zambezi River requires communicating with and mobilizing diverse cultures, private and non-profit organizations, and government agencies that transcend the eight individual countries spanning the basin.

In this, its first foray into Africa, the Conservancy's Great Rivers Partnership approaches existing conservation efforts and challenges with proven success in mobilizing partners and local communities, raising public and private funds, and testing innovative approaches in major river systems, such as the Paraguay-Paraná watershed in Brazil, the Yangtze River in China and the Mississippi River basin in the United States. Building on important lessons and scientific expertise gained in these vast floodplain rivers, the Conservancy will help the African Wildlife Foundation advance activities that enable both people and wildlife to thrive within Africa's Zambezi River basin.

Fishing for the future

Fish serve as a vital link in the Zambezi River ecosystem, and represent a staple in the diet of millions of people. Fish also fuel local economies throughout the basin. Yet little is known about their population sizes, habitat requirements, migration patterns, scarcity or abundance. As a result, the Great Rivers Partnership and the African Wildlife Foundation are assessing the variety, size and health of fish stocks in and around the Zambezi River to improve their sustainable management.

Understanding, highlighting and supporting activities that sustain, rather than destroy, the river's ecology and rich natural resources includes creating a pilot project in Mozambique, where fishermen from local communities will benefit from training in business, sustainable fishing techniques, energy efficient processing, marketing and other skills required to build the capacity and influence of stakeholders sharing the river's incredible bounty. Additionally, since commercial over-harvesting represents one of the most significant threats to the Zambezi River system, the Great Rivers Partnership and African Wildlife Foundation will combine local community knowledge with state-of-the-art science to identify and map zones that would protect threatened aquatic species—as well as recommend the most appropriate areas for fishing and recreational activities.

The Zambezi River © TNC

Partnering with the African Wildlife Federation

Headquartered in Nairobi, Kenya, the African Wildlife Foundation works to ensure that Africa's wildlife and wild lands endure forever. A key to achieving this goal has been working directly with the local people most in touch with both the land's potential and its challenges. Empowering Africans to be cultural and environmental stewards has been the core of the organization's strategy for more than 46 years.

In 1998, the African Wildlife Foundation launched its African Heartlands Program, which identified eight large landscapes across the continent in critical need of land conservation, species protection and human empowerment.

The Conservancy looks forward to working with the African Wildlife Foundation in several of these landscapes to conserve the Zambezi River. This includes building on existing accomplishments, which include designating more than 100,000 hectares in Mozambique's Tete Province as a Community Conservation Area and conducting massive surveys that identified the 17 most prevalent fish species in the Zambezi River's lower reaches.

Michael Reuter, director of the Conservancy's Great Rivers Partnership meets with Jimmiel Mandima of AWF on the banks of the Zambezi © TNC