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Sharing Lessons Learned Protects Great Rivers

   
April 2007 - Flowing through 
eight countries of southern Africa, the Zambezi River faces 
competing demands for water from agriculture, power 
generation, industrial and domestic users as well as wildlife 
and tourism. Rivers in China, Brazil and the United States 
face similar demands despite their differing geography, so 
river managers are avoiding mistakes by sharing lessons 
learned through the Nature Conservancy's Great Rivers 
Partnership. 
The fourth largest river in Africa, the Zambezi arises on the 
Central African Plateau in the Kalene Hills of northwestern 
Zambia and winds 1,500 miles (2,414 kilometers) before it 
widenvironment news into a delta in Mozambique and pours into
 the Indian 
Ocean. 
The river basin supports a population of more than 42 million 
people and many endangered wildlife species. The river creates 
the largest sheet of falling water in the world at Victoria 
Falls, shared by Zimbabwe and Zambia. The Zambezi River flows
 over a precipice to form Victoria 
Falls. 
Rapid human settlement, incompatible agricultural practices, 
water pollution, alteration of natural flooding and flow 
patterns, poaching, unmanaged fire, unsustainable fishing, 
deforestation, invasive vegetation and the introduction of 
non-native fish from aquaculture operations, have all taken a 
toll on the Zambezi's ecological health. 
To help manage and protect the Zambezi, the African Wildlife 
Foundation and The Nature Conservancy in March began working 
together under the umbrella of the Conservancy's Great Rivers 
Partnership. 
"The Nature Conservancy as an organization has not had a 
presence in Africa," Michael Reuter, director of the 
Conservancy's Great Rivers Partnership told environment news.
 "As we looked 
at our global conservation mission and areas where we needed 
to begin investing, we concluded that Africa is really 
important for biodiversity and human livelihoods." 
With this partnership, the conservationists are bringing 
effective practices from other river systems around the world 
to Africa to inform management of the Zambezi. 
In addition to the Zambezi, the Great Rivers Partnership is 
working to advance conservation of the Yangtze River in China, 
the Paraguay and Parana rivers in Brazil and the Mississippi 
River in the United States. 
Reuter said that the Nature Conservancy invited 10 members of 
Zambezi River Authority to attend the Second Yangtze Forum 
that concluded Tuesday in Changsha, China. 
Participants at the Second Yangtze Forum in Changsha, China 
April 15-17. 
"We are cosponsoring the Yangtze River Forum, a bi-annual 
event, with the government of China and a host of NGO and 
governmental partners, to share lessons learned among these 
rivers," Reuter said. 
The first annual health report on the Yangtze River, released 
at the Forum Tuesday, shows that billions of tons of waste 
dumped into river are taking a massive toll on its aquatic 
life. The Yangtze River Conservation and Development Report 
2007 says that China's longest waterway is suffering from 
natural disasters, deterioration of water quality and loss of 
biodiversity. 
Last year, more than 26 billion tons of wastewater was pumped 
into the Yangtze, which runs through 11 provinces and 
municipalities. 
The polluted Yangtze River at Fuling, a town at the confluence 
of the Yangtze and Wu rivers. 
China's first comprehensive study of the river said that about 
one-tenth of the 6,380 kilometer (3,964 miles) main stream is 
in critical condition. 
Experts who wrote the report said the river is "irreversibly" 
damaged. 
Pollution, damming and heavy traffic have brought rare Yangtze 
species such as the white-flag dolphin to the verge of 
extinction and common species such as the carp are gasping for 
survival, the report said. 
The Zambezi River is not yet subject to such overuse and 
pollution, and African Wildlife Foundation staffer Jimmiel 
Mandima is determined to environment newsure that the African
 River remains 
healthier. 
"Maintaining the Zambezi River's role as a functional lifeline 
from an economic and ecological standpoint is the overall 
vision for this initiative," said Jimmiel Mandima, director 
for the African Wildlife Foundation's Zambezi Heartland 
program. 
"Cross-site exchanges and lessons learned from other great 
rivers should come to bear and contribute to the formulation 
of an appropriate integrated water resources management 
strategy that fosters sustainable freshwater conservation," 
Mandima said. 
"Drought has been a regional challenge especially in 
agricultural production, where there is a tendency for a 
growing population to create greater pressure on river 
systems, including the Zambezi," Mandima told environment news
 from Kariba, 
Zimbabwe, a Zambezi River town. "Water taking is controlled to 
some extent, but this needs to be expanded," he said. 
A fisheries ecologist by profession, Mandima said, "We have 
been able to solicit the cooperation of different countries in 
a aquatic resources working group. These members join resource 
monitoring activities and with capacity building we expect 
these institutions to conduct monitoring of the river.
 Elephants drink at a natural waterhole on the Zambezi River.
 Wildife is able to get the water they need from the Zambezi, 
says Mandima. The whole Zambezi basin has the "big five" 
animals of Africa - lions, leopards, elephants, rhinos, and 
the African cape buffalo - as well as a good number of 
aquatics like hippos, crocodiles and rich fish resources, 
Mandima says. 
The Zambezi basin supports more than 250 species of fish such 
as the tigerfish and the great Vundu catfish. Hundreds of bird 
species inhabit the basin, including the snake eagle, African 
fish eagle and the Marabu stork. The Zambezi and its 
tributaries also provide habitat for zebras, monkeys, baboons, 
crocodiles, and monitor lizards. 
The world's largest elephant population, close to 200,000 
elepants strong, is found in Zambia, Zimbabwe and Botswana 
where they rely on the Zambezi as a major lifeline. 
Until recently the Zambezi River, with its tributaries, swamps 
and springs, has provided enough water for the elephant herds, 
but due to recurrent droughts in Zimbabwe, Mandima says 
wildlife authorities have had to supplement the river with 
artificial watering holes. 
Baby elephant in the Zambezi 
"There are intentions to do more of this in other countries to 
minimize congestions of elephants that can result in damage to 
other resources," he said. 
There are two main sources of hydroelectric power on the river 
- the Kariba Dam, which provides power to Zambia and Zimbabwe 
and the Cahora Bassa Dam in Mozambique which provides power to 
South Africa. There is also a smaller power station at 
Victoria Falls. 
Mandima says plans to build more dams are still on the drawing 
board, although the Southern Africa Power Pool recognizes a 
growing deficit in power as compared to development and 
industrialization planned for the Zambezi Basin. 
The government of Mozambique says it plans to build more dams 
to avert future flooding of the Zambezi River like the floods 
that devastated the country in February, affecting more than 
87,000 people. Despite the destruction, local non-governmental 
organizations have criticized the government for its dam 
plans, claiming the dams would displace thousands of people 
and flood fertile food producing areas. 
In its case study of the Kariba Dam in 2000, the World 
Commission on Dams found that the downstream impacts extend 
all the way to the Indian Ocean. 
One of the first large dams in Africa, the Kariba dam on the 
Zambezi River was built in 1959. 
The seasonal high and low floods do not occur as they did 
before Kariba, the Commission said. "The delta floodplain 
ecology has been negatively affected. Shrimp catches have 
decreased, floodplains have been invaded by upland vegetation 
because of the absence of annual flooding, mangrove are dying 
off because of poor flooding of coastal areas, productivity of 
artesianal fisheries in the delta area has decreased, and 
wildlife populations in the delta have been negatively 
impacted." 
Mandima says more dams would impact the flow regime of the 
Zambezi, but from the shared perspective anything that happens 
damming the Zambezi River requires the endorsement of all 
eight countries, it requires agreement at the regional 
economic secretariat level, to the extent that by the time any 
dam is funded, he said, the consequences will be well 
understood. 
The Zambezi River Basin is shown in white on this map of 
southern Africa. (Map courtesy Wikimedia, created from public 
domain maps at the University of Texas.)
"Floods on the Zambezi River tend to be long-lasting, and 
beneficial when they spread over large flood plains," says 
Reuter. "When we have these dams and flow alterations, 
productivity declines steeply. The Conservancy will work with 
the African Wildlife Foundation and the Zambezi River 
Authority and others to improve these outcomes." 
The African Wildlife Foundation's participation in the Great 
Rivers Partnership will provide technical and financial 
support to help river stakeholders obtain the latest 
scientific information on which to base decisions, says 
Reuter. 
"Jimmiel lacks good baseline information on the increase and 
decrease of species and impacts on the river," he said. "One 
of the things we felt is really important is that Great Rivers 
Partnership will work with the African Wildlife Foundation and 
local authorities to provide that baseline information." 
"We can share information among these river systems so we 
don't have to make the same mistakes." 
The Nature Conservancy's Great Rivers Partnership is online 
at: http://www.nature.org/wherewework/greatrivers/ 

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