adminThe Atlas uses satellite images, high resolution photographs, illustrative text and graphics to present various socio-economic issues in the Zambezi basin, and provides striking evidence that can be used as a basis for intervention at local, national, regional and basin levels.
Stretching across part of eight Sadc Member States — Angola, Botswana, Namibia, Malawi, Mozambique, the United Republic of Tanzania, Zambia and Zimbabwe — the basin is a source of livelihood for many of the people in those countries.
They depend on the Zambezi basin for socio-economic activities ranging from agriculture and forestry, mining, to conservation and tourism.
However, human pressure on natural resources coupled with climate change has resulted in inevitable impact in the basin, affecting socio-economic development.
Satellite images show that the basin has undergone major environmental changes in the past 20 years including land degradation, loss of forests, expansion of urban and mining areas as well as the spread of alien plant species.
According to the Atlas, the population in the basin is increasing, and is expected to reach 51 million by 2025.
The Atlas also highlights efforts to protect the environment, showing that six Transfrontier Conservation Areas (TFCAs) have been established in the basin to promote sustainable development, including the Kavango-Zambezi TFCA that spans 287,000 square kilometres covering Angola, Botswana, Namibia, Zambia and Zimbabwe.
The Atlas is a collaborative initiative with the objective of providing evidence to inform people about the changing environment in the Zambezi basin, to enable appropriate action.
The Zambezi River Basin Atlas of the Changing Environment was produced for the Sadc Water Division, the Interim Secretariat of the Zambezi Watercourse Commission (ZAMCOM), and Zambezi River Basin stakeholders.
It was produced by the Southern African Research and Documentation Centre (SARDC) through its environment institute, the I. Musokotwane Environment Resource Centre for Southern Africa (IMERCSA) and GRID-Arendal, both collaborating centres of the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP). — sardc.net
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