OVERVIEW OF THE IMPACT OF MINING ON THE ... - IIED pubs

3.1 Introduction
The Zambezi River is recognized as one of the largest and most important rivers in southern Africa and its basin
comprises portions of eight SADC states (Angola, Botswana, Malawi, Mozambique, Namibia, Tanzania, Zambia
and Zimbabwe; Table 3.1; Figure 1.1). The basin is located between 8 ° and 20 ° South latitude and between
16.5 ° and 36 ° East longitude, with a total area of some 1,281,800 km 2 , comprising approximately 23 % of the
total area of the basin states. The area contributed to the basin by each state varies between 1.9 % (Namibia)
and 42.1 % (Zambia), with four of the eights states (Angola, Mozambique Zambia and Zimbabwe) contributing a
combined total of 83.9 % of the entire basin area (Table 3.1).
Table 3.1: Area statistics for the eight SADC states comprising the Zambezi basin. [Data obtained from Chenje
(2000) and Ashton & Ramasar (2001)].
Country
Total Area of
Country
(km 2 )
Country Area
in Basin
(km 2 )
lxxxii
Proportion of
Country Area
(%)
Proportion
of Basin Area
(%)
Angola 1,246,700 145,000 11.6 11.3
Botswana 600,370 34,000 5.7 2.7
Malawi 118,484 110,390 93.2 8.6
Mozambique 801,590 140,000 17.5 10.9
Namibia 825,418 24,000 2.9 1.9
Tanzania 945,087 37,000 3.9 2.9
Zambia 752,614 540,000 71.7 42.1
Zimbabwe 390,759 251,410 64.4 19.6
Totals: 5,680,843 1,281,800 22.6 100.0
The Zambezi River and its dense network of tributaries and associated ecosystems constitute one of southern
Africa’s most important natural resource systems. The basin is considered to be a regional centre of endemism
due to the extraordinary diversity of ecosystem components and the flora of the Zambezian unit is reported to
be one of the richest in Africa with over 6,000 species of flowering plants, as well as 650 species of birds and
over 200 species of mammals (Chenje, 2000). The basin also has some of the most important National Parks
in southern Africa, including Chobe in Botswana, Liwonde in Malawi, Gorongoza-Marromeu in Mozambique,
Kafue and Luangwa in Zambia and Hwange in Zimbabwe. In addition, several other protected areas and Game
Reserves are also located in the basin.
The Zambezi basin’s river systems provide most of the SADC region’s hydropower generation, support some of
the region’s poorest subsistence communities and represent a series of critical assets in terms of the region’s
tourism and recreational opportunities (Chenje, 2000).