Okavango Delta and Murchison Falls

Syllabus: General Studies Paper 3

Oil companies are threatening two of Africa’s most iconic biodiversity hotspots in an effort to drill for oil that will ultimately make its way to a global elite and won’t benefit Africans.

• ReconAfrica, a Canadian company, has been drilling for oil in the Kavango Zambezi Transfrontier Nature Conservation Area (KAZA).
• KAZA is the second-largest nature and landscape conservation area in the world. It is spread across the borders of Angola, Botswana, Namibia, Zambia and Zimbabwe.
• More than 200,000 people live in the area that falls under ReconAfrica’s exploration licenses.

The Okavango delta

• The Okavango delta, a UNESCO World Heritage Site in southern Africa.
• The delta is also the homeland of indigenous people like the San.
• The Okavango delta is formed by the Okavango river, which originates in the highlands of Angola. 
• It flows into the Kalahari desert of southern Africa and spreads out, forming what is called a ‘fan’.
• The Okavango’s waters make the otherwise dry area a waterlogged wetland that provides vital water resources for animals, plants and over one million people.
• The delta is home to Africa’s Big Five wildlife species: Savanna elephants, Cape buffaloes, rhinos, lions and leopards. 
• There are also giraffes, zebras, antelopes, pangolins, 400 bird species and over 1,000 plant species.

Threats to Okavango delta:

• Oil spill could pollute the Okavango River and the Okavango delta.
• Noise, infrastructure construction, toxic chemicals

Murchison Falls

• Murchison Falls became one of Uganda’s first national parks in 1952
• At Murchison Falls, the Nile squeezes through an 8m wide gorge.
• The northern section of the park contains savanna and Borassus palms, acacia trees, and riverine woodland. 
• The south is dominated by woodland and forest patches
• Murchison Falls National Park lies at the northern end of the Albertine Rift Valley, where the sweeping Bunyoro escarpment tumbles into vast, palm-dotted savanna. 
• First gazetted as a game reserve in 1926, it is Uganda’s largest and oldest conservation area.
• The park is bisected by the Victoria Nile, which plunges 45m over the remnant rift valley wall, creating the dramatic Murchison Falls, the centerpiece of the park and the final event in an 80km stretch of rapids. 
• The mighty cascade drains the last of the river’s energy, transforming it into a broad, placid stream that flows quietly across the rift valley floor into Lake Albert. 
• This stretch of river provides one of Uganda’s most remarkable wildlife spectacles.
•  Regular visitors to the riverbanks include elephants, giraffes, and buffaloes; while hippos, Nile crocodiles, and aquatic birds are permanent residents.
• Murchison Falls is notably blessed with over 144 mammals,556 bird species,51 reptiles, and 51 Amphibians. 
• With a great number of  African elephants, Murchison falls is impressive all year round. 

Kavango Zambezi Transfrontier Nature Conservation Area (KAZA)

• KAZA is the second-largest nature and landscape conservation area in the world.
• It is spread across the borders of Angola, Botswana, Namibia, Zambia and Zimbabwe.
• The KAZA TFCA is enormous, larger than Germany and Austria combined and nearly twice as large as the United Kingdom. 
• Jewels in the crown of this spectacular array of protected areas are the 15,000 km2 Okavango Delta, an explosion of green and blue in parched landscape – the world’s largest inland delta, and the awe inspiring tumbling cataracts of the Victoria Falls, a World Heritage Site and one of the seven natural wonders of the world.