Zambezi Heartland Watershed Assessment A Report by Craig Busskohl (U.S. Forest Service), Jimmiel Mandima (African Wildlife Foundation), Michael McNamara (U.S. Forest Service) and Patience Zisadza (African Wildlife Foundation Intern). © Craig Busskohl The African Wildlife Foundation, together with the people of Africa, works to ensure the wildlife and wild lands of Africa will endure forever. ACKNOWLEDGMENTS: AWF acknowledges the technical assistance provided by the U.S. Forest Service to make this initiative a success. AWF also wishes to thank the stakeholder institutions, organizations and local communities in Zimbabwe, Mozambique and Zambia (ZIMOZA) for their input and participation during the consultation process of this assessment. The financial support AWF received from the Netherlands Ministry of Foreign Affairs/ Directorate General for International Cooperation (DGIS) is gratefully acknowledged. Finally, the authors wish to recognize the professional editorial inputs from the AWF Communications team led by Elodie Sampéré. Zambezi Heartland Watershed Assessment Aerial Survey of Elephants and Other Large Herbivores in the Zambezi Heartland: 2003 Table of Contents 1. Introduction page 4 Preliminary Assessment page 4 Project Objective page 4 Expected Outputs page 4 Zambezi Heartland Site Description page 5 2. Key Issues, Concerns, and Questions page 6 2.1 Overview page 6 2.2 Key Issues page 6 2.2.1 Impact of Farming Along Seasonally Flowing Channels page 7 2.2.2 Impact of Farming Along Perennially Flowing Channels page 7 2.2.3 Future Development of Farming page 7 2.2.4 Settlement Rates page 8 2.2.5 Streambanks Developments page 8 2.2.7 Fisheries Resources Below Kariba Dam page 8 2.2.8 Riparian Areas Below Kariba Dam page 8 2.2.9 River Geomorphology Below Kariba Dam page 8 2.2.10 Luangwa River Sediment page 8 2.2.11 Luangwa River Fisheries page 9 2.2.12 Soil and Water Conservation page 9 2.2.13 Fire page 9 2.2.14 Water Quality page 9 2.2.15 Groundwater page 9 2.2.16 Springs, Ponds and Vernal Pools page 9 2.2.17 Shifting Agriculture page 9 2.2.18 Species and Habitats page 10 3. Characterization, Existing Condition and Discussion page 11 3.1 Human Uses page 11 3.2 Species and Habitats page 12 3.3 Vegetation Cover page 12 3.4 Erosion Processes page 13 3.5 Geology page 13 3.6 Soils page 14 3.7 Hydrology page 15 Surface Water Hydrology page 15 Human Impacts to Stream Channels page 16 Wetlands, Springs and Ponds page 16 Impacts of Kariba Dam page 17 Groundwater Resources page 19 Metereology page 19 4. References Conditions page 19 5. Summary and Recommendations page 20 6. References page 22 3 Zambezi Heartland Watershed Assessment 1. Introduction project will be to gain increased understanding of the problems affecting these watersheds and The African Wildlife Foundation (AWF) and to provide data, information, and analyses on U.S. Forest Service (USFS) International watershed conditions of the Zambezi landscape. Programs initiated a partnership to protect forest, Consequently, a decision was made to focus soil and water resources in critically important resources on one site, the Zambezi Heartland, a African landscapes. USFS is providing technical three-country trans-boundary landscape in expertise to better understand the watersheds Southern Africa. in selected large-scale conservation landscapes in Africa, AWF’s African Heartlands. African Project Objective Heartlands are large African landscapes of exceptional wildlife and natural value where Through AWF’s Heartland Conservation AWF works with a variety of partners, including Planning (HCP) process for the Zambezi local communities, governments and other Heartland, hydrological systems such as the resource users to conserve wild species, Zambezi River and its tributaries (inclusive of ecological communities and natural processes. the artificial reservoirs therein) were identified Many of the conservation targets that AWF has as important conservation targets in this identified are closely linked to forest and landscape. The main objective of this project watershed processes. USFS and AWF recognize will be to conduct a detailed assessment of these the benefit of working to address watershed hydrological systems in order to determine the degradation in these globally significant African conditions of these catchments and to landscapes. characterize threats and subsequent strategies to abate threats to these systems. There currently is a lack of systematically and consistently Preliminary Assessment collected basic information on hydrologic In July 2003, USFS Africa Program made a components of these systems such as preliminary visit to Zambezi Conservation precipitation, stream flow regime, water Center and met with AWF staff responsible for abstractions, cover conditions, and channel/ the Kazungula and Zambezi Heartlands. The riparian condition. Another area that needed purpose for the trip was to discuss possible expert to be better understood is the relationship requirements in view of the USFS’s experience between local land use regimes and hydrological working with AWF on Watershed Assessments conditions. in East Africa and to determine if the USFS could provide assistance to AWF in addressing those Expected Outputs issues. The meeting resulted in AWF identifying It is envisaged that the information collected the need for the following assessments to inform through this process will be used by all parties adaptive conservation intervention strategies in involved in the project to assist in the following: the Zambezi landscape: § Land use planning and implementation; § The water balance of the key watersheds § Information to users to adopt in Zambezi Heartland are not well appropriate agricultural methods; understood or documented. § Enforcement of water laws where § The relationships between various land necessary; use practices and impacts on the water § Educational campaign targeting balance do not appear to be well upstream users; and understood. § Information to affect changes in policy The scientific basis for understanding land use and institutional mechanisms for water effect on the water balance and water quality users rights. does exist, through work of Zambezi River Authority on a long stretch of the Zambezi The assessment is expected to result in the River. As such, a major component of this following: 4 Zambezi Heartland Watershed Assessment § Assemblage of existing data and analyses protected land from Kariba Dam almost to the in order to address key questions related Mozambique Border including areas such as to the river; review of quality control Mana Pools National Park which is a World and quality assurance of water data. Heritage Site, large public safari areas leased to § Detailed assessment of the Luangwa and the private sector as hunting and tourism upper reaches of Cahora Bassa reservoir; concessions (the Charara, Hurungwe, Chewore, characterize existing watershed Dande and Doma Safari Areas), and vast conditions of the river including communal lands on the periphery of these attributes such as precipitation, stream- protected wildlife areas (Hurungwe, Mkwichi flow, water abstractions, cover and Guruve Communal Lands). The National conditions, and channel characteristics. Park and Safari Areas are state lands under the § Documentation of current river jurisdiction of the National Parks and Wildlife condition compared to a reference Management Authority (NPWLMA) (formerly condition that can provide a basis for the Department of National Parks and Wildlife describing desired future condition. Management). § Understanding and documentation of water balance of these watersheds In Zambia the Lower Zambezi National Park is including defining watershed boundaries a protected wildlife area extending across Lusaka or contributing areas. and Luangwa Districts and administered by the § Quantification and documentation of Zambia Wildlife Authority (ZAWA) and is abstraction flow. flanked by the Chiawa GMA in the south and § Further assessment of the relationships the Rufunsa GMA in the north. The GMAs have between various land-use practices and some measure of wildlife protection as buffer impacts on the river system. zones between parks and open communal areas § Definition of cover type/land-use and they are under the jurisdiction of local characteristics of the watershed. Zambezi Heartland Site Description The Zambezi Heartland is a three country, trans- boundary landscape that includes a range of extremely biodiverse landholdings along the middle stretch of the Zambezi River. Geographically, it covers an area of approximately 47,000 km2, consisting of 6,495 km2 National Parks, 4,885 km2 Game Management Areas (GMAs), 11,244 km2 Safari Areas, and the rest are open communal areas. In Zimbabwe much of this area is 5 Zambezi Heartland Watershed Assessment chieftaincies but ZAWA has a mandate over the Institutions and researchers and other wildlife resources. institutions have gathered and analyzed large amounts of primary data in order to formulate The core open areas (communal) in the prescriptions and in some cases implementation Heartland are on the border between Zambia, has already commenced. Prime examples of this Mozambique and Zimbabwe, covering the are the Community Based Natural Resources Luangwa district in Zambia, Zumbo and Mague Management (CBNRM) initiatives in the districts in western Tete Province Mozambique, Zambezi Heartland in which concepts of and Lower Guruve district in mid-Zambezi judicious land use planning are followed. These Valley,