The Barotse Floodplain, also known as the Bulozi Plain, Lyondo or the Zambezi Floodplain, is one of Africa's great

wetland A wetland is a distinct ecosystem that is flooded or saturated by water, either permanently (for years or decades) or seasonally (for weeks or months). Flooding results in oxygen-free (anoxic) processes prevailing, especially in the soils. The ...

s, on the

Zambezi River The Zambezi River (also spelled Zambeze and Zambesi) is the fourth-longest river in Africa, the longest east-flowing river in Africa and the largest flowing into the Indian Ocean from Africa. Its drainage basin covers , slightly less than hal ...

in the

Western Province Western Province or West Province may refer to: * Western Province, Cameroon *Western Province, Rwanda *Western Province (Kenya) *Western Province (Papua New Guinea) *Western Province (Solomon Islands) *Western Province, Sri Lanka *Western Provin ...

Zambia Zambia (), officially the Republic of Zambia, is a landlocked country at the crossroads of Central Africa, Central, Southern Africa, Southern and East Africa, although it is typically referred to as being in Southern Africa at its most cent ...

. It is a designated

Ramsar site A Ramsar site is a wetland site designated to be of international importance under the Ramsar Convention,8 ha (O) *** Permanent 8 ha (P) *** Seasonal Intermittent < 8 ha(Ts) **

floodplain A floodplain or flood plain or bottomlands is an area of land adjacent to a river which stretches from the banks of its channel to the base of the enclosing valley walls, and which experiences flooding during periods of high discharge.Goudi ...

as spawning the culture and way of life of the

Lozi people Lozi people, or Barotse, are a southern African ethnic group who speak Lozi or Silozi, a Sotho–Tswana language. The Lozi people consist of more than 46 different ethnic groups and are primarily situated between Namibia, Angola, Botswana, Zimbab ...

, "Rotse" being a variant of ''Lozi'', and "Ba" meaning "people". They became a powerful kingdom in

Central Central is an adjective usually referring to being in the center of some place or (mathematical) object. Central may also refer to: Directions and generalised locations * Central Africa, a region in the centre of Africa continent, also known as ...

Southern Africa Southern Africa is the southernmost subregion of the African continent, south of the Congo and Tanzania. The physical location is the large part of Africa to the south of the extensive Congo River basin. Southern Africa is home to a number of ...

under their king or

litunga The Litunga of Barotseland (now in Zambia) is the king of the Barotse people. The ''Litunga'' resides near the Zambezi River and the town of Mongu, at Lealui on the floodplain in the dry season, and on higher ground at Limulunga on the edge of the ...

Lewanika Lewanika (1842–1916) (also known as Lubosi, Lubosi Lewanika or Lewanika I) was the Lozi Litunga (King) of Barotseland from 1878 to 1916 (with a break in 1884-5). A detailed, although biased, description of King 'Lubossi' (the spelling used) can ...

, whose realm extended up to 300 km from the plain and was called

Barotseland Barotseland ( Lozi: Mubuso Bulozi) is a region between Namibia, Angola, Botswana, Zimbabwe including half of eastern and northern provinces of Zambia and the whole of Democratic Republic of Congo's Katanga Province. It is the homeland of the ...

Topography and area

The region is a flat

plateau In geology and physical geography, a plateau (; ; ), also called a high plain or a tableland, is an area of a highland consisting of flat terrain that is raised sharply above the surrounding area on at least one side. Often one or more sides ha ...

at an elevation of about 1000 m tilting very slightly to the south. The Zambezi and its

headwaters The headwaters of a river or stream is the farthest place in that river or stream from its estuary or downstream confluence with another river, as measured along the course of the river. It is also known as a river's source. Definition The ...

rise on the higher ground to the north, which enjoys good rainfall (1400 mm annually) in a

rainy season The rainy season is the time of year when most of a region's average annual rainfall occurs. Rainy Season may also refer to: * ''Rainy Season'' (short story), a 1989 short horror story by Stephen King * "Rainy Season", a 2018 song by Monni * ''T ...

from October to May. A flood moves down the river reaching a flat region, formed from

Kalahari The Kalahari Desert is a large semi-arid sandy savanna in Southern Africa extending for , covering much of Botswana, and parts of Namibia and South Africa. It is not to be confused with the Angolan, Namibian, and South African Namib coastal de ...

sands, about five hundred kilometres across. To the south around the

Ngonye Falls The Ngonye Falls or Sioma Falls is a waterfall on the Zambezi river in Western province Zambia, near the town of Sioma and a few hundred kilometres upstream from the Victoria Falls. Situated in the southern part of Barotseland, the falls are a da ...

harder rock is found at the surface and has resisted the river's tendency to cut a channel down into it, and so acts a bit like a dam. Behind it the floodplain has formed. Below the falls the river falls nearly twice as fast as it does on the plain, and flows more swiftly in a narrower valley less prone to flooding. The floodplain stretches from the Zambezi's

confluence In geography, a confluence (also: ''conflux'') occurs where two or more flowing bodies of water join to form a single channel. A confluence can occur in several configurations: at the point where a tributary joins a larger river (main stem); o ...

with the

Kabompo Kabompo is a town in north-western Zambia, lying on the Kabompo River with a population over 88,000 people. It is surrounded by teak forest and is home to a Roman Catholic mission. Its most significant activity is the production of honey. You als ...

and Lungwebungu Rivers in the north, to a point about 230 km south, above the Ngonye falls and south of

Senanga Senanga is the capital of the Senanga District, which is located in the Western Province of Zambia. The town is situated on the eastern bank of the Zambezi River, at the southern end of the Barotse Floodplain. It lies on the main road running para ...

. Along most of its length its width is over 30 km, reaching 50 km at the widest, just north of

Mongu Mongu is the capital of Western Province in Zambia and was the capital of the formerly-named province and historic state of Barotseland. Its population is 179,585 (2010 census), and it is also the headquarters of Mongu District. History Mongu ...

, principal town of the plain, situated at its edge. The main body of the plain covers about 5500 km²,"Barotse Floodplain, Zambia: local economic dependence on wetland resources."
''Case Studies in Wetland Valuation #2'': IUCN, May 2003. but the maximum flooded area is 10 750 km² when the floodplains of several tributaries are taken into account,
CIFA Occas.Pap., (7): 69 p. Published by Food and Agricultural Organization of the United Nations, Rome. such as the Luena Flats. The Barotse Floodplain is the second largest wetland in Zambia after the

Lake Bangweulu Bangweulu — 'where the water sky meets the sky' — is one of the world's great wetland systems, comprising Lake Bangweulu, the Bangweulu Swamps and the Bangweulu Flats or floodplain.Camerapix: ''Spectrum Guide to Zambia.'' Camerapix Internation ...

system, which differs in having a large permanent lake and swamps, and a much smaller area which dries out annually. The satellite photo was taken in April 2004 at the peak of the flood, Note that the northern part of the plain, near Lukulu, is less flooded, the land there varies a bit more in height and the water tends to keep to the many river channels.

Flood levels and timing

:''See also

Climate of Zambia The climate of Zambia in Central and Southern Africa is definitely tropical modified by altitude (elevation). In the Köppen climate classification, most of the country is classified as ''humid subtropical'' or ''tropical wet and dry'', with smal ...

The peak of the

flood A flood is an overflow of water ( or rarely other fluids) that submerges land that is usually dry. In the sense of "flowing water", the word may also be applied to the inflow of the tide. Floods are an area of study of the discipline hydrol ...

occurs on the floodplain about 3 months after the peak of the rainy season in January–February. The flood usually peaks in April, and recedes in May to July, when grasses quickly grow on the exposed plain. At the river's lowest water in November the floodplain still contains about 537 km² of

lagoon A lagoon is a shallow body of water separated from a larger body of water by a narrow landform, such as reefs, barrier islands, barrier peninsulas, or isthmuses. Lagoons are commonly divided into ''coastal lagoons'' (or ''barrier lagoons'') a ...

swamp A swamp is a forested wetland.Keddy, P.A. 2010. Wetland Ecology: Principles and Conservation (2nd edition). Cambridge University Press, Cambridge, UK. 497 p. Swamps are considered to be transition zones because both land and water play a role in ...

s and channels. The flood leaves behind a fertile grey to black soil overlaying the Kalahari sands, enriched by

silt Silt is granular material of a size between sand and clay and composed mostly of broken grains of quartz. Silt may occur as a soil (often mixed with sand or clay) or as sediment mixed in suspension with water. Silt usually has a floury feel when ...

deposited by the flood as well as

humus In classical soil science, humus is the dark organic matter in soil that is formed by the decomposition of plant and animal matter. It is a kind of soil organic matter. It is rich in nutrients and retains moisture in the soil. Humus is the Lati ...

from vegetation killed by the initial flood, and from decaying aquatic plants left to dry out in the mud. It provides a good soil, but in the late dry season it bakes hard in the heat of the sun. As the floods recede, water is left behind in lagoons, swamps, and

oxbow lake An oxbow lake is a U-shaped lake or pool that forms when a wide meander of a river is cut off, creating a free-standing body of water. In South Texas, oxbows left by the Rio Grande are called '' resacas''. In Australia, oxbow lakes are call ...

Natural environment

The floodplain is in the

Zambezian flooded grasslands The Zambezian flooded grasslands is an ecoregion of southern and eastern Africa that is rich in wildlife. Setting The Zambezian flooded grasslands can be found on seasonally- or permanently-flooded lowlands in the basin of the Zambezi and neighb ...

ecoregion An ecoregion (ecological region) or ecozone (ecological zone) is an ecologically and geographically defined area that is smaller than a bioregion, which in turn is smaller than a biogeographic realm. Ecoregions cover relatively large areas of l ...

, and is bordered by slightly higher sandy ground on which grow dry grasslands (

Western Zambezian grasslands The Western Zambezian grasslands is a tropical grassland ecoregion of eastern Zambia and adjacent parts of Angola. It is situated in two sections, to the north and south of the Barotse Floodplain. The region supports herds of ungulates, including ...

) with woodland savanna (

Zambezian Baikiaea woodlands The Zambezian ''Baikiaea'' woodlands is an ecoregion in Africa. It includes dry deciduous forest and woodland, thicket, and grassland, dominated by the tree ''Baikiaea plurijuga''. The ecoregion has a semi-arid climate, and is a transition between ...

) to the east and south, and patches of evergreen forest ( Cryptosepalum dry forests) in the north and east. The flood provides

aquatic habitat Marine biology is the scientific study of the biology of marine life, organisms in the sea. Given that in biology many phyla, families and genera have some species that live in the sea and others that live on land, marine biology classifies s ...

s for fish such as

tigerfish Tigerfish can refer to fish from various families, and derives from official and colloquial associations of these with the tiger (''Panthera tigris''). However, the primary species designated by the name "tigerfish" are African and belong to the ...

and

bream Bream ( ) are species of freshwater and marine fish belonging to a variety of genera including '' Abramis'' (e.g., ''A. brama'', the common bream), '' Acanthopagrus'', ''Argyrops'', '' Blicca'', '' Brama'', '' Chilotilapia'', ''Etelis'', '' L ...

crocodiles Crocodiles (family Crocodylidae) or true crocodiles are large semiaquatic reptiles that live throughout the tropics in Africa, Asia, the Americas and Australia. The term crocodile is sometimes used even more loosely to include all extant memb ...

hippopotamus The hippopotamus ( ; : hippopotamuses or hippopotami; ''Hippopotamus amphibius''), also called the hippo, common hippopotamus, or river hippopotamus, is a large semiaquatic mammal native to sub-Saharan Africa. It is one of only two extan ...

, waterbirds, fish-eating birds, and

lechwe The lechwe, red lechwe, or southern lechwe (''Kobus leche'') is an antelope found in wetlands of south-central Africa. Range The lechwe is native to Botswana, Zambia, southeastern Democratic Republic of the Congo, northeastern Namibia, and eas ...

, the wading

antelope The term antelope is used to refer to many species of even-toed ruminant that are indigenous to various regions in Africa and Eurasia. Antelope comprise a wastebasket taxon defined as any of numerous Old World grazing and browsing hoofed mammals ...

. After the flood, the plain is a habitat for grazing animals such as

wildebeest Wildebeest ( , , ), also called gnu ( or ), are antelopes of the genus ''Connochaetes'' and native to Eastern and Southern Africa. They belong to the family Bovidae, which includes true antelopes, cattle, goats, sheep, and other even-to ...

zebra Zebras (, ) (subgenus ''Hippotigris'') are African equines with distinctive black-and-white striped coats. There are three living species: the Grévy's zebra (''Equus grevyi''), plains zebra (''E. quagga''), and the mountain zebra (''E. zeb ...

tsessebe The common tsessebe or sassaby (''Damaliscus lunatus lunatus'') is the southern, nominate subspecies of '' Damaliscus lunatus'', although some authorities have recognised it as an independent species. It is most closely related to the Bangweulu ...

and small antelope such

oribi The oribi (; ''Ourebia ourebi'') is a small antelope found in eastern, southern and western Africa. The sole member of its genus, it was described by the German zoologist Eberhard August Wilhelm von Zimmermann in 1783. While this is the only ...

and steenbok, and their predators. These herbivores have been displaced in most areas by the cattle grazed by the Lozi, but they have provided a large game reserve on the dry grassland to the west, the

Liuwa Plain National Park Liuwa Plain National Park is a national park in Zambia's Western Province. "Liuwa" means "plain" in the local Liuwa language, a dialect of Lozi language, and the plains originally served as a hunting ground for Lubosi Lewanika, the Litunga (ki ...

, once the Litunga's hunting grounds, established as a game reserve by

in the 19th century. In addition the entire western of the Zambezi within the country is a Game Management Area.

Human ecology of the plain

About 250,000 people live on the plain with a similar number of cattle, migrating to grasslands at the edge of the floodplain when the flood arrives. The floodplain is one of the most productive areas for raising cattle in the country. The Lozi also catch fish, eating about five times as much as the national average. At the height of the flood they use

fish traps A fish trap is a trap used for fishing. Fish traps include fishing weirs, lobster traps, and some fishing nets such as fyke nets. Traps are culturally almost universal and seem to have been independently invented many times. There are two main ...

and spears for fishing, and they use

gill net Gillnetting is a fishing method that uses gillnets: vertical panels of netting that hang from a line with regularly spaced floaters that hold the line on the surface of the water. The floats are sometimes called "corks" and the line with corks is ...

s in the lagoons left behind by the falling flood. Fish

spawn Spawn or spawning may refer to: * Spawn (biology), the eggs and sperm of aquatic animals Arts, entertainment, and media * Spawn (character), a fictional character in the comic series of the same name and in the associated franchise ** '' Spawn: ...

just before the flood, the first floodwaters are naturally

hypoxic Hypoxia means a lower than normal level of oxygen, and may refer to: Reduced or insufficient oxygen * Hypoxia (environmental), abnormally low oxygen content of the specific environment * Hypoxia (medical), abnormally low level of oxygen in the t ...

(low in oxygen) which kills most fish, while eggs survive. The Lozi cultivate crops on the floodplain such as

maize Maize ( ; ''Zea mays'' subsp. ''mays'', from es, maíz after tnq, mahiz), also known as corn (North American and Australian English), is a cereal grain first domesticated by indigenous peoples in southern Mexico about 10,000 years ago. Th ...

rice Rice is the seed of the grass species ''Oryza sativa'' (Asian rice) or less commonly ''Oryza glaberrima ''Oryza glaberrima'', commonly known as African rice, is one of the two domesticated rice species. It was first domesticated and grown i ...

sweet potato The sweet potato or sweetpotato (''Ipomoea batatas'') is a dicotyledonous plant that belongs to the Convolvulus, bindweed or morning glory family (biology), family, Convolvulaceae. Its large, starchy, sweet-tasting tuberous roots are used as a r ...

, and

sugar cane Sugarcane or sugar cane is a species of (often hybrid) tall, perennial grass (in the genus ''Saccharum'', tribe Andropogoneae) that is used for sugar production. The plants are 2–6 m (6–20 ft) tall with stout, jointed, fibrous stalks t ...

. November to January are lean months. Stored produce from the previous growing season is almost used up and in any case would need to be transported during the migration, while the new season's crops and grasses are not yet productive, and at the same time fishing stops for the spawning season. Hunting and trapping animals, which might have filled the gap, is no longer available to most people, and trapping waterbirds is one of the few alternatives to buying flour. The floodplain determines and dominates the way of life, economy, society and culture of the Lozi, who are skilled boat-builders, paddlers and swimmers. The annual migration with the flood is celebrated in the

Kuomboka Kuomboka is a word in the Lozi language; it literally means ‘to get out of water’. In today's Zambia it is applied to a traditional ceremony that takes place at the end of the rain season, when the upper Zambezi River floods the plains of th ...

ceremony held at Mongu, capital of Barotseland and its successor, the Western Province. In the occasional very wet year such as 2005, lives and property are lost in floods on the Barotse Plain. More often, however, it is a very good example of the principle that natural annual flooding by rivers is valuable and productive for wildlife and human populations, while damming rivers to control floods, as has happened with the

Kafue Flats The Kafue Flats (locally called Butwa) are a vast area of swamp, open lagoon and seasonally inundated flood-plain on the Kafue River in the Southern, Central and Lusaka provinces of Zambia. They are a shallow flood plain 240 km long and a ...

, is potentially damaging to the environment.

Development

Development on the plain has been restricted until now to— * the

canal Canals or artificial waterways are waterways or engineered channels built for drainage management (e.g. flood control and irrigation) or for conveyancing water transport vehicles (e.g. water taxi). They carry free, calm surface flow un ...

dug in

colonial times The ''Colonial Times'' was a newspaper in what is now the Australian state of Tasmania. It was established as the ''Colonial Times, and Tasmanian Advertiser'' in 1825 in Hobart, Van Diemen's Land Van Diemen's Land was the colon ...

to connect a small harbour at Mongu to the Zambezi's channel in the dry season *small villages and compounds constructed on mounds, such as Lealui *a few dry season tracks * pontoon ferries at Sandaula, Libonda and Lukulu * some intensive rice and sugarcane plantations. Tight control over access to the floodplain by the Litunga and the homogeneity of the indigenous people have slowed commercial development by outsiders.

Barotse Floodplain causeway

A new project, the Mongu-Kalabo road, will have more far-reaching consequences. Around 2002 construction started of a 46-kilometre

causeway A causeway is a track, road or railway on the upper point of an embankment across "a low, or wet place, or piece of water". It can be constructed of earth, masonry, wood, or concrete. One of the earliest known wooden causeways is the Sweet Tra ...

across the centre of the floodplain to take a paved highway from

Kalabo Kalabo is an urban centre in Kalabo District, in the Western Province of Zambia. The town is the headquarters of the district with the same name. Location The town is located on the plains west of the Zambezi River and the Barotse Floodplain, ...

, via the ferry across the main river channel at Sandaula, which would then be replaced by a 500-metre bridge. It is treated as an extension of the Lusaka-Mongu Road from

Lusaka Lusaka (; ) is the Capital city, capital and largest city of Zambia. It is one of the fastest-developing cities in southern Africa. Lusaka is in the southern part of the central plateau at an elevation of about . , the city's population was ab ...

. Originally intended to be completed in 2006, it has been delayed by the difficulty of building on the floodplain. There is no rock in the region, and the causeway has been built from sand and gravel scooped out from shallow depressions next to it. Higher than usual floods washed away large sections. The contractor was a

Kuwait Kuwait (; ar, الكويت ', or ), officially the State of Kuwait ( ar, دولة الكويت '), is a country in Western Asia. It is situated in the northern edge of Eastern Arabia at the tip of the Persian Gulf, bordering Iraq to the nort ...

-based company which acknowledged that conditions were difficult. The ''

Times of Zambia The ''Times of Zambia'' is a national daily newspaper published in Zambia and headquartered in Ndola. During the colonial period the newspaper was known firstly as ''The Copperbelt Times'' and then ''The Northern News'' It was a twice-weekly new ...

'' reported that the company underestimated the floodplain environment, and abandoned the contract. Subsequent modifications have been made to raise the road height and to increase the number and size of culverts, and this in turn led to funding problems. The road has been completed in 2016. A Chinese contractor, the

Aviation Industry Corporation of China Aviation includes the activities surrounding mechanical flight and the aircraft industry. ''Aircraft'' includes fixed-wing and rotary-wing types, morphable wings, wing-less lifting bodies, as well as lighter-than-air craft such as hot air ...

(AVIC International), finished the 286.9 million US dollars project. The road stretches 34 Kilometres in the Baroste plains with 26 bridges across it. No information is available on the impact the structure will have on flood flow patterns, river channels,

deposition, or on fish and wildlife movements.Chris McIntyre (2004). ''Zambia: The Bradt Travel Guide'' online at www.zambia-travel-guide.com.
Retrieved 21 November 2007.

References

:Map references * "Zambia 1:1,500,000 2nd Edition", ''Terracarta/International Travel Maps'', Vancouver, 2000.
''MSN Encarta World Atlas''
online retrieved 19 November 2007. {{coord, 15, 2, S, 22, 53, E, display=title Flooded grasslands and savannas Ecoregions of Africa Barotseland Geography of Western Province, Zambia Wetlands of Zambia Geography of Zambia Ramsar sites in Zambia Zambezi River Zambezian flooded grasslands Floodplains of Africa