The Kafue Flats (locally called Butwa) are a vast area of swamp, open lagoon and seasonally inundated flood-plain on the

Kafue River The Kafue River is the longest river lying wholly within Zambia at about long. Its water is used for irrigation and for hydroelectric power. It is the largest tributary of the Zambezi, and of Zambia's principal rivers, it is the most centra ...

in the Southern, Central and Lusaka provinces of

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

. They are a shallow flood plain 240 km long and about 50 km wide,Google Earth
accessed 1 September 2014. flooded to a depth of less than a meter in the rainy season (deeper in some lagoons and permanently swampy areas), and drying out to a clayey black soil in the dry season.

Geography

The Kafue Flats stretch for approximately 240 km east to west along the

from below the Itezhi-Tezhi gap, site of the

Itezhi-Tezhi Dam The Itezhi-Tezhi Dam on the Kafue River in west-central Zambia was built between 1974 and 1977 at the Itezhi-Tezhi Gap, in a range of hills through which the river had eroded a narrow valley, leading to the broad expanse of the wetlands known as t ...

, to Kafue town and the start of the Kafue Gorge. At their widest point they are 50 km wide and their total area is around 6,500 sq km. The elevation of the Kafue river falls 40 m along the flats from 1030 m at Itezhi-Tezhi to 990 m at Kafue town. The town of

Mazabuka Mazabuka is a town in the Southern Province of Zambia. It is the capital of Mazabuka District, one of the thirteen administrative units in the Southern Province. The name Mazabuka originates from a Tonga local language word "kuzabuka" which me ...

and the Nakambala sugar estate lie on the south east edge and the small town of

Namwala Namwala is a town and the seat of Namwala District in Southern Province of Zambia. It is on the M11 Road. Namwala town has a population of over 5,000 people. It lies on the southern bank of the Kafue River at 996 metres above sea level. It houses ...

is situated at the south west edge of the flats. Kafue Flats in flood and the Itezhi-Tezhi dam 14 February 2008

The Kafue Flats fall within parts of the

Itezhi-Tezhi Itezhi-Tezhi is a small town in the Southern Province of Zambia. It is the seat of the Itezhi-Tezhi District. It lies west of the town of Namwala on the border of the Kafue National Park. On 6 February 2012, President Michael Sata issued a dir ...

and

Mumbwa Mumbwa is a town in the Central Province of Zambia, lying on the M9 Road. Its district covers the western part of the Central Province bordering Kaoma and Western Province to the west, Namwala and Southern Province to the south, Lusaka and Lus ...

Districts in Central Province,

Kafue District Kafue District is a district of Zambia, located in Lusaka Province. The capital lies at Kafue Kafue is a town in the Lusaka Province of Zambia and it lies on the north bank of the Kafue River, after which it is named. It is the southern gatew ...

Lusaka Province Lusaka Province is one of the ten provinces of Zambia. Its capital is Lusaka, which is also the national capital. It is the smallest province in Zambia, with an area of 21,896 km2. Lusaka is also Zambia's most populated and most densely ...

and

Monze Monze is a small town (population 30,000) in the Southern Province of Zambia and is about 180 km south-west of Lusaka. It is the administrative centre of Monze District.Namwala Namwala is a town and the seat of Namwala District in Southern Province of Zambia. It is on the M11 Road. Namwala town has a population of over 5,000 people. It lies on the southern bank of the Kafue River at 996 metres above sea level. It houses ...

and

districts in Southern Province.

People

The

Batwa Trans World Airlines (TWA) was a major American airline which operated from 1930 until 2001. It was formed as Transcontinental & Western Air to operate a route from New York City to Los Angeles via St. Louis, Kansas City, and other stops, with F ...

(or

Twa Trans World Airlines (TWA) was a major American airline which operated from 1930 until 2001. It was formed as Transcontinental & Western Air to operate a route from New York City to Los Angeles via St. Louis, Kansas City, and other stops, with ...

) are thought to have been the first inhabitants of the Kafue Flats area but are now a small minority population settled on higher ground around the Kafue river channel where they support themselves through fishing. The

are generally considered to be the surviving remnants of nomadic Bushmen who inhabited Zambia long before the

Bantu peoples The Bantu peoples, or Bantu, are an ethnolinguistic grouping of approximately 400 distinct ethnic groups who speak Bantu languages. They are native to 24 countries spread over a vast area from Central Africa to Southeast Africa and into Souther ...

began to arrive from the Congo Basin to the north. The area is now dominated by Ila and Balundwe (or Lundwe, or Plateau

Tonga Tonga (, ; ), officially the Kingdom of Tonga ( to, Puleʻanga Fakatuʻi ʻo Tonga), is a Polynesian country and archipelago. The country has 171 islands – of which 45 are inhabited. Its total surface area is about , scattered over in ...

) farmers and cattle herders, in at least 21 chieftaincies, who came to the area between 200 and 300 years ago. They depended on farming, fishing, cattle rearing and wildlife, often moving between a fixed settlement in the woodlands and cattle camps in the flats after the floods have receded. In addition to the settled community there is also a seasonal influx of fishing communities from other parts of the country. These immigrants are mostly Bemba from the north of the country and the

Copperbelt The Copperbelt () is a natural region in Central Africa which sits on the border region between northern Zambia and the southern Democratic Republic of Congo. It is known for copper mining. Traditionally, the term ''Copperbelt'' includes the ...

area, and Lozi from 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 ...

. The population has increased significantly since the 1970s and by 2004 there were at least 11 major permanent fishing camps on the flats each of which was occupied by at least 500 fishermen. In addition there were a large number of temporary fishing camps established during the dry season. In some cases the Batwa are marginalised from other ethnic groups, particularly the Bemba and the Lozi fishermen who consider them inferior. By contrast the Ila are held in high regard by other groups due to their history of being one of the richest cattle-owning groups in the region, although fishing and hunting plays an equally significant role in their culture.

Hydrology and dams

The hydrology of the

and Kafue Flats have been significantly altered by the construction in the 1970s of two dams, firstly at

Kafue Gorge Kafue is a town in the Lusaka Province of Zambia and it lies on the north bank of the Kafue River, after which it is named. It is the southern gateway to the central Zambian plateau on which Lusaka and the mining towns of Kabwe and the Copper ...

downstream of the flats and then at

upstream of the flats as parts of a scheme to generate hydroelectric power. The

Kafue Gorge Dam Kafue is a town in the Lusaka Province of Zambia and it lies on the north bank of the Kafue River, after which it is named. It is the southern gateway to the central Zambian plateau on which Lusaka and the mining towns of Kabwe and the Copperb ...

, with 600MW of hydroelectric power generation, was completed in 1972 creating a reservoir downstream of the Kafue Flats with a storage capacity of 785 million m³. To enable more power generation (up to 900 MW) another 65m high dam at Itezhi-Tezhi, upstream of the Kafue Flats, was completed in 1976. The reservoir stores 5,700 million m³ of water and covers a 370 sq km area of the Kafue River and its tributary the Musa River. The

stores water during the wet season which is then released for the turbines at the

and power station during the dry season. Water takes approximately eight weeks to travel between Itezhi-tezhi and Kafue Gorge. Prior to construction of the dam at Itezhi-Tezhi, flooding of the Kafue Flats was the result of high flows within the Kafue River beginning to rise following the onset of the rains in November to December and with the peak flood occurring sometime between April and May. The flats would subsequently slowly drain with very little surface water remaining by October to November the following year. Releases from Itezhi-Tezhi dam are very different to the historical flows experienced within the Kafue River with the smooth annual rise and fall in discharge being replaced by sudden increases as large volumes of water are released from the dam. A substantial discharge is now maintained throughout the dry season whereas naturally this period is associated with lower river flows. Although maximum floods may have been reduced as a result of the dam, the almost year-round releases means that parts of the flats, for instance Chunga Lagoon, now remain permanently flooded. In addition, the Kafue Gorge Dam has created a large reservoir which back up into the eastern end of the flats leading to areas of permanent inundation.

Protected areas

The Kafue Flats include two

national parks A national park is a natural park in use for conservation purposes, created and protected by national governments. Often it is a reserve of natural, semi-natural, or developed land that a sovereign state declares or owns. Although individua ...

( IUCN Category II protected areas), the Lochinvar and

Blue Lagoon National Park Blue Lagoon National Park is a small wildlife haven in the northern part of the Kafue Flats in Zambia's Central Province. It covers about 500 km² and is very accessible, being about 100 km west of Lusaka (120 km by road). Ecology ...

s. Both parks were established in the 1970s on land formerly used for cattle ranching. The 428 sq km Lochinvar National Park, famous for large numbers of Kafue lechwe, sits south of the Kafue river and is accessible from the Lusaka- Livingstone road at

Monze Monze is a small town (population 30,000) in the Southern Province of Zambia and is about 180 km south-west of Lusaka. It is the administrative centre of Monze District.Lusaka-

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 ...

road west of Lusaka. The 500 sq km park is home to a large abundance and variety of waterbirds as well as

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 ...

sitatunga The sitatunga or marshbuck (''Tragelaphus spekii'') is a swamp-dwelling antelope found throughout central Africa, centering on the Democratic Republic of the Congo, the Republic of the Congo, Cameroon, parts of Southern Sudan, Equatorial Guinea ...

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. zebr ...

and African buffalo. 6,000 sq km of the Kafue Flats outside of the two national parks are covered by the Kafue Flats Game Management Area (GMA)( IUCN Category VI protected area). The GMA affords protection to the environment and wildlife whilst still allowing for the sustainable use of natural resources. The Kafue Flats were entered onto the

Ramsar Ramsar may refer to: * Places so named: ** Ramsar, Mazandaran, city in Iran ** Ramsar, Rajasthan, village in India * Eponyms of the Iranian city: ** Ramsar Convention concerning wetlands, signed in Ramsar, Iran ** Ramsar site, wetland listed in ...

list of Wetlands of International Importance in 1991 covering an area of 6,000 sq km coincident with the Kafue Flats GMA. Protected areas of the Kafue Flats

Agriculture

The land around the Kafue Flats are an important agricultural area in

. As well as supporting a large number of subsistence and small-scale farmers, the flats are also a source of irrigation water for three large commercial farming operations concentrated around the eastern end of the flats. The oldest commercial farming operation on the Kafue Flats is the Nakambala Sugar Estate located on the southern edge of the flats at

. The Nakambala estate, owned by

Zambia Sugar Zambia Sugar Plc, is the largest sugar-manufacturing company in Zambia, with annual output in excess of of crystalline sugar annually, as of November 2018. The company stock is listed of the Lusaka Stock Exchange, where the shares trade under th ...

Plc a subsidiary of South African company

Illovo Sugar Illovo Sugar Africa (Pty) Ltd based in uMhlanga, KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa is Africa's largest sugar producer. The group produces raw and refined sugar for local, regional African, European Union (EU), United States and world markets from sug ...

, along with outgrowers and

smallholder A smallholding or smallholder is a small farm operating under a small-scale agriculture model. Definitions vary widely for what constitutes a smallholder or small-scale farm, including factors such as size, food production technique or technology ...

farmers is the largest sugar producer in Zambia and operated on approximately 20,000 hectares of irrigated farmland. North of the Kafue Flats, Consolidated Farming Ltd., a Zambian company, produces sugar under the Kafue Sugar brand from a 9,000 hectare estate pumping water from the Kafue Flats. To the east of Consolidated Farming, the Chiansi irrigation scheme grows wheat and other irrigated crops on 200 hectares with plans to expand to 2,500 hectares.

Ecology

The Kafue Flats consists of a complex pattern of

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 ...

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'') ...

ox-bow 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 ...

s, abandoning river channels,

marsh A marsh is a wetland that is dominated by herbaceous rather than woody plant species.Keddy, P.A. 2010. Wetland Ecology: Principles and Conservation (2nd edition). Cambridge University Press, Cambridge, UK. 497 p Marshes can often be found a ...

es and levees surrounded by grasslands and woodlands. The flats comprise two

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 ...

s. The central seasonally- and permanently-flooded areas are part of 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, and the surrounding grasslands and woodlands are in the

Zambezian and mopane woodlands The Zambezian and mopane woodlands is a tropical and subtropical grasslands, savannas, and shrublands ecoregion of southeastern Africa. The ecoregion is characterized by the mopane tree ''(Colophospermum mopane)'', and extends across portions ...

ecoregion. The soils of the flats are heavy in texture and tend to crack widely when dry, becoming very sticky and plastic when wet. These soils are mainly black or dark gray and produce an irregular surface relief known as

gilgai A gilgai is a small, ephemeral#Geographical examples, ephemeral lake formed from a depression in the soil surface in expanding clay soils. Additionally, the term "gilgai" is used to refer to the overall micro-relief in such areas, consisting of mo ...

consisting of a series of small ridges standing 20–60 cm above circular depressions about 2–7 meters in diameter.

Vegetation

The main vegetation types of the Kafue Flats are

woodland A woodland () is, in the broad sense, land covered with trees, or in a narrow sense, synonymous with wood (or in the U.S., the ''plurale tantum'' woods), a low-density forest forming open habitats with plenty of sunlight and limited shade (se ...

(

miombo The Miombo woodland is a tropical and subtropical grasslands, savannas, and shrublands biome (in the World Wide Fund for Nature scheme) located primarily in Central Africa. It includes four woodland savanna ecoregions (listed below) characterized b ...

mopane ''Colophospermum mopane'', commonly called mopane, mopani, balsam tree, butterfly tree, or turpentine tree, is a tree in the legume family (Fabaceae), that grows in hot, dry, low-lying areas, in elevation, in the far northern parts of southern A ...

, Acacia, and ''

Combretum ''Combretum'', the bushwillows or combretums, make up the type genus of the family Combretaceae. The genus comprises about 272 species of trees and shrubs, most of which are native to tropical and southern Africa, about 5 to Madagascar, but th ...

''),

termitaria Termites are small insects that live in colonies and have distinct castes ( eusocial) and feed on wood or other dead plant matter. Termites comprise the infraorder Isoptera, or alternatively the epifamily Termitoidae, within the order Blat ...

grassland, flooded grasslands, permanent swamps and levees and lagoons.

Wildlife

The Kafue

(''Kobus leche kafuensis''), an antelope specialised for living in the marshy conditions of the flats, is endemic to the area. There were estimated to be 250,000 lechwe living on the Kafue Flats in 1931, one of the highest animal carrying capacities in the world at 11,000 kg per km². By 2005 the number of lechwe was estimated to have fallen to 38,000, a number which remained mostly stable until the next census completed in 2009. The declining numbers of Kafue lechwe has been attributed to the building of the

and subsequent change in intensity and timing of flooding as well as illegal poaching and the pressures of rising numbers of people and cattle. Along with lechwe,

s are the dominant species of large mammal that are found in the flats.

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 ...

, buffalo, roan,

kudu The kudus are two species of antelope of the genus '' Tragelaphus'': * Lesser kudu, ''Tragelaphus imberbis'', of eastern Africa * Greater kudu, ''Tragelaphus strepsiceros'', of eastern and southern Africa The two species look similar, th ...

hippo 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 extant ...

are present in limited numbers particularly in and around the Lochinvar and

Birds

The Kafue Flats area supports more than 450 species of threatened, endangered and migratory bird species and the area has been designated an Important Bird and Biodiversity Area (IBA) by Birdlife International. The flats are home to large concentrations of resident and migratory waterbirds including significant breeding colonies deep within the swamps. The flats also host a high diversity and density of breeding raptors particularly vultures. The flats are an extremely important habitat for the

wattled crane The wattled crane (''Grus carunculata'') is a large bird found in Africa, south of the Sahara Desert. It is sometimes placed in the monotypic genus ''Bugeranus''. Taxonomy The first formal description of the wattled crane was by the German nat ...

(''Bugeranus carunculatus'') which is listed in the IUCN Red List as vulnerable. Numbers of wattled crane in the flats dropped from between 2000 and 3000 in the 1970s to less than 1000 by 2002. Other important species found on the Kafue Flats include the

crowned crane A crowned crane is a bird of the genus ''Balearica'': * Black crowned crane (''Balearica pavonina'') * Grey crowned crane (''Balearica regulorum'') Some authorities use the term "crowned crane" to refer generally to the genus ''Balearica''. Like ...

slaty egret The slaty egret (''Egretta vinaceigula'') is a small, dark egret. It is one of the species to which the ''Agreement on the Conservation of African-Eurasian Migratory Waterbirds'' (AEWA) applies. It is classified as Vulnerable, the biggest thre ...

, lappet faced vulture,

lesser kestrel The lesser kestrel (''Falco naumanni'') is a small falcon. This species breeds from the Mediterranean across Afghanistan and Central Asia, to China and Mongolia. It is a summer migrant, wintering in Africa and Pakistan and sometimes even to Indi ...

and

corn crake The corn crake, corncrake or landrail (''Crex crex'') is a bird in the rail family. It breeds in Europe and Asia as far east as western China, and migrates to Africa for the Northern Hemisphere's winter. It is a medium-sized crake with buff- ...

. Threats to the bird life of the Kafue Flats include changes to the intensity and timing of floods caused by the dam upstream at Itezhi-Tezhi, the spread of invasive weed species and the impact of increasing human populations.

References

{{coord, 15, 38, , S, 27, 04, , E, region:ZM_type:waterbody, display=title Flooded grasslands and savannas Kafue River Floodplains of Africa Geography of Southern Province, Zambia Swamps of Africa Ramsar sites in Zambia Zambezian flooded grasslands