The Nata Bird Sanctuary, the only protected reserve in the northeastern periphery of
Sowa Pan in Botswana, is a community-managed project, with assistance from the Nata Conservation Committee and national and international organizations. Founded in 1988, it opened for operations in 1993; it encompasses an area of , with the objective of conservation of wildlife. The community project is managed by a Trust titled the "Kalahari Conservation Society", which has members drawn from the four villages of
Nata
Nata could refer to:
__NOTOC__ Places
* Nata, Botswana, a village in Central District of Botswana
* Nata, Cyprus, a small village near Paphos, Cyprus
* Natá, Coclé, a town and corregimiento in Natá District, Coclé Province, Panama
* Natá Di ...
,
Sepako,
Maposa and
Manxotae in the vicinity of the sanctuary.
The prominent wildlife species in the sanctuary are reported to number 165 bird species.
[ The sanctuary is of international importance due to its population of 250,000 ]lesser flamingo
The lesser flamingo (''Phoeniconaias minor'') is a species of flamingo occurring in sub-Saharan Africa and western India. Birds are occasionally reported from further north, but these are generally considered vagrants.
Characteristics
The lesser ...
''(Phoenicopterus minor)'' and greater flamingo
The greater flamingo (''Phoenicopterus roseus'') is the most widespread and largest species of the flamingo family. It is found in Africa, the Indian subcontinent, the Middle East, and in southern Europe.
Taxonomy
The greater flamingo was desc ...
s ''(Phoenicopterus roseus)'', which visit the sanctuary every year during the winter period to breed, after the rainy season, when the water sources are full.
The community-initiated sanctuary received the coveted "Tourism for Tomorrow" award for the Southern Hemisphere in the first year it opened, in 1993.
Geography
The Nata sanctuary is situated at the mouth of the Nata River
The Nata River or Manzamnyama River is a natural watercourse in Southern Africa. It is an ephemeral river flowing in Zimbabwe and Botswana. It has a length of 330 km from its source to mouth, 210 km in Zimbabwe and 120 km in Botswa ...
delta, about from the Nata village at the northeastern border of the Sua Pan (salt pan) within the larger Makgadikgadi
The Makgadikgadi Pan (Tswana pronunciation ), a salt pan situated in the middle of the dry savanna of north-eastern Botswana, is one of the largest salt flats in the world. The pan is all that remains of the formerly enormous Lake Makgadikg ...
. The Makgadikgadi Pans Landscape, located in the Central Kalahari Game Reserve
Central Kalahari Game Reserve is an extensive national park in the Kalahari Desert of Botswana. Established in 1961 it covers an area of (larger than the Netherlands, and almost 10% of Botswana's total land area), making it the second largest game ...
to the southeast of the Okavango Delta
The Okavango Delta (or Okavango Grassland; formerly spelled "Okovango" or "Okovanggo") in Botswana is a swampy inland delta formed where the Okavango River reaches a tectonic trough at an altitude of 930–1,000 m in the central part of the en ...
, is the most important of natural habitats. It covers wild life conservation parks such as the Makgadikgadi National Park and the Nxai Pan National Park
Nxai Pan National Park is a national park in north-eastern Botswana, consisting of Nxai Pan, which is one of the Makgadikgadi Pan salt flats. Nxai Pan National Park lies just north of the Maun-Nata main road and adjoins Makgadikgadi Pans Nation ...
, apart from the Nata Bird Sanctuary, which is "one of the largest breeding sites of Lesser and Greater flamingo in the world."
This region was inhabited by the Nata
Nata could refer to:
__NOTOC__ Places
* Nata, Botswana, a village in Central District of Botswana
* Nata, Cyprus, a small village near Paphos, Cyprus
* Natá, Coclé, a town and corregimiento in Natá District, Coclé Province, Panama
* Natá Di ...
, Sepako, Maposa and Manxotae communities, who grazed their 3500 and odd cattle in the area. The villagers were persuaded to move their cattle so that a securely fenced sanctuary could be established covering an area of ; 45% of the sanctuary lies in the Sua Pan.
A raised wooden platform within the sanctuary provides vistas of the Sua salt pan and the rich bird life of the sanctuary.[ The roads within the sanctuary are now well maintained. Some areas of the park, where black "cotton" soils are found, can pose problems for road transport during the rainy season.][
]
History
The Nata Conservation Committee began planning in 1988 to establish a bird sanctuary in the delta of the Nata River
The Nata River or Manzamnyama River is a natural watercourse in Southern Africa. It is an ephemeral river flowing in Zimbabwe and Botswana. It has a length of 330 km from its source to mouth, 210 km in Zimbabwe and 120 km in Botswa ...
, to conserve and preserve the wild life, particularly the bird species. These dominate the Sua Pan at the mouth of the Nata River; it is an ephemeral
Ephemerality (from the Greek word , meaning 'lasting only one day') is the concept of things being transitory, existing only briefly. Academically, the term ephemeral constitutionally describes a diverse assortment of things and experiences, fr ...
stream bordering the Sua Pan
The Sua Pan or Sowa Pan is a large natural topographic depression within the Makgadikgadi region of Botswana. It is located near the village of ''Sowa'', whose name means salt in the language of the San. The Sua salt pan is one of three large p ...
. The Kalahari Conservation Society, with funds contributed by national and international organisations, is credited with ensuring voluntary participation of the local people. The local people not only relocated their cattle of about 3,500 heads to adjacent land but also built a network of dirt roads.[
Nata Bird Sanctuary, now one of the three breeding grounds of flamingos in ]Africa
Africa is the world's second-largest and second-most populous continent, after Asia in both cases. At about 30.3 million km2 (11.7 million square miles) including adjacent islands, it covers 6% of Earth's total surface area ...
, is the largest. It has been recognized by UNESCO as one of the “largest breeding sites of lesser and greater flamingo in the world” and a site of international importance.[
]
Fauna
Among the wild life species noted in the sanctuary are 165 bird species. Other species of wild life are also reported, though of limited numbers.[
]
Avifauna
The bird sanctuary has about 165 species of birds; the lesser and greater flamingos, great white pelican ''(Pelecanus onocrotalus)'' and pink-backed pelican
The pink-backed pelican (''Pelecanus rufescens'') is a bird of the pelican family. It is a resident breeder in the swamps and shallow lakes of Africa and southern Arabia; it has also apparently extirpated in Madagascar.
Taxonomy
The pink-backe ...
''(Pelecanus rufescens)'' are the most dominant species, they arrive annually in large numbers as part of their migration
Migration, migratory, or migrate may refer to: Human migration
* Human migration, physical movement by humans from one region to another
** International migration, when peoples cross state boundaries and stay in the host state for some minimum le ...
during the winter season.[ Some of the other notable bird species recorded are: ]avocet
The four species of avocets are a genus, ''Recurvirostra'', of waders in the same avian family as the stilts. The genus name comes from Latin , 'curved backwards' and , 'bill'. The common name is thought to derive from the Italian ( Ferrarese) ...
, blackwinged stilt ''(Himantopus himantopus)'', blacksmith lapwing
The blacksmith lapwing or blacksmith plover (''Vanellus armatus'') is a lapwing species that occurs commonly from Kenya through central Tanzania to southern and southwestern Africa. The vernacular name derives from the repeated metallic 'tink, ti ...
''(Vanellus armatus)'', black-necked grebe
The black-necked grebe or eared grebe (''Podiceps nigricollis'') is a member of the grebe family of water birds. It was described in 1831 by Christian Ludwig Brehm. There are currently three accepted subspecies, including the nominate subspecie ...
''(Podiceps nigricollis)'', bustards
Bustards, including floricans and korhaans, are large, terrestrial birds living mainly in dry grassland areas and on the steppes of the Old World. They range in length from . They make up the family Otididae (, formerly known as Otidae). Bust ...
, carmine, darters
The darters, anhingas, or snakebirds are mainly tropical waterbirds in the family Anhingidae, which contains a single genus, ''Anhinga''. There are four living species, three of which are very common and widespread while the fourth is rarer and ...
, African fish eagle
The African fish eagle (''Haliaeetus vocifer'') or the African sea eagle, is a large species of eagle found throughout sub-Saharan Africa wherever large bodies of open water with an abundant food supply occur. It is the national bird of Malawi, Na ...
''(Haliaeetus vocifer)'', geese
A goose ( : geese) is a bird of any of several waterfowl species in the family Anatidae. This group comprises the genera '' Anser'' (the grey geese and white geese) and ''Branta'' (the black geese). Some other birds, mostly related to the she ...
, korhaans, pied kingfisher
The pied kingfisher (''Ceryle rudis'') is a species of water kingfisher widely distributed across Africa and Asia. Originally described by Carl Linnaeus in 1758, it has five recognised subspecies. Its black and white plumage and crest, as well as ...
''(Ceryle rudis)'', black-chested snake-eagle ''(Circaetus pectoralis)'', blue-cheeked bee-eater ''(Merops persicus)'', Cape teal
The Cape teal (''Anas capensis'') also Cape wigeon or Cape widgeon is a 44–46 cm long dabbling duck of open wetlands in sub-Saharan Africa.
Taxonomy
The Cape teal was formally described in 1789 by the German naturalist Johann Friedrich G ...
''(Anas capensis''), kori bustard
The kori bustard (''Ardeotis kori'') is the largest flying bird native to Africa. It is a member of the bustard family, which all belong to the order Otidiformes and are restricted in distribution to the Old World. It is one of the four species ( ...
''(Ardeotis kori)'', blue-billed teal ''(Spatula hottentota)'', martial eagle
The martial eagle (''Polemaetus bellicosus'') is a large eagle native to sub-Saharan Africa.Ferguson-Lees & Christie, ''Raptors of the World''. Houghton Mifflin Company (2001), . It is the only member of the genus ''Polemaetus''. A species of t ...
''(Polemaetus bellicosus)'', red-knobbed coot
The red-knobbed coot or crested coot, (''Fulica cristata''), is a member of the rail and crake bird family, the Rallidae.
It is a resident breeder across much of Africa and in southernmost Spain on freshwater lakes and ponds. It builds a nest o ...
, ''(Fulica cristata)'', secretarybird
The secretarybird or secretary bird (''Sagittarius serpentarius'') is a large, mostly terrestrial bird of prey. Endemic to Africa, it is usually found in the open grasslands and savanna of the sub-Saharan region. John Frederick Miller describe ...
''(Sagittarius serpentarius)'', spoonbills
Spoonbills are a genus, ''Platalea'', of large, long-legged wading birds. The spoonbills have a global distribution, being found on every continent except Antarctica. The genus name ''Platalea'' derives from Ancient Greek and means "broad", re ...
, and white-faced whistling duck (''Dendrocygna viduata'').
The birds migrate from Etosha
Etosha National Park is a national park in northwestern Namibia and one of the largest national parks in Africa. It was proclaimed a game reserve in March 1907 in Ordinance 88 by the Governor of German South West Africa, Friedrich von Lindequist. ...
, in the border state of Namibia
Namibia (, ), officially the Republic of Namibia, is a country in Southern Africa. Its western border is the Atlantic Ocean. It shares land borders with Zambia and Angola to the north, Botswana to the east and South Africa to the south and ea ...
. Greater flamingos feed on brine shrimps (''Artemia
''Artemia'' is a genus of aquatic crustaceans also known as brine shrimp. It is the only genus in the family Artemiidae. The first historical record of the existence of ''Artemia'' dates back to the first half of the 10th century AD from Urmia L ...
''), worms and tiny crustaceans
Crustaceans (Crustacea, ) form a large, diverse arthropod taxon which includes such animals as decapods, seed shrimp, branchiopods, fish lice, krill, remipedes, isopods, barnacles, copepods, amphipods and mantis shrimp. The crustacean gro ...
, while the lesser flamingos feed on algae; all are plentiful in the warm shallow waters of salt pans.
Other fauna
Other wildlife faunal species reported are: the antelope, hartebeest
The hartebeest (; ''Alcelaphus buselaphus''), also known as kongoni or kaama, is an African antelope. It is the only member of the genus ''Alcelaphus''. Eight subspecies have been described, including two sometimes considered to be independ ...
''( Alcelaphus buselaphus)'', 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 ...
''(Tragelaphus imberbis)'', reedbuck
Reedbuck is a common name for Africa
Africa is the world's second-largest and second-most populous continent, after Asia in both cases. At about 30.3 million km2 (11.7 million square miles) including adjacent islands, it ...
''(Redunca arundinum)'', springbok
The springbok (''Antidorcas marsupialis'') is a medium-sized antelope found mainly in south and southwest Africa. The sole member of the genus ''Antidorcas'', this bovid was first described by the German zoologist Eberhard August Wilhelm ...
, steenbok ''(Raphicerus campestris)'', springhare
''Pedetes'' is a genus of rodent, the springhares, in the family Pedetidae. Members of the genus are distributed across southern and Eastern Africa.
Species
A number of species both extant and extinct are classified in the genus ''Pedetes''. ...
''(Pedetes capensis)'', jackals, foxes, monkeys, squirrels, eland ''(Taurotragus oryx)'', gemsbok ''(Oryx gazella)'' and 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 ...
.
References
{{Reflist, 35em
Protected areas of Botswana
Protected areas established in 1993
Bird sanctuaries