Zambezi River Basin

Angola

DEMOCRATIC REPUBLIC OF CONGO

Cabinda

Mbanza-Congo

Songo

Nzeto

Dundo

Uige

Ambriz

K w a n g o

Camabatela

Lucapa

K w i l u

Caxito

LUANDA

Capenda Camulemba

Ndalatando

Saurimo

Malanje

Dondo

Cacolo

Calulo

C u a n z a

Quibala

Muconda

Sumbe

Calucinga

ANGOLA

Waku Kungo

Camacupa

Luena

Cazombo

Lobito

L u n g u e B u n g o

Kuito

Benguela

Huambo

Cubal

Z A M B EZI R IV E R B A S I N L I M I T C u i t o

Elevation Metres above sea-level

Cangamba

C u n e n e

Lumbala Nguimbo

Menongue

Lubango

Quipungo

0 200 500 1 000 3 000 2 000 1 500

C u a n d o

Namibe

ZAMBIA

Cuito Cuanavale

Chibia

Tombua

Chibemba

Mavinga

C u b a n g o

Xangongo

Ondjiva

NAMIBIA

Total Area of Country Portion of Country within Zambezi Basin National Population in 2010 Portion of National Populationwithin Zambezi Basin

1 246 700 sq km 256 500 sq km (20.5%) 17.8 million 651 480 (03.66%)

Important Environmental Issues

• Biodiversity loss • Access to potable water

Although the Zambezi River rises in Zambia, part of its upper course is in northeastern Angola, which is the seventh largest country in Africa by area and has an Atlantic coastline of 1 650 km. The country has distinct and alternating rainy and dry seasons, and is semi-arid in the South and along the coast to the capital, Luanda. Oil is at the core of the Angolan economy and the sector contributes more than 90 per cent of national exports (AfDB 2010). Other mineral resources include diamonds and iron ore. A civil war initially supported by apartheid South Africa caused widespread loss of life and damage to infrastructure in the 25 years following independence from Portugal in 1975. The economy was shattered and large parts of the country were inaccessible. Human development suffered and environmental assessment could not resume until after the internal peace agreement in 2002. The figures below should be read in this context, as some show notable progress in the past decade.

erosion, which contribute to water pollution and siltation of rivers and dams. Pressure is increasing on peri-urban land, in the context of rural-urban migration and the low incomes received from urban employment. Progress towards environmental sustainability Reverse the loss of environmental resources Angola is the most densely forested country in the Basin (FAO 2010, see Fig. 4.3), including tropical rainforests in the north. While some Basin states had deforestation rates as high as 2.2 per cent, Angola shows a rate of between 0.1 and 0.2 per cent, although this is estimated as many of the forested areas were inaccessible for a long period. There has been no forestry inventory in Angola since independence in 1975, but the Ministry of Agriculture estimates the minimum reserve at 17.45 million cubic metres of trees, allowing 20 years of rotational annual cuts. The use of forestry plantations has been increasing steadily in Angola, which has the largest forest plantation area in the Basin, together with Zimbabwe (SADC and SARDC

Threats to Angola’s land productivity include landmines, as well as drought and soil

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