Mosi-oa-Tunya / Victoria Falls, Zambia
Mosi-oa-Tunya / Victoria Falls, Zambia
| Topics: |  Geography Wildlife Management Ecology |
Introduction
The Mosi-oa-tunya / Victoria Falls (17°55'S, 25°50'E) is a World Heritage Site in Zambia and Zimbabwe which has some of the most spectacular waterfalls in the world. The Zambezi river, which is more than 2 kilometers (km) wide at this point, plunges noisily down a series of basalt gorges and raises (a sometimes) iridescent mist that can be seen more than 30 km away.
Geographical location
On either side of the Zambezi River in southern Zambia and northwestern Zimbabwe. Mosi-oa-Tunya National Park follows the left bank between the Sinde River and the Songwe Gorge, bounded on the north by Dambwa Forest Reserve and the town of Maramba (formerly Livingstone). On the right bank Victoria Falls National Park is bounded by the river from 6 km above to 12 km below the falls and by the town of Victoria Falls on the west. A riverine strip of Zambezi National Park extending 9 km west along the right bank of the Zambezi and islands in the river are all within the Park as far as Palm and Kandahar Islands. 17°55'S, 25°50'E.
Date and History of Establishment
- 1931: The south side of the river declared a Game Reserve;
- 1937: The falls created a Special Area, managed by the Victoria Falls Executive Committee which permitted the development of a power station at the falls;
- 1948: The National Monuments Commission established a Victoria Falls Conservancy Committee and extended the protected area on the north side of the river downstream to Songwe Gorge, legally confirmed in
- 1952: The Victoria Falls National Park formed from the Game Reserve and the Special Area. A Trust was formed and made responsible for the Park;
- 1972: The National Park established. It falls under Zambia's National Parks Wildlife Act of 1968 and Zimbabwe's Parks and Wildlife Act of 1975.
Area
Mosi-oa-tunya / Victoria Falls, Zambia (Source: Embassy Lusaka Special Self-Help Coordinator Natalie Messelt 2003)
The total area is 6,860 hectares (ha). Mosi-oa-Tunya National Park is 3779 ha.
Some sources give the area of the park as 6,600 ha. Victoria Falls National Park, 2,340 ha; a riverine strip of Zambezi National Park, 741 ha.
Land tenure
Government: Mosi-oa-Tunya National Park in Maramba district is managed by the Zambian Wildlife Authority of the Department of National Parks and Wildlife Service but land planning and development are controlled by Maramba District Council. Six national monuments in the park are in the care of the National Heritage Conservation Commission (NHCC). Victoria Falls and Zambezi National Parks, in Huangwe district, are managed by the Zimbabwean Department of National Parks and Wildlife Management.
Altitude
The altitude of the park ranges from 816 meters (m) to 915 m (crest of the falls).
Physical features
The Park comprises the banks of the Zambezi River above Victoria Falls and a series of deep gorges below them. The falls are the heart of the park, and when the Zambezi is in full flood and is 2 km wide (in February and March) they form the world's largest sheet of falling water. During these months some 540 million cubic meters (m3) of water per minute (min) pour over the falls, which are 1,690 m wide and drop 108 m at Rainbow Falls. The spray plume which may obscure the view of the falls in the rainy season can rise 500 m and be visible 30 km away. At low water before the rains in November the flow can be reduced to around 10.5 million m3/min, and the river divides into a series of braided channels that descend in many separate falls.
Since the uplifting of the Makgadikgadi Pan some two million years ago, the Zambezi River has been cutting through the basalt plateau, exploiting east-west trending fissures in the basalt, forming a series of retreating falls. Below the present falls the river enters a zigzag series of narrow gorges, relicts of seven past waterfalls, and Devil's Cataract in Zimbabwe is the start of the cutting back to an eighth waterfall that will eventually leave the present crest high above the river in the canyon below. 16 km of the Batoka gorges border the Parks and these continue for some 100 km to the east, being at one place 140 m deep.
Climate
The annual rainfall averages 730 millimeters (mm), falling mainly between December and March. The spray plume of the water sustains rainforest conditions around the falls. The average maximum temperature range is 26°C to 37°C, the average minimum temperature range 6°C to 19°C; the mean annual temperature is 20°C
Vegetation
The predominant vegetation is mopane]Colophospermum [[mopane forest]] with small areas of teak and miombo woodland, scrubland, savanna and a narrow band of riverine forest along the Zambezi. The mist-forest within the waterfall splash zone is of particular interest, a fragile ecosystem of discontinuous rainforest on sandy alluvium, dependent upon the abundant water and high humidity from the spray plume. Tree species within this forest include pod mahogany <em>Afzelia quanzensis, ebony <em>Diospyros mespiliformis, strangler fig <em>Ficus aurea, Cape fig <em>Ficus capensis, ivory palm <em>Hyphaene ventricosa, Transvaal red milkwood <em>Mimusops zeyheri, African olive Olea africana, wild date palm Phoenix reclinata, water pear Syzygium guineense and Natal forest mahogany Trichilia emetica. 70 shrub and 150 herbaceous species are recorded for this rare local habitat. Herbaceous species include Sebaea pentandra, Lobelia kirkii and Gladiolus unguiculatus, and the dense fern growth includes Cheilanthos farinosa. Acacia nigrescens is prominent on the plateau in Zimbabwe. Triplochiton, Commiphora, Entandrophragma and Sterculia spp. grow on the talus in the gorge.
Fauna
The chacma baboon is found in the countries of Angola, Botswana, Mozambique, Namibia, South Africa, Zambia, and Zimbabwe. (Source: Blue Planet Biomes)
Several herds of elephant Loxodonta africana (EN) live in Zambezi National Park, crossing to the islands above Palm Island and into Zambia during the dry season when water levels are low. There are small herds of buffalo Syncerus caffer and blue wildebeeste Connochaetes taurinus, as well as giraffe Giraffa camelopardalis, Burchell's zebra Equus burchelli, warthog Phacochoerus aethiopicus, and some bushpig Potamocherus porcus. Schools of Hippopotamus amphibius are common above the falls. Vervet monkey Cercopithecus aethiops and chacma baboon Papio ursinus are common round the falls and lion Panthera leo (VU) and leopard P. pardus are occasionally seen. Klipspringer Oreotragus oreotragus and Cape clawless otter Aonyx capensis can be seen in the gorges. Especially in the Zimbabwean parks, six species of antelope are common and six less so, some also occurring, or have been introduced, on the Zambian side, though recent droughts have decimated these.
Some 35 raptors are found in the Batoka gorge below the falls: Taita falcon Falco fasciinucha breeds there as do black eagle Aquilla verreauxi, peregrine falcon Falco peregrinus, augur buzzard Buteo rufofuscatus augur also black stork Ciconia nigra and African swift Apus barbatus. Found above the falls are whitebacked night heron Gorsachius leuconotus, African finfoot Podica senegalensis and rock pratincole Glareola nuchalis. Victoria Falls forms a geographical barrier between the distinct fish faunas of the upper and middle Zambezi River. Thirty-nine species of fish have been recorded from the waters below the falls, including butter barbel Schilbe mystus, eastern bottlenose Mormyrus longirostris, chessa Distichodus schenga, nkupe Distichodus mossambicus, and eighty-four from the waters above the falls, including African mottled eel Platystacus cotylephorus, tigerfish Hydrocynus vittatus, Kafue pike Hepsetus odue and silver barbel Schilbe intermedius and several species of bream. Nile crocodile Crocodilus niloticus are plentiful above the falls.
Cultural heritage
Stone artifacts of Homo habilis from 3 million years ago have been found near the falls, and stone tools indicating prolonged occupation of the area in the Middle Stone Age 50,000 years ago. Weapons, adornments and digging tools indicate the presence of Late Stone Age hunter-gatherers between 10,000 and 2,000 years ago who were displaced by farmers using iron tools, who kept livestock and lived in villages. Mosi-oaTunya means' the Smoke that Rises' in Kololo; Victoria Falls were named by the explorer Livingstone in 1855.
Local human population
The ethnic composition of the people living in the falls area outside the parks is a mixture of long-term inhabitants and recent immigrants. The Tonga people have lived in the area for at least seven centuries, latterly with smaller numbers from ten other tribes. The area was held by Subiya chiefs for the Barotse kings in 1898, when westerners began to settle. The town of Maramba has about 100,000 inhabitants, the town of Victoria Falls about 40,000, but refugees from the countryside which has suffered long drought continue to swell the populations of both towns with largely unemployed and poorly housed refugees.
Visitors and visitor facilities
This is one of the most popular national parks in Zambia, with Zambians even more than with foreign tourists. In 2000 there were 300,000 visitors. Facilities include 2 hotels, 2 restaurants, a non-catering camp (70 beds) and a camping ground. There are many footpaths in the falls area, including Knife-Edge Bridge which faces the length of the falls, and a field museum with local archaeological artifacts. In the winter dry season the falls are less obscured by spray, but in times of drought run low in summer. Game fishing, riding, rafting, kayaking, bungee-jumping and overflights are available. The Park is 11 km south of Maramba where there is accommodation, and the town of Victoria Falls in Zimbabwe has 3 hotels, 5 lodges, a crocodile farm and further tourist facilities. Both towns are accessible by road, rail and air. Zambezi National Park adjoins the Matetsi Safari Area which extends to Kazuma Pan and Hwange National Parks. Current conditions are now affecting tourism on both sides of the falls.
Scientific research and facilities
Apart from the archaeological museum in Mosi-oaTunya Park there are no research facilities within the park, although these exist at the Livingstone Museum in nearby Maramba.
Conservation value
The Mosi-oaTunya / Victoria Falls National Parks surround one of the world's most spectacular waterfalls. These and the deep zigzag gorges formed by past falls are outstanding examples of the erosive power of water.
Conservation management
The guiding management objective for the Park is to conserve the area of the falls in its natural state. Mosi-Oa-Tunya is not a major area for wildlife conservation, although wildlife should be protected and visible to tourists as far as possible, and the area of a former zoo upstream has been incorporated as a game park. The area is protected by law against hunting and destruction of vegetation or [[geomorphology|geomorphological features. Development immediately beside the falls is restricted to footpaths, and to the Knife-Edge Bridge walk. However, in the recent past the Zimbabwean side has prospered more than the Zambian resulting in economically unbalanced development on either side of the boundary. So between 1994 and 1996, with the aid of foreign funding, the Governments of Zambia and Zimbabwe commissioned a strategic environmental assessment of interrelated impacts for 30 km around the falls and developed a skeleton 10-year management plan for the area of the Parks. This recommended mechanisms for cross-border management of the site and set overall management objectives with specific priorities for five zones. The plan has been approved in principle, and awaits the financial and administrative resources needed for its implementation. In 2001 the U.S. Dept of the Interior International Technical Assistance Program (ITAP) began to develop plans for the region, including Mosi-oaTunya Park.
Management constraints
There is a large range of development within the Park, much of it built before its establishment. Buildings include two hotels, one recently built very near the falls, and other leisure facilities (lodge, chalets, boat club, field museum and a curio sellers shelter), the very unsightly hydroelectric power station and ancillary works, housing for Park and power station staff, and some old homesteads and villages. The water take-off for the power station regularly diminishes the eastern end of the falls in the dry season. The road and rail links between Zambia and Zimbabwe bisect the Park, crossing the river by the spectacular Falls Bridge, and the railway line and road between Maramba and Kazungula run through the park above the falls. Zambian customs and immigration services are stationed in the Park. A dam on the Zambezi has been proposed for the Batoka gorges downstream which would create a 50 km lake and flood several of the gorges within the park.
Local population pressures are affecting the Park. In Zambia the town of Maramba is expanding rapidly, and local people and businesses are not particularly oriented towards nature conservation. Hoteliers within the Park resent the damage caused to their grounds by monkeys, baboons, hippopotamus and crocodiles, and tourist and municipal wastes including sewage are polluting both land and water to the detriment of river based tourism. The lack of a plan integrating the activities of the four main concerned agencies has led to lack of controls on commercial growth. Cattle grazing has become well established within the boundaries, and there is gradual encroachment of small-scale cultivation of maize and sorghum. The spray-forest is vulnerable to disturbance by trampling, which allows penetration by ruderal species such as Lantana camara, and when grossly disturbed the forest does not regenerate easily, giving way to xeric scrub. Then, during 2001 and 2002 severe drought destroyed the grazing and decimated the fauna of the Park which was only supported by feed imported by the Zambian Wildlife Authority. The situation was exacerbated by the Park's small area, insufficient funding and inadequate manpower. Wildlife in the Zimbabwean part of the site is coming under similar pressures as the rest of Zimbabwe in the current conditions which are said to have led to the destruction of nearly half the wildlife of that country during the past two years.
Staff
No current information is available.
Budget
No information is available on the government funding for these parks. In the past, the Canadian International Development Agency funded a planning study and since 2001 the ITAP is doing the same for Mosi-oaTunya. In 2001 the WHF granted US$63,708 to increase management capacity through staff training.
IUCN management category
- II (National Park)
- Natural World Heritage Site inscribed in 1989. Natural Criteria ii, iii
Further reading
- Clarke, J. & Loe, I. (1974). A Guide to the National Parks of Zambia. Anglo-American Corporation Ltd, Lusaka. ISBN: 0903841010.
- David Shepherd Wildlife Foundation (2003). Africa's drought kills wildlife too. Wildlife Matters. 1p.
- Fishpool, L.& Evans, M. (eds) (2001). Important Bird Areas in Africa and Associated Islands. Pisces Publications/ Birdlife International, Newbury & Cambridge, U.K. BLI Conservation Series No.11. ISBN: 187435720X.
- Hanyana, S. (2002). Zambia's Ecotourism Venture Clouded by Ecotroubles. Forests.org. Inc. 1p.
- Hartley, R. (1993). The Batoka Gorges - haven for birds of prey. African Wildlife 47:74-78.
- Hattle,J. (n.d.). Zimbabwe's Climate. Dept.of Meteorological Services for the Zimbabwe Tourist Board, Harare.
- Karmokolias, Y. (2000) Victoria Falls Safari Lodge, Zimbabwe. Case Study 3. International Finance Corporation, Washington, U.S.A. 80pp.
- Katanekwa, N. (1991). Development and the Victoria Falls Environment: A Case Study of the Impact of Ill-Planned Development on a Unique Natural Environment. Unpublished paper, NHCC, Lusaka. 7pp.
- Nalomino, N. & Meynell, P-J. (1997). Strategic environmental assessment of development around Victoria Falls, Zambia/Zimbabawe. Parks 7(2):39-46. IUCN & Newbury, U.K.
- National Heritage Conservation Committee (1987). Mosi-Oa-Tunya National Park Management Plan. Lusaka.
- Phillipson, D. (ed.) (1975). Mosi-oa-Tunya. A Handbook to the Victoria Falls Region. Longman, London. ISBN: 0582641675.
- Zambia/Zimbabwe (1988). Nomination of Victoria Falls / Mosi-Oa-Tunya as a World Heritage Site. Ministry of Tourism, Zambia, and Ministry of Natural Resources and Tourism, Zimbabwe.
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Citation
United Nations Environment Programme-Wo (Lead Author);Langdon D. Clough (Topic Editor) "Mosi-oa-Tunya / Victoria Falls, Zambia". In: Encyclopedia of Earth. Eds. Cutler J. Cleveland (Washington, D.C.: Environmental Information Coalition, National Council for Science and the Environment). [First published in the Encyclopedia of Earth November 2, 2009; Last revised Date November 2, 2009; Retrieved February 10, 2012 <http://www.eoearth.org/article/Mosi-oa-Tunya_/_Victoria_Falls%2C_Zambia>
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Comments
Posted by Peter Howard on February 3, 2011 12:45 am
Readers may want to visit the African Natural Heritage website to view a selection of images and map of the Mosi-oa-Tunya / Victoria Falls world heritage site, and follow links to Google Earth and other relevant web resources:
http://www.africannaturalheritage.org/Victoria-Falls-Zimbabwe-and-Zambia.html