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Africa: New Project to Address Flooding on Limpopo River |
| September 27, 2004 |
 | The Limpopo River's massive brown plume of sediment is visible at the centre of this satellite image of the Indian Ocean.
Photo: NASA |
The United Nations Environment Program (UNEP) announced today a multi-million dollar project to reduce the impacts of flooding on Southern Africa’s lower Limpopo River.
The project aims to improve management of the land along the river, establish early warning systems and boost response to extreme flooding events by governments, local authorities and communities.
The 1,800 kilometre Limpopo River has its source in South Africa, flowing on a semicircular course northeast and then east through Zimbabwe and Mozambique to the Indian Ocean. Unpredictable rainfall and extensive land degradation make the Limpopo River basin prone to alternating episodes of drought and flooding.
The two-year UNEP project is in response to the devastating loss of life and livelihoods that occurred over the past five years as a result of the region’s worst floods in living memory. Mozambique was briefly the focus of world attention in 2000 as a cyclone swept through the region, resulting in three weeks of flooding that left thousands homeless.
The project seeks to address and find solutions to the wide range of factors that aggravated the flooding. Numerous activities are planned, including the creation of regional land management action plans. These may involve augmenting and restoring natural flood defenses, such as wetlands, which are able to absorb floodwaters.
A key feature of the project will be the fostering of improved cooperation between the three countries involved - Mozambique, South Africa and Zimbabwe - as well as working with neighbouring countries such as Botswana to facilitate flood forecasting.
In addition to providing improved training for national experts in these areas, the project will undertake studies to pinpoint regional and national gaps in flood warning and alert systems. Flood awareness seminars and information packs, distributed in local languages, are also part of the new initiative.
Surveys of ‘safe’ areas will also be conducted to identify areas along the lower Limpopo River basin where both rural and urban communities and livestock can go when a flood alert is issued.
Source: Vancouver Aquarium Marine Science Centre
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