Lake Bangweulu
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Lake Bangweulu and the Bangweulu Swamps comprise a large and shallow irregularly-shaped lake and even larger wetlands on the northern plateau of Zambia at an elevation of 1140 m, lying in Luapula Province and Northern Province.
With a long axis of 75 km and a width of up to 40 km, the lake's permanent open water surface is about 3000 sq km, which expands when its swamps are in flood. It has an average depth of only 4 m.[1]
The lake and swamp system is fed and drained through the wetlands by the Chambeshi and Luapula rivers respectively which form the longest source of the River Congo.
The lake and swamps face environmental stress and conservation issues.[2]
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[edit] Sections of the lake
Sand spits divide the main body of the lake into three sections parallel to its main axis. Along the north-west shore, they divide off a section called Lake Chifunabuli, 50 km long but only 5 km wide. Its entrance through a gap in the sand spits (the end of Lifunge Peninsula) is only 250 m wide. Along the south-east margin, Mbabala island divides off a section called Lake Walilupe, 30 km long by 13 km wide. (The main, middle section of the lake is known only as Bangweulu). There are numerous bays, inlets, smaller lakes and lagoons around Lake Bangweulu, connected by open water, narrow channels or swamps. The largest is Kampolombo, 30 km by 5 km, south of the main lake and connected by channels 11 km long. Only the western side of the lake and some of the islands have a well defined shore, with sandy beaches in places especially around Samfya, though even there some of the bays and inlets are swampy.[3][4]
[edit] The Bangweulu Swamps
To the north, east and south of the lake extends the Bangweulu Swamps, which exceed the lake in area. Extending over an area of roughly 120 km by 75 km they are normally not less than 9000 sq km, but in flood the combined area of the lake and swamps reaches 15,000 sq km.[1][3]
They are fed from the north-east by the Chambeshi River, and drain to the south into the Luapula River. The lake is connected to these rivers by a complex mass of channels through the swamps which may become choked by vegetation and change their course; there is no easy navigation between them.[4]
The swamps act as a check on annual flooding by releasing water slowly through many lagoons and channels. They help prevent the Luapula valley being flooded in the rainy season.
Grassy floodplains lie south of the swamps, acting as an extension of the region in the wet season. They are famous for large herds of the near-endemic black lechwe. Further information on wildlife of the wetlands is found on the Bangweulu Wetlands ecosystem page.
[edit] Human settlement
The area of the lake is inhabited by Bemba people and affiliated tribes who also speak Chibemba. The Bemba heartland of Paramount Chief Chitimukulu lies to the north-east.
The lake supports a seasonal fishing industry and the population may increase markedly during the season. The lake crocodiles are a hazard to fishermen.[5]
Samfya lies on the south western shore and is the administrative and boat transport base and tourism centre. Chilubi (which is bordered by the swamps to the east), Mbabala and Chishi Islands are the main centres of population on the lake.[4] Nsombo is the principal town on the northern side. Lubwe on Lake Chifunabuli has a Catholic mission and hospital, near where the explorer and missionary David Livingstone was the first European to see the lake. He was taken by canoe as far as Mbabala Island. His last expedition foundered in the swamps and their maze of shifting channels as he struggled to discover the rivers draining in and out of the lake. He died in 1873 in Chief Chitambo's village on the edge of the southern flood plain, about 100 km from the lake itself.[6] The spot is marked by the Livingstone Memorial (see map).
[edit] References
- ^ a b http://www.ilec.or.jp/database/afr/dsafr021.html ILEC Data Summary: Lake Bangweulu.
- ^ Halls, A.J. (ed.), 1997. "Wetlands, Biodiversity and the Ramsar Convention: The Role of the Convention on Wetlands in the Conservation and Wise Use of Biodiversity". Ramsar Convention Bureau, Gland, Switzerland
- ^ a b Google Earth (http://earth.google.com) accessed 31 January 2007.
- ^ a b c Terracarta/International Travel Maps, Vancouver Canada: "Zambia, 2nd edition", 2000
- ^ http://www.times.co.zm/news Times of Zambia accessed 31 January 2007.
- ^ David Livingstone & Horace Waller (Ed): “The Last Journals of David Livingstone in Central Africa from 1865 to his Death”. (Two Volumes). John Murray, 1874.
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