An expedition to save Africa�s last wilderness
Thalefang Charles | Friday February 12, 2016 12:28
In 2015, researcher Dr Steve Boyes of Okavango Wilderness Project (OWP) led an ambitious National Geographic research expedition travelling by mekoro from the source of Cuito River in the Angolan highlands down through the Okavango Delta to the ‘end of water’ at Lake Xau in the Boteti region.
Last year’s expedition, which took 121 days and covered 2,476 kilometres, established “unrivalled biodiversity data that has helped us prioritise the areas we are surveying for the next few months,” Boyes said.
From last year’s megatransect, biodiversity findings have already revealed six new fish species and three new plant species.
Researchers expect at least four more new fish species and 15 new plant species from delayed samples.
This February, Boyes is returning with a group of biodiversity experts to the Angolan highlands at the sources of the Okavango Delta’s biggest tributaries, Cuito and Cuanavale Rivers on a research expedition dubbed #Cuito16.
“To protect the ecological functioning of a river system and support the breeding biology of many species, we need to protect the sources” said Boyes, who studied for his PhD in the Okavango Delta.
The sources or headwaters of the Cuito/Cuanavale River are virtually unknown with many undocumented species, unknown landmarks (like waterfalls), and local communities that have had no contact with the outside world for over 40 years due to conflict in the area.
The team will also explore the sources of the Kwando and Zambezi Rivers, although Boyes this week had exciting news for explorers on this particular mystery.
“We believe that we have found the actual source of the Zambezi River in the Angolan highlands just seven kilometres from the Cuito source lake, hundreds of kilometres further into Angola than previously recorded.”
Boyes also said the timing of the current expedition, which is being undertaken during the wet summer, is important.
“Last year, we undertook our biodiversity surveys during winter to coincide with the annual flood into the Okavango Delta. This is, however, not an ideal time to study biodiversity, as there is no rain and reptiles, insects, fish, mammals and birds are far less active.
“Migratory bird species are away and plants are not flowering. This is why we have to undertake far more in-depth surveys during the summer months this year,” he elaborated.
There is high expectation that the expedition will discover new species of plants and animals because the region being explored is one of the least-surveyed locations on the planet for biodiversity, according to Boyes.
The expedition has attracted top biodiversity experts and the research team is led by Dr Boyes (UCT), Bill Branch (Bayworld), Paul Skelton (SAIAB), John Mendelsohn (RAISON), Maans Booysen, Nigel Barker (University of Pretoria), and David Goyder (Kew Gardens). The research coordinators are Adjany Costa (Angola) and Goetz Neef (Namibia), both of whom are biodiversity experts with MSc degrees.
The survey team boasts of four entomologists: Dr Helen James, Dr Lorenzo Prendini, Dr Ian Engelbrecht and Dr John Midgely, two bird experts: Ian Sinclair and David Allan, two herpetologists: Dr Luke Verbrugt and Ninda Baptista (Angola)), a fish expert: Ben van der Waal, and five mammal experts: Professors Chris Chimimba and Peter Taylor, Dr Kirsten Wimberger and two PhD students.
Three Bayei polers from Seronga also form part of the core expedition team and Boyes stressed the importance of bringing the river people throughout their survey of the source.
“The thoughts and perspectives of the Bayei on our team have guided much of my thinking on the way forward. We could not do this project without the participation of local people from Angola, Namibia and Botswana,” said Boyes.
The expedition has a media team comprising of this writer (Botswana), Chris Boyes, Abhi Mandela and Zach Vincent.
“Our research findings and exploration are going to open these landscapes in Angola to conservation.
“With the Angolan government we aim to establish three Ramsar sites, several large forest reserves, and the largest wildlife reserve in the world that extends between the Cuito and Cuando Rivers. We are also consulting with local government on agricultural development and irrigation schemes to guarantee the flow of the Okavango River in perpetuity,” Boyes says.
He adds: “This work will help save Africa’s most important unprotected landscape. To me, this is one of the biggest conservation opportunity in Africa this decade”.
Boyes says one of OWP’s main objectives is for shared benefit across the Okavango River Basin rooted in tourism development and the sustainable supply of water to Angola, Namibia and Botswana for development, as well as water and food security.
Boyes believes that if the three countries could work together and deliver on the core objectives of the KAZA-TFCA and OKACOM agreements, they could show the world that transboundary conservation does work.
Follow the live updates from the expedition here:
Instagram: @intotheokavango
Twitter: @intotheokavango
Facebook: www.facebook.com/okavangowildernessproject
#Cuito2016 #Okavango16