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INTRODUCTION

The State of the Environment in the Zambezi Basin 2000 marks the first time that an assessment of a single ecosystem has been undertaken and reported upon in southern Africa. Although state of the environment in the Southern African Development Community (SADC) region is relatively new, the traditional approach has been to focus on national boundaries, natural resources or sectors. This report breaks new ground, showing the region's acknowledgement of the importance of ecosystems management in the efforts of SADC countries, which are aimed at sustainable development and regional integration.

The State of the Environment in the Zambezi Basin 2000 looks at the shared natural resources of the basin, taking into account ecological, social and economic issues. These three factors are critical to achieving a state of sustainability in the Zambezi Basin. The rationale for sustainable natural resource management is to achieve a balance between human demands on natural resources and the natural environment's ability to meet these demands.

Draining a total basin area of over 1.32 million square kilometres, stretching across eight member states - Angola, Botswana, Malawi, Mozambique, Namibia, Tanzania, Zambia and Zimbabwe - the Zambezi Basin constitutes one of Africa's most important natural resources. It is an important habitat as far as biodiversity is concerned. Sustainable management of the basin is crucial to the development of not only the basin states but the rest of SADC as well. The State of the Environment in the Zambezi Basin 2000 is therefore, an attempt to highlight the environmental issues in the basin, and flag areas of concern.

FORMAT

The State of the Environment in the Zambezi Basin 2000, which is being published simultaneously in English and Portuguese, has 13 chapters divided into three distinct sections - four chapters providing background information on the people and physical aspects of the basin. The second section deals with management issues while the last chapter deals with trends and scenarios. The issues covered are as follows:

• Chapter 1 gives an overview of the people and issues in the Zambezi Basin.
• Chapter 2 looks at the physical features and climate.
• Chapter 3 looks at water and wetland resources.
• Chapter 4 is on biological resources and diversity.
• Chapter 5 is on agriculture.
• Chapter 6 is on industry.
• Chapter 7 covers energy issues.
• Chapter 8 is on tourism.
• Chapter 9 is on pollution.
• Chapter 10 covers poverty issues.
• Chapter 11 on gender issues.
• Chapter 12 focuses on regional cooperation.
• Chapter 13 is on trends and scenarios.

THE PROCESS

The State of the Environment in the Zambezi Basin 2000 report was prepared as part of the ongoing Communicating the Environment Programme (CEP). While the original CEP partnership involved the SADC Environment and Land Management Sector (ELMS), the World Conservation Union Regional Office for Southern Africa (IUCN-ROSA), and the Southern African Research and Documentation Centre-Musokotwane Environment Resource Centre for Southern Africa (SARDC-IMERCSA), two new regional institutions: SADC Water Sector Coordination Unit (WSCU) and the Zambezi River Authority (ZRA) were involved as full partners in the preparation of this report. Our funding partner was the Swedish International Development Cooperation Agency (Sida).

The State of the Environment in the Zambezi Basin 2000 meets one of the key aims of Agenda 21, the blueprint for sustainable development during this century. Agenda 21 stresses that integrated management of natural resources is the key to maintaining ecosystems and the essential services that they provide. The report adds on to other SOE materials that have been produced over the past two years as part of this initiative. A total of 12 factsheets, 10 educational posters, six newsletters, a bibliography of literature materials on the basin, an electronic photographic database and a comprehensive website have been published.

The partners in this initiative hope that the State of the Environment in the Zambezi Basin 2000 and all the other materials referred to above, will popularise social, economic and environmental issues in the Zambezi Basin. The materials are aimed at a wide target audience, from politicians and policymakers to civic society and communities in the region - both rural and urban.

The overall aim of this report is to challenge people, governments, organisations, researchers and the media to strive for the sustainable utilisation of resources.

In line with the Rio Earth Summit principles, the partners in this initiative believe the Zambezi Basin countries and their people can use their environment for sustainable development if there is a high level of environmental awareness. It is our view that the basin in particular and southern Africa in general, are still in a position to make choices about environmental policy and management, and that an informed public will not only widen and enhance the discussion, but will take positive action to achieve a state of sustainability.

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