My Dream of Many Years Come True...Almost!

[Pumbaa]

WoW Lisbeth,

that is looking indeed very peaceful and lovely

Love all the hippo heads popping out of the water, the cattle egrets on the papyrus (looks very special) and for sure all the storks and ibises.

Would also love to spend a month there

[Flutterby]

Stunning scenery!!

Those guides must really know their stuff to find their way around those waterways.

[Klipspringer]

I read somewhere that these channels get blocked by papyrus and even the large waterways will stop flowing, that's why the lodges there do some papyrus cleaning to keep the channels flowing.

So they have their papyrus encroachment there.

[Lisbeth]

Cyperus papyrus

Cyperus papyrus (papyrus, papyrus sedge, paper reed, Indian matting plant, Nile grass) is a species of aquatic flowering plant belonging to the sedge family Cyperaceae. It is a tender herbaceous perennial, native to Africa, and forms tall stands of reed-like swamp vegetation in shallow water.

Papyrus sedge (and its close relatives) has a very long history of use by humans, notably by the Ancient Egyptians—it is the source of papyrus paper, one of the first types of paper ever made. Parts of the plant can be eaten, and the highly buoyant stems can be made into boats. It is now often cultivated as an ornamental plant.

In nature, it grows in full sun, in flooded swamps, and on lake margins throughout Africa, Madagascar, and the Mediterranean countries.

Description
This tall, robust, leafless aquatic plant can grow 4 to 5 m (13 to 16 ft) high.[3] It forms a grass-like clump of triangular green stems that rise up from thick, woody rhizomes. Each stem is topped by a dense cluster of thin, bright green, thread-like stems around 10 to 30 cm (4 to 10 in) in length, resembling a feather duster when the plant is young. Greenish-brown flower clusters eventually appear at the ends of the rays, giving way to brown, nut-like fruits.

The younger parts of the rhizome are covered by red-brown, papery, triangular scales, which also cover the base of the culms. Botanically, these represent reduced leaves, so strictly it is not quite correct to call this plant fully "leafless".

Egyptians used the plant (which they called aaru) for many purposes, including for making papyrus. Its name has an uncertain origin, but was rendered in Hellenistic Greek as πάπυρος.

Cyperus papyrus is nearly extinct in its native habitat in the Nile Delta, where in ancient times it was widely cultivated. It is for example depicted on a restored stucco fragment from the palace of Amenhotep III near the present day village of Malkata. In Egypt today, only a small population remains in Wadi El Natrun. Theophrastus's History of Plants states that it grew in Syria, and according to Pliny's Natural History, it was also a native plant of the Niger River and the Euphrates.[5] Neither the explorer Peter Forsskål, an apostle of Carl Linnaeus, in the 18th century, nor the Napoleonic expedition saw it in the delta.

Papyrus can be found in tropical rain forests, tolerating annual temperatures of 20 to 30 °C (68 to 86 °F) and a soil pH of 6.0 to 8.5. It flowers in late summer, and prefers full sun to partly shady conditions. Like most tropical plants, it is sensitive to frost. In the United States, it has become invasive in Florida and has escaped from cultivation in Louisiana, California, and Hawaii.

Papyrus sedge forms vast stands in swamps, shallow lakes, and along stream banks throughout the wetter parts of Africa, but it has become rare in the Nile Delta. In deeper waters, it is the chief constituent of the floating, tangled masses of vegetation known as sudd. It also occurs in Madagascar, and some Mediterranean areas such as Sicily and the Levant.

The "feather-duster" flowering heads make ideal nesting sites for many social species of birds. As in most sedges, pollination is by wind, not insects, and the mature fruits after release are distributed by water.

Papyrus is a C4 sedge that forms highly productive monotypic stands over large areas of wetland in Africa.

Uses
In Ancient Egypt, papyrus was used for various of purposes such as baskets, sandals, blankets, medicine, incense, and boats. The woody root was used to make bowls and utensils, and was burned for fuel. Egyptians made efficient use of all parts of the plant. Papyrus was an important "gift of the Nile" which is still preserved and perpetuated in the Egyptian culture. Along with the economic uses, it also has environmental value, playing a role in the cleaning of the environment and regulation of the ecosystem. On Lake Chad, coming out of rotting masses of plant life, it develops floating islands that play a significant role in the lower water levels

I wonder if the communities in the Delta make use of it for the same objects as the ancient Egyptians

[Lisbeth]

Channel blockage and abandonment in the Okavango Delta has been considered to be caused by either a combination of encroachment of Cyperus papyrus from the channel banks into the channels, or the development of papyrus debris blockages in the lower reaches of major distributary channels. This has been investigated in the present study by measuring rates of encroachment of papyrus from the banks into the channels, rates of debris production from the channel fringes, quantities of debris flowing along different channel sections, as well as the dimensions, colonization, decomposition and overall spatial dynamics of debris blockages along the lower reaches of the major distributary channel of the Okavango Delta. Results do not support suggestions that papyrus growth and/or debris production cause channel blockage and abandonment. First, encroachment is inversely related to current velocity within the channel fringe, and current velocities in the fringes of those distributary channels that are considered to be prone to blockage and abandonment are amongst the highest in the study area. Secondly, channel cross-sectional area is maintained by erosion of the channel bed beneath floating debris blockages. Thirdly, there is no evidence for the gradual upstream development of debris blockages in the lower reaches of major distributary channels. Data on hydrological aspects on the lower reach of a major distributary channel system suggest that sedimentation processes, leading to aggradation of the channel bed and to a decline in current velocity may be the cause of channel decline. This appears to be accompanied by encroachment of the channel from the margin by papyrus and by the development of more permanent blockages than were observed in the present study. This sequence of events (encroachment and blockage) is therefore considered to be a symptom and not the cause of channel decline and abandonment.

[Lisbeth]

Angola, Botswana and Namibia co-manage shared river system of the Okavango Delta

Tuesday, 4 June 2019

The three countries agree on a roadmap to explore the boundary extension of the Okavango Delta World Heritage site to protect the river basin and the unique wetland system.

The States Parties of Angola, Botswana and Namibia met in Maun in Botswana on 3-4 June 2019 to discuss transboundary cooperation and ways to improve conservation of the Okavango Delta (Botswana) World Heritage site together with UNESCO and other partners. The roadmap adopted foresees the creation of a joint steering committee and a feasibility study on the proposed transnational extension of the World Heritage site.

“This shared river system that transcends boundaries has brought the three States Parties together for its protection. The Cubango-Okavango River Basin is internationally important for its hydrology, biodiversity and biological productivity”, declared Hon. Frans Van Der Westhuizen, the Minister of Local Government and Rural Development of Botswana in his opening remarks.

The Okavango Delta depends on the water fed by the Cubango and Cuito Rivers that originate from the Angolan highlands, passing through Namibia on its way to the Delta in Botswana. The local inhabitants call the source waters in Angola as Fonte da Vida, the Source of Life.

“UNESCO is pleased to partner with the Botswana National Museum and Monuments in organizing this meeting. The World Heritage Convention can be a powerful tool to formalize international cooperation over shared heritage resources and promote sustainable development by combining a global standard framework with the development of operational projects and concrete collaboration”, said Mr Guy Debonnet from UNESCO’s World Heritage Centre.

Cubango-Okavango River basin is among the world’s last undisturbed river systems, but faces threats due to development pressure. The Delta is home to indigenous peoples and some of the world’s most endangered species of large mammal, such as the cheetah, white rhinoceros, black rhinoceros, African wild dog and lion.

“Enforced protection of the river basin and sustainable development of the region are the Government of Angola’s priorities”, confirmed Mr Rui Lisboa, KAZA Unit Representative of the Ministry of Tourism of Angola.

Ms Veno Kauaria, the Commissioner for Culture from the Ministry of Education, Arts and Culture of Namibia recalled: “We believe that having sites inscribed on the World Heritage List is not an end but a means to a whole, which commits the States Parties to the ongoing care to ensure that the sites’ Outstanding Universal Value is protected, conserved and managed for all times.”

The Okavango Delta in Botswana was designated as a Ramsar site in 1996 and as a World Heritage site in 2014 due to its exceptional biodiversity and scenic values. Namibia’s Bwabwata – Okavango became a Ramsar site in 2013 and was included on Namibia’s World Heritage Tentative list in 2016. Angola is currently ratifying the Ramsar Convention and updating its World Heritage Tentative List.

The meeting brought together experts from the three States Parties, regional organisation such as the Permanent Okavango River Basin Water Commission (OKACOM) and the Kavango Zambezi Transfrontier Conservation Area (KAZA TFCA), representatives of local communities and council, Okavango Research Institute and international experts from UNESCO, IUCN, African World Heritage Fund and UNDP.

This meeting was made possible thanks to the generous financial support by the Government of Botswana and the UNESCO/Flanders Funds-in-Trust cooperation of the Government of Flanders (Belgium).

[Klipspringer]

Lisbeth.


I like reading this stuff.

[Lisbeth]

[Klipspringer]

How about some research on the water lilies And I am interested in this Plover, too

But you can't always get what you want

[Richprins]

I wonder why the delta does not turn into a salt pan as there is no outlet for the river?