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77-726: The Kafue Flats stretch for approximately 240 km (150 mi) east to west along the Kafue River from below the Itezhi-Tezhi gap, site of the Itezhi-Tezhi Dam , to Kafue town and the start of the Kafue Gorge. At their widest point they are 50 km (31 mi) wide, and their total area is around 6,500 km (2,500 sq mi). The elevation of the Kafue River falls 40 m (130 ft) along

154-425: A magnificent park ... A nation's Park , containing man and beast, in all the wild and freshness of their nature's beauty!" The first effort by the U.S. Federal government to set aside such protected lands was on 20 April 1832, when President Andrew Jackson signed legislation that the 22nd United States Congress had enacted to set aside four sections of land around what is now Hot Springs, Arkansas , to protect

231-445: A "national park" simply describes a general area that is relatively undeveloped, scenic, and attracts tourists, with some form of planning restrictions to ensure it maintains those characteristics. There may be substantial human settlements within the bounds of a national park. Conversely, parks that meet the criteria may be not be referred to as "national parks". Terms like "preserve" or "reserve" may be used instead. Starting in 1735

308-504: A channel into the Kafue. The area between the swamp and river is flood plain and when that and surrounding areas are inundated in the rainy season, the combined wetland exceeds 6,000 km . This is the first of the three main wildlife areas of the river, and the least surveyed and protected. The character of the river changes again, as it forms a less meandering dry-season channel with sandy banks and islands. Continuing south-west it enters

385-473: A complex pattern of floodplain , lagoons , ox-bow lakes , abandoning river channels, marshes and levees surrounded by grasslands and woodlands. The flats comprise two ecoregions . The central seasonally- and permanently flooded areas are part of the Zambezian flooded grasslands ecoregion, and the surrounding grasslands and woodlands are in the Zambezian and mopane woodlands ecoregion. The soils of

462-465: A depth of less than a metre in the rainy season (deeper in some lagoons and permanently swampy areas), and drying out to a clayey black soil in the dry season. The Kafue Flats are the third major wildlife area of the river. Tens of thousands of Kafue Lechwe live on the Kafue Flats and are adapted to wading the flooded areas. This area also has one of the greatest variety and concentrations of birds in

539-740: A few. John Muir is today referred to as the "Father of the National Parks" due to his work in Yosemite. He published two influential articles in The Century Magazine , which formed the base for the subsequent legislation. President Abraham Lincoln signed an Act of Congress on 1 July 1864, ceding the Yosemite Valley and the Mariposa Grove of giant sequoias (later becoming Yosemite National Park ) to

616-661: A full account. It was opened in 1906 to connect Kafue with Mazabuka and was originally meant to be part of the Cape to Cairo Railway . The first road bridge across the Kafue was originally built across the Thames in London during the Second World War. After the war, it was dismantled and installed some 9 km downstream from the railway bridge. Previously, road traffic crossed the river by pontoon. The T3 road crosses

693-704: A heated debate over whether the government had the right to create parks. The perceived mismanagement of Yosemite by the Californian state was the reason why Yellowstone was put under national control at its establishment six years later. In 1872, Yellowstone National Park was established as the United States' first national park, being also the world's first national park. In some European and Asian countries, however, national protection and nature reserves already existed - though typically as game reserves and recreational grounds set aside for royalty, such as

770-514: A lower cost basis and a larger geographical coverage (in 1989 when created, it was the largest protected area in Asia). It includes four of the six tallest mountains in the world: Everest , Lhotse , Makalu , and Cho Oyu . The QNNP is contiguous to four Nepali national parks, creating a transnational conservation area equal in size to Switzerland. In 1993, the Blue and John Crow Mountains National Park

847-462: A mature river. The area receives about 1,200 millimetres (47 in) of rain in the rainy season, and the river's channel soon reaches 100 metres (330 ft) wide with a floodplain of fluvial dambos 1 to 2 kilometres (0.62 to 1.24 mi) wide. Before the river reaches the Copperbelt towns, however, it loses its wide floodplain, the channel narrows to 30–40 m and it meanders less, in

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924-488: A national park system, with the creation of the Nahuel Huapi National Park in 1934, through the initiative of Francisco Moreno . After World War II , national parks were founded all over the world. The United Kingdom designated its first national park, Peak District National Park , in 1951. This followed perhaps 70 years of pressure for greater public access to the landscape. By the end of

1001-546: A part of the Forest of Fontainebleau (France, 1861). Yellowstone was part of a federally governed territory . With no state government that could assume stewardship of the land, the federal government took on direct responsibility for the park, the official first national park of the United States. The combined effort and interest of conservationists, politicians and the Northern Pacific Railroad ensured

1078-510: A reservoir 50 km long and up to 10 km wide. Further east, the river flows sluggishly across a flat plain called the Kafue Flats (formerly Butwa after the Twa people ) and for the third time develops intricate meanders in a maze of swampy channels and lagoons. This time however it also has an immense shallow flood plain which no roads or railways cross, 240 kilometres (150 mi) long and about 50 kilometres (31 mi) wide, flooded to

1155-541: A shallow valley only 40 m or so lower than the surrounding plateau. It flows close to the Copperbelt towns of Chililabombwe , Chingola and Mufulira , and through the outskirts of Kitwe . The popular picnic spot the Hippo Pool north of Chingola is protected as a national monument . In the Copperbelt, water is taken from the river to irrigate small farms and market gardens . At Kitwe it changes course to

1232-591: Is an area of natural, semi-natural, or developed land that is protected and owned by a government. Although governments hold different standards for national park designation, the conservation of 'wild nature' for posterity and as a symbol of national pride is a common motivation for the continued protection of all national parks around the world. National parks are almost always accessible to the public. Usually national parks are developed, owned and managed by national governments, though in some countries with federal or devolved forms of government, "national parks" may be

1309-483: Is listed in the IUCN Red List as vulnerable. Numbers of wattled crane in the flats dropped from between 2000 and 3000 in the 1970s to less than 1000 by 2002. Other important species found on the Kafue Flats include the crowned crane , slaty egret , lappet faced vulture , lesser kestrel and corn crake . Threats to the bird life of the Kafue Flats include changes to the intensity and timing of floods caused by

1386-531: Is now Royal National Park was established just south of Sydney , Colony of New South Wales , on 26 April 1879, becoming the world's second official national park. Since Mackinac lost its national park status, the Royal National Park is, by some considerations, the second oldest national park now in existence. Banff National Park became Canada's first national park in 1885. New Zealand established Tongariro National Park in 1887. In Europe,

1463-411: Is perceived as a brand name that is associated with nature-based tourism and it symbolizes a "high quality natural environment with a well-designed tourist infrastructure". The duties of a park ranger are to supervise, manage, and/or perform work in the conservation and use of park resources. This involves functions such as park conservation; natural, historical, and cultural resource management; and

1540-569: Is the largest tributary of the Zambezi , and of Zambia 's principal rivers, it is the most central and the most urban . More than 50% of Zambia's population live in the Kafue River Basin and of these around 65% are urban. It has a mean flow rate of 320 cubic metres per second (11,000 cu ft/s) through its lower half, with high seasonal variations. The river discharges 10 cubic kilometres (2.4 cu mi) per year into

1617-648: Is the largest sugar producer in Zambia and operated on approximately 20,000 hectares of irrigated farmland. North of the Kafue Flats, Consolidated Farming Ltd., a Zambian company, produces sugar under the Kafue Sugar brand from a 9,000-hectare estate pumping water from the Kafue Flats. To the east of Consolidated Farming, the Chiansi irrigation scheme grows wheat and other irrigated crops on 200 hectares with plans to expand to 2,500 hectares. The Kafue Flats consists of

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1694-568: The American frontier and were meant to be monuments to America's true history. Yet, in some instances, the lands that were to be set aside and protected in formerly colonized lands were already being inhabited by native communities, who were then removed off of these lands to create pristine sites for public consumption. Critics claim that the removal of people from national parks enhances the belief that nature can only be protected when humans do not exist within it, and that this leads to perpetuating

1771-563: The Itezhi-Tezhi Dam . Commercial plantations , especially those bordering the Kafue flats take large quantities of water for irrigation. Chief of these is the Nakambala Sugar Estate, which draws in excess of 720,000 m per day to irrigate 134.13 square kilometres of land to grow sugar cane. National parks A national park is a nature park designated for conservation purposes because of unparalleled national natural, historic, or cultural significance. It

1848-729: The Kafue National Park , second largest national park in Africa, where it receives its two largest tributaries, the Lunga and Lufupa rivers, also from the north. The Kafue skirts the south-east edge of the Busanga Plain, one of Africa's premier wildlife areas, known for large herds of cape buffalo , zebra and antelope . In the rainy season the Lufupa floods the plain. Like the upper Zambezi, Okavango and Cuando rivers,

1925-573: The Lusaka - Mongu road west of Lusaka. The 500 km (190 sq mi) park is home to a large abundance and variety of waterbirds as well as lechwe , sitatunga , zebra and African buffalo . 6,000 square kilometres (2,300 sq mi) of the Kafue Flats outside of the two national parks are covered by the Kafue Flats Game Management Area (GMA)( IUCN Category VI protected area ). The GMA affords protection to

2002-517: The Naples government undertook laws to protect Natural areas, which could be used as a game reserve by the royal family; Procida was the first protected site; the difference between the many previous royal hunting preserves and this one, which is considered to be closer to a Park rather than a hunting preserve, is that Neapolitan government already considered the division into the present-day wilderness areas and non-strict nature reserves. In 1810,

2079-682: The Tobago Main Ridge Forest Reserve (in what is now Trinidad and Tobago; established in 1776) and the area surrounding Bogd Khan Uul Mountain (Mongolia, 1778), which were restricted from cultivation to protect surrounding farmland, are considered the oldest legally protected areas . Parks Canada , established on May 19, 1911, is the world's oldest national park service. The International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) and its World Commission on Protected Areas (WCPA) have defined "National Park" as its Category II type of protected areas . According to

2156-730: The Zambezi River . The Kafue River rises at an elevation of 1,350 metres (4,430 ft) on the relatively flat plateau just south the border between Zambia and the Democratic Republic of the Congo 120 kilometres (75 mi) north-west of Chingola in the Copperbelt Province . The source of the Kafue River is in the North-western Province of Zambia. The area is Miombo woodland on

2233-420: The 1970s on land formerly used for cattle ranching. The 428 km (165 sq mi) Lochinvar National Park, famous for large numbers of Kafue lechwe , sits south of the Kafue River and is accessible from the Lusaka - Livingstone road at Monze . Lochinvar National Park has one of the highest numbers of vulnerable wattled crane in Africa. Blue Lagoon National Park, north of the Kafue, can be accessed from

2310-572: The 431 sites managed by the National Park Service of the United States, only 63 carry the designation of National Park. Countries with a large ecotourism industry, such as Costa Rica, often experience a huge economic effect on park management as well as the economy of the country as a whole. Tourism to national parks has increased considerably over time. In Costa Rica for example, a megadiverse country , tourism to parks has increased by 400% from 1985 to 1999. The term national park

2387-608: The Bemba and the Lozi fishermen who consider them inferior. By contrast the Ila are held in high regard by other groups due to their history of being one of the richest cattle-owning groups in the region, although fishing and hunting plays an equally significant role in their culture. The hydrology of the Kafue River and Kafue Flats have been significantly altered by the construction in the 1970s of two dams, firstly at Kafue Gorge downstream of

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2464-540: The Congo-Zambezi watershed, with many branching dambos lying 10 to 20 metres (33 to 66 ft) lower than the highest ground, producing a very gently undulating topography . The river starts as a trickle from the marshy dambos (the Munyanshi Swamp is a tributary) and with little slope to speed up river flow, it meanders south-eastwards sluggishly and within 50 kilometres (31 mi) has the character of

2541-590: The English poet William Wordsworth described the Lake District as a "sort of national property, in which every man has a right and interest who has an eye to perceive and a heart to enjoy." The painter George Catlin , in his travels through the American West , wrote during the 1830s that Native Americans in the United States might be preserved "(by some great protecting policy of government) ... in

2618-599: The IUCN definition. In many countries, including Indonesia, the Netherlands, and the United Kingdom, national parks do not adhere to the IUCN definition, while some areas which adhere to the IUCN definition are not designated as national parks. As many countries do not adhere to the IUCN definition, the term "national park" may be used loosely. In the United Kingdom , and in some other countries such as Taiwan ,

2695-506: The IUCN, 6,555 national parks worldwide met its criteria in 2006. IUCN is still discussing the parameters of defining a national park. The largest national park in the world meeting the IUCN definition is the Northeast Greenland National Park , which was established in 1974 and is 972,000 km (375,000 sq mi) in area. In 1969, the IUCN declared a national park to be a relatively large area with

2772-611: The Kafue used to flow south all the way to Lake Makgadikgadi and on to the Limpopo River , but the land in that area was uplifted . A rift valley formed running due east of where the Kafue National Park is now, and the Kafue river eroded a channel called the Itezhi-Tezhi Gap through a ridge of hills about 100 m high, flowing eastwards. The Itezhi-Tezhi Dam was built in 1977 at the gap and now forms

2849-591: The Lukanga Swamp help silt and pollution settle out so that the river becomes clear downstream. A report in April 2002 said: … natural wetlands are quite effective at controlling water pollution from mining in the Copperbelt … Tests show the Kafue to be clean of mining pollutants downstream from the Copperbelt. In the Kafue flats , the discharge of phosphates in excess fertiliser run-off from commercial farming and

2926-579: The Nakambala Sugar Estate can cause algal blooms and weed growth, reducing fish populations. Effluent from mining containing cadmium, lead and mercury have degraded the Kafue River Municipal water supply had to be suspended when the Kafue River turned blue due to slurry discharge Because of its size and geographic location, the Kafue River basin is an ecosystem that provides services and support to communities and industries that have different and sometimes conflicting interests in usage of

3003-470: The Zambian Cabinet approved a revised National Water policy that "aims to improve water resources management by establishing institutional coordination, engaging in modern methods of integrated water resource management while decentralising government policy to address diverse interests within the water sector". These have had major negative environmental effects on the river — see main article on

3080-563: The almost year-round releases means that parts of the flats, for instance Chunga Lagoon, now remain permanently flooded. In addition, the Kafue Gorge Dam has created a large reservoir which back up into the eastern end of the flats leading to areas of permanent inundation. The Kafue Flats include two national parks ( IUCN Category II protected areas ), the Lochinvar and Blue Lagoon National Parks . Both parks were established in

3157-400: The area between 200 and 300 years ago. They depended on farming, fishing, cattle rearing and wildlife, often moving between a fixed settlement in the woodlands and cattle camps in the flats after the floods have receded. In addition to the settled community there is also a seasonal influx of fishing communities from other parts of the country. These immigrants are mostly Bemba from the north of

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3234-443: The area has been designated an Important Bird and Biodiversity Area (IBA) by Birdlife International . The flats are home to large concentrations of resident and migratory waterbirds including significant breeding colonies deep within the swamps. The flats also host a high diversity and density of breeding raptors particularly vultures. The flats are an extremely important habitat for the wattled crane ( Bugeranus carunculatus ) which

3311-544: The best idea we ever had. Absolutely American, absolutely democratic, they reflect us at our best rather than our worst." The first area to use "national park" in its creation legislation was the U.S.'s Mackinac National Park , in 1875. (The area was later transferred to the state's authority in 1895, thus losing its official "national park" status. ) Following the idea established in Yellowstone and Mackinac, there soon followed parks in other nations. In Australia, what

3388-550: The building of the Itezhi-Tezhi Dam and subsequent change in intensity and timing of flooding as well as illegal poaching and the pressures of rising numbers of people and cattle. Along with lechwe, zebras are the dominant species of large mammal that are found in the flats. Wildebeest , buffalo , roan , kudu , hippo are present in limited numbers particularly in and around the Lochinvar and Blue Lagoon National Parks . The Kafue Flats area supports more than 450 species of threatened, endangered and migratory bird species and

3465-573: The country and the Copperbelt area, and Lozi from the Western Province . The population has increased significantly since the 1970s and by 2004 there were at least 11 major permanent fishing camps on the flats each of which was occupied by at least 500 fishermen. In addition, there were a large number of temporary fishing camps established during the dry season. In some cases, the Batwa are marginalised from other ethnic groups, particularly

3542-499: The creation of Yellowstone, Yosemite, and nearly 37 other national parks and monuments, another 44 years passed before an agency was created in the United States to administer these units in a comprehensive way – the U.S. National Park Service (NPS). The 64th United States Congress passed the National Park Service Organic Act , which President Woodrow Wilson signed into law on 25 August 1916. Of

3619-482: The dam at Itezhi-Tezhi, flooding of the Kafue Flats was the result of high flows within the Kafue River beginning to rise following the onset of the rains in November to December and with the peak flood occurring sometime between April and May. The flats would subsequently slowly drain with very little surface water remaining by October to November the following year. Releases from Itezhi-Tezhi dam are very different to

3696-434: The dam upstream at Itezhi-Tezhi, the spread of invasive weed species and the impact of increasing human populations. 15°38′S 27°04′E  /  15.633°S 27.067°E  / -15.633; 27.067 Kafue River The 1,576 kilometres (979 mi) long Kafue River is the longest river lying wholly within Zambia. Its water is used for irrigation and for generating hydroelectric power . It

3773-582: The decade a further nine national parks had been designated in the UK. Europe has some 359 national parks as of 2010. The Vanoise National Park in the Alps was the first French national park, created in 1963 after public mobilization against a touristic project . In 1971, Lahemaa National Park in Estonia was the first area to be designated a national park in the former Soviet Union . In 1973, Mount Kilimanjaro

3850-519: The development and operation of interpretive and recreational programs for the benefit of the visiting public. Park rangers also have fire fighting responsibilities and execute search and rescue missions. Activities also include heritage interpretation to disseminate information to visitors of general, historical, or scientific information. Management of resources such as wildlife, lake shores, seashores, forests, historic buildings, battlefields, archaeological properties, and recreation areas are also part of

3927-639: The dominion parks under the administration of the Dominion Park Branch (now Parks Canada ), within the Department of the Interior. The branch was established to "protect sites of natural wonder" to provide a recreational experience, centred on the idea of the natural world providing rest and spiritual renewal from the urban setting. Canada now has the largest protected area in the world with 450,000 km of national park space. Even with

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4004-621: The environment and wildlife whilst still allowing for the sustainable use of natural resources. The Kafue Flats were entered onto the Ramsar list of Wetlands of International Importance in 1991 covering an area of 6,000 km (2,300 sq mi) coincident with the Kafue Flats GMA. The land around the Kafue Flats are an important agricultural area in Zambia . As well as supporting a large number of subsistence and small-scale farmers,

4081-643: The first inhabitants of the Kafue Flats area but are now a small minority population settled on higher ground around the Kafue River channel where they support themselves through fishing. The Batwa are generally considered to be the surviving remnants of nomadic Bushmen who inhabited Zambia long before the Bantu peoples began to arrive from the Congo Basin to the north. The area is now dominated by Ila and Balundwe (or Lundwe, or Plateau Tonga ) farmers and cattle herders, in at least 21 chieftaincies, who came to

4158-752: The first national parks were a set of nine parks in Sweden in 1909, followed by the Swiss National Park in 1914. Africa's first national park was established in 1925 when Albert I of Belgium designated an area of what is now Democratic Republic of Congo centred on the Virunga Mountains as the Albert National Park (since renamed Virunga National Park ). In 1895, the Groenkloof Nature Reserve

4235-412: The flats and then at Itezhi-Tezhi upstream of the flats as parts of a scheme to generate hydroelectric power. The Kafue Gorge Dam , with 600MW of hydroelectric power generation, was completed in 1972 creating a reservoir downstream of the Kafue Flats with a storage capacity of 785 million m. To enable more power generation (up to 900 MW) another 65m high dam at Itezhi-Tezhi, upstream of the Kafue Flats,

4312-519: The flats are also a source of irrigation water for three large commercial farming operations concentrated around the eastern end of the flats. The oldest commercial farming operation on the Kafue Flats is the Nakambala Sugar Estate located on the southern edge of the flats at Mazabuka . The Nakambala estate, owned by Zambia Sugar Plc a subsidiary of South African company Illovo Sugar , along with outgrowers and smallholder farmers

4389-611: The flats are heavy in texture and tend to crack widely when dry, becoming very sticky and plastic when wet. These soils are mainly black or dark gray and produce an irregular surface relief known as gilgai consisting of a series of small ridges standing 20–60 cm above circular depressions about 2–7 meters in diameter. The main vegetation types of the Kafue Flats are woodland ( miombo , mopane , Acacia , and Combretum ), termitaria grassland, flooded grasslands, permanent swamps and levees and lagoons. The Kafue lechwe ( Kobus leche kafuensis ), an antelope specialised for living in

4466-844: The flats from 1,030 m (3,380 ft) at Itezhi-Tezhi to 990 m (3,250 ft) at Kafue town. The town of Mazabuka and the Nakambala sugar estate lie on the southeast edge and the small town of Namwala is situated at the southwest edge of the flats. The Kafue Flats fall within parts of the Itezhi-Tezhi and Mumbwa Districts in Central Province , Kafue District in Lusaka Province and Monze , Namwala and Mazabuka districts in Southern Province . The Batwa (or Twa ) are thought to have been

4543-514: The following defining characteristics: In 1971, these criteria were further expanded upon leading to more clear and defined benchmarks to evaluate a national park. These include: While the term national park is now defined by the IUCN, many protected areas in many countries are called national park even when they correspond to other categories of the IUCN Protected Area Management Definition, for example: While national parks are generally understood to be administered by national governments (hence

4620-399: The historical flows experienced within the Kafue River with the smooth annual rise and fall in discharge being replaced by sudden increases as large volumes of water are released from the dam. A substantial discharge is now maintained throughout the dry season whereas naturally this period is associated with lower river flows. Although maximum floods may have been reduced as a result of the dam,

4697-707: The job of a park ranger. Since the establishment of the National Park Service in the US in 1916, the role of the park ranger has shifted from merely being a custodian of natural resources to include several activities that are associated with law enforcement. They control traffic, manage permits for various uses, and investigate violations, complaints, trespass/encroachment, and accidents. National parks in former European colonies have come under criticism for allegedly perpetuating colonialism . National parks were created by individuals who felt that pristine, natural sections of nature should be set aside and preserved from urban development. In America, this movement came about during

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4774-457: The marshy conditions of the flats, is endemic to the area. There were estimated to be 250,000 lechwe living on the Kafue Flats in 1931, one of the highest animals carrying capacities in the world at 11,000 kg/km (63,000 lb/sq mi). By 2005 the number of lechwe was estimated to have fallen to 38,000, a number which remained mostly stable until the next census completed in 2009. The declining numbers of Kafue lechwe has been attributed to

4851-450: The name), in Australia, with the exception of six national parks, national parks are run by state governments and predate the Federation of Australia ; similarly, national parks in the Netherlands are administered by the provinces. In Canada, there are both national parks operated by the federal government and provincial or territorial parks operated by the provincial and territorial governments, although nearly all are still national parks by

4928-554: The natural, thermal springs and adjoining mountainsides for the future disposal of the U.S. government. It was known as Hot Springs Reservation , but no legal authority was established. Federal control of the area was not clearly established until 1877. The work of important leaders who fought for animal and land conservation were essential in the development of legal action. Some of these leaders include President Abraham Lincoln, Laurance Rockefeller, President Theodore Roosevelt, John Muir, and First Lady Lady Bird Johnson to name

5005-417: The passage of enabling legislation by the United States Congress to create Yellowstone National Park. Theodore Roosevelt and his group of conservationists, the Boone and Crockett Club , were active campaigners and were highly influential in convincing fellow Republicans and big business to back the bill. Yellowstone National Park soon played a pivotal role in the conservation of these national treasures, as it

5082-402: The responsibility of subnational, regional, or local authorities. The United States established Yellowstone National Park , the first "public park or pleasuring-ground for the benefit and enjoyment of the people," in 1872. Although Yellowstone was not officially termed a "national park" at the time, in practice it is widely held to be the first and oldest national park in the world. However,

5159-415: The river drops 550 metres (1,800 ft) over 60 kilometres (37 mi) through the Kafue Gorge . A second dam, the Kafue Gorge Dam , with a smaller reservoir, generates electricity. The lower Zambezi (originally a separate river) cut back through the rift valleys and eventually captured the Kafue. Their confluence is about 20 kilometres (12 mi) north of Chirundu . See Kafue Railway Bridge for

5236-493: The river in-between Chililabombwe and Chingola as well as in the city of Kitwe , both in the Copperbelt Province . The T2 road ( Cape to Cairo Road ) crosses the river 10 km south of the Kafue town centre. The Lusaka–Mongu Road crosses the river as the Kafue Hook Bridge in the Kafue National Park . As it flows through the Copperbelt the Kafue River is at great risk of pollution , not just from urban waste but from copper mine tailings . The swampy areas west of

5313-409: The river resources. In 1999, the World Wildlife Fund (WWF) initiated dialogue between the Zambian Government, the Zambia Electricity Supply Corporation (ZESCO) and local people to restore a more natural flow pattern to water releases from the Itezhi-Tezhi Dam built on the Kafue River. This project heavily influenced development of Zambian Government policy on water resources and in February 2010,

5390-420: The south-west and flows through forest and areas of flat rock over which it floods in the wet season, keeping to a channel about 50 m wide in the dry season. The river again develops intricate meanders and a maze of channels in a swampy floodplain, with oxbow lakes and lagoons. It flows 20 km west of the permanent part of the Lukanga Swamp which fills a circular depression, and which drains through

5467-402: The state of California. According to this bill, private ownership of the land in this area was no longer possible. The state of California was designated to manage the park for "public use, resort, and recreation". Leases were permitted for up to ten years and the proceeds were to be used for conservation and improvement. A public discussion followed this first legislation of its kind and there was

5544-401: The world. The Lochinvar and Blue Lagoon National Parks have been established on the flats. Around Mazabuka as the river gets closer to the town of Kafue , sugar plantations and other large agricultural estates have been established on the fertile black soil and use water from the river in the dry season. The Kafue Flats end at Kafue town and from there, as the rift valley gets deeper,

5621-602: Was classified as a National Park and was opened to public access in 1977. In 1989, the Qomolangma National Nature Preserve (QNNP) was created to protect 3.381 million hectares on the north slope of Mount Everest in the Tibet Autonomous Region of China. This national park is the first major global park to have no separate warden and protection staff—all of its management consists of existing local authorities, allowing

5698-575: Was completed in 1976. The reservoir stores 5,700 million m of water and covers a 370 km (140 sq mi) area of the Kafue River and its tributary the Musa River. The Itezhi-Tezhi Dam stores water during the wet season which is then released for the turbines at the Kafue Gorge Dam and power station during the dry season. Water takes approximately eight weeks to travel between Itezhi-tezhi and Kafue Gorge. Prior to construction of

5775-462: Was established as the first game sanctuary in Africa. In 1926, the government of South Africa designated Kruger National Park as the nation's first national park, although it was an expansion of the earlier Sabie Game Reserve established in 1898 by President Paul Kruger of the old South African Republic , after whom the park was named. Argentina became the third country in the Americas to create

5852-601: Was established in Jamaica to conserve and protect 41,198 hectares, including tropical montane rainforest and adjacent buffer areas. The site includes Jamaica's tallest peak ( Blue Mountain Peak ), hiking trails and a visitor center. The Park was also designated a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 2015. The world's first national park service was established May 19, 1911, in Canada. The Dominion Forest Reserves and Parks Act placed

5929-535: Was suffering at the hands of poachers and others who stood at the ready to pillage what they could from the area. Theodore Roosevelt and his newly formed Boone and Crockett Club successfully took the lead in protecting Yellowstone National Park from this plight, resulting in laws designed to conserve the natural resources in Yellowstone and other parks under the Government's purview. American Pulitzer Prize -winning author Wallace Stegner wrote: "National parks are

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