Impacto ambiental da Barragem de Cahora Bassa. estudo do caso da Ilha de Inhangoma, 1974-1975

Abstract

In 1974/1975, the construction of the Cahora Bassa dam was concluded, with a view to using water from the Zambezi River. Before; in 1958, another one had been built upstream, of the same size and with the same purpose, that of the Kariba. In addition to the production of electricity, the colonial authorities hoped, with the Cahora Bassa dam, to boost social and economic development in the Lower Zambezi region, through the implantation of various industrial and agricultural undertakings. In fact, Cahora Bassa came to regulate the flow of the river, with effects on the downstream ecosystem, taking into account that this depended on annual fluctuation, with high and low peaks. Agriculture, fishing and pastoralism depended on this seasonality.

Thus, the present work has as main objective to analyze the environmental changes resulting from the regulation of the river flow. Another objective is to explain how these environmental changes affect riverside populations in their socio-economic activities. It was shown that with the regulation of the river, the annual cycle of connectivity between the river and the yearly flooded plains was broken, with an impact on agriculture, on the soil and on the bed and banks of the river. The life pattern of the fish was altered, with effects on its access. These changes negatively affected riparian populations (TRADUÇÃO NOSSA)