Bajo Zambeze

Lower Zambezi National Park was established in 1983 in south-eastern Zambia, along the northern bank of the Zambezi River, and protects some 4,092 km². Before that date it was the president's private hunting ground.

The park extends between the river and the valley escarpment, which rises abruptly to the north and acts as a natural barrier for wildlife, concentrating it on the floodplain. Facing it, on the Zimbabwean bank, is Mana Pools National Park, a World Heritage Site since 1984, so that together the two protect the same stretch of river.

The Zambezi is broad here, with islands, channels and sandbanks, and the characteristic way to visit it is by canoe: river safaris allow visitors to approach elephants swimming between the islands, hippos and crocodiles. The riverside stands of acacia albida, with their pods, draw large concentrations of elephant and buffalo in the dry season. The park is also home to African wild dog and an abundant river birdlife. Its main recent threat has been the open-cast mining projects proposed within its boundaries, which have been challenged in the Zambian courts.