Land Cover in the Basin

Land cover in the basin is directly related to the prevailing climate and soil type. The headwaters on the highland plateau are characterised by grassland, scattered bush and fairly extensive areas of traditional shifting cultivation. Further south up to Matala, the basin is covered by Miombo woodland. In the Middle Kunene, a mosaic of Miombo woodland and wet grassland is found. The latter covers the valley floors which are characterised by impeded drainage and vertisols. Extensive commercial cultivated areas are found in this area. As the climate becomes drier to the south, the vegetation becomes more open woodland and bush. The semi-arid to arid area downstream of the Ruacana falls is dominated by Mopane bush land and woodland developed on thin lithosols and riparian vegetation belts along the water courses (PJTC 1993).

The distribution of the main land cover classes across the Kunene River basin are shown in the map, table and chart below.

Summary of Main Generalised Land Cover for the Kunene River Basin

	Land cover	Area km²			Percentage of total
Water	693	0.7
Woods	17 762	16.7
Wooded Grassland	58 144	54.6
Closed Shrubland	7 420	7.0
Open Shrubland	6 081	5.7
Grassland	7 200	6.8
Crop land	5 484	5.1
Bare ground	3 704	3.5
Urban	12	<0.1
Total	106 500	100

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