THE LOST LAKES !

New Zealand Times, Volume LII, Issue 12283, 31 October 1925, Page 11

THE LOST LAKES !

! Big Scheme to Redeem ! ! the Kalahari ! u . ,

Okarango and Kunene fivers, flowing westwards. KALAHARI NOT A DESERT It was proposed at the time to build weirs across the Okarango and Choho rivers—the latter is a tributary of the Zambesi—and to restore, by way of Lake N’ganii, the lost system of rivers and lakes through the Kalahari. The project, however, fell through, as it was deemed too fantastic and expensive. Now, however, broadminded men are awakening to the fact that the rainfall over the whole of the central portion of the Union is gradually decreasing year by year, and scientists and meteu_roluukstS( agree tli.it this in in great

part due to the atmospheric conditions now- obtaining over the once fertile Kalahari. A scheme has therefore been proposed to build a dam across the Kunene river, and to restore, at least in part,, the old scheme of Nature. The term desert as applied to the Kalahari is a misnomer; it is, in fact, an area of ample forest and vast undo: lating plains, which, with, very little rainfall, become covered with tall rich crass. The neighbouring territory pi British Bechuanalamf is one of the finest cattle-raising district* in the Union. It, too, however, has begun to suffer from. lack of rainfall consequent on the drying up of the Kalahari. FORESTS FAST DYING The forests of the Kalahari are fast dying; great tracts, in fact, are already dead, and if the old scheme of things is to he restored at all the N’gami project will have to bo pushed forward with all possible speed. It is an enormous undertaking, calling for an enormous initial expense whose benefits will not be appreciable for a generation or more.