in Africa, whose size has varied over the centuries. Lake Chad gave
its name to the country of Chad. The name Chad is a local word meaning
"large expanse of water," in other words, a "lake."
Lake Chad is located in the far west of Chad and the northeast of
Nigeria. Parts of the lake also extend to Niger and Cameroon. It is
fed mainly by the Chari River through the Lagone tributary, which used
to provide 90 per cent of its water. It was once Africa's largest
water reservoir in the Sahel region, covering an area of about 26,000
square kilometres, about the size of the US state of Maryland and
bigger than Israel or Kuwait.
Lake Chad is believed to be a remnant of a former inland sea which has
grown and shrunk with changes in climate over the past 13,000 years.
At its largest, around 4000 BC, this lake is estimated to have covered
an area of 400,000 km², (approx. 154,000 sq miles). Lake sediments
appear to indicate dry periods, when the lake nearly dried up, around
8500 BC, 5500 BC, 2000 BC, and 100 BC."
As you approach the Lake Chad basin from Maiduguri, in northeastern
Nigeria, the atmosphere of despair is telling. The air is dusty, the
wind is fierce and unrelenting, the plants are wilting and the earth
is turning into sand dunes. The sparse vegetation is occasionally
broken by withered trees and shrubs. The lives of herders, fisherfolk
and farmers are teetering on the edge as the lake dries up before
their eyes.
Lake Chad is economically important, providing water to more than 20
million people living in the four countries that surround it ( Chad,
Cameroon, Niger, and Nigeria) on the edge of the Sahara Desert. Up to
one million water birds flock to the lake in the palearctic winter.
The many floating islands are home to a wide variety of wildlife
including crocodiles, hippopotamus, fish, waterfowl and shore birds.
In April 2008 the Lake Chad Wetlands in Nigeria was added to the
Ramsar List, a List of Wetlands of International importance.
4WD and a guide are required when traveling in this area. Abandoned
once thriving fishing villages can be seen dotted along the route, the
closest shores of the lake now some 10km away. A fishing industry does
still exist, with some fishing villages having sprung up in the middle
of the drying lake.
The Lake Chad Game Reserve is currently the only protected area on
Lake Chad. It occupies 150km along the western shore which constitutes
more than half of the Nigerian shoreline of the lake and covers 7,044
km2.
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