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The Inner Niger Delta, also known as the Macina or Masina, is the inland delta of the
Niger River The Niger River ( ; ) is the main river of West Africa, extending about . Its drainage basin is in area. Its source is in the Guinea Highlands in south-eastern Guinea near the Sierra Leone border. It runs in a crescent shape through Mal ...
. It is an area of fluvial wetlands, lakes and
floodplain A floodplain or flood plain or bottomlands is an area of land adjacent to a river which stretches from the banks of its channel to the base of the enclosing valley walls, and which experiences flooding during periods of high discharge.Goudi ...
s in the semi-arid
Sahel The Sahel (; ar, ساحل ' , "coast, shore") is a region in North Africa. It is defined as the ecoclimatic and biogeographic realm of transition between the Sahara to the north and the Sudanian savanna to the south. Having a hot semi-arid cli ...
area of central
Mali Mali (; ), officially the Republic of Mali,, , ff, 𞤈𞤫𞤲𞥆𞤣𞤢𞥄𞤲𞤣𞤭 𞤃𞤢𞥄𞤤𞤭, Renndaandi Maali, italics=no, ar, جمهورية مالي, Jumhūriyyāt Mālī is a landlocked country in West Africa. Ma ...
, just south of the
Sahara desert , photo = Sahara real color.jpg , photo_caption = The Sahara taken by Apollo 17 astronauts, 1972 , map = , map_image = , location = , country = , country1 = , ...
.


Location and description

The delta consists of the middle course of the
Niger River The Niger River ( ; ) is the main river of West Africa, extending about . Its drainage basin is in area. Its source is in the Guinea Highlands in south-eastern Guinea near the Sierra Leone border. It runs in a crescent shape through Mal ...
, between the bifurcated
Niger ) , official_languages = , languages_type = National languagesBani, which from here run north towards the desert. The Niger is the longest river in West Africa. Towns such as the river-port of
Mopti Mopti ( Bambara: ߡߏߕߌ tr. Moti) is a town and an urban commune in the Inner Niger Delta region of Mali. The town is the capital of the Mopti Cercle and the Mopti Region. Situated 630 km northeast of Bamako, the town lies at the confl ...
,
Sévaré Sévaré (or Sevare) is a town in the Mopti Region of Mali. It is a crossroads town of about 40,000 situated about southeast of Mopti and south of Fatoma, the old capital of Kunaari. From Sévaré one can access Bandiagara to the east, Gao ...
and
Djenné Djenné ( Bambara: ߘߖߋߣߣߋ tr. Djenne; also known as Djénné, Jenné and Jenne) is a Songhai people town and an urban commune in the Inland Niger Delta region of central Mali. The town is the administrative centre of the Djenné Cercle, ...
, with its mud-brick Great Mosque lie in the 400 km-long region. The
Fulani The Fula, Fulani, or Fulɓe people ( ff, Fulɓe, ; french: Peul, links=no; ha, Fulani or Hilani; pt, Fula, links=no; wo, Pël; bm, Fulaw) are one of the largest ethnic groups in the Sahel and West Africa, widely dispersed across the region. ...
and Dogon inhabit the Macina region and the surrounding area, which has a population of over 500,000. Most of the year the area has a hot and dry climate, with hot winds from the nearby Sahara raising the temperature up to 40°C. During the wet season, which lasts from June to September but lasts longer the further south one goes, the swamp floods into a lake and naturally irrigates the land. When the dry season comes, the Macina turns into a network of lakes and channels.
Cattle Cattle (''Bos taurus'') are large, domesticated, cloven-hooved, herbivores. They are a prominent modern member of the subfamily Bovinae and the most widespread species of the genus '' Bos''. Adult females are referred to as cows and adult ...
,
pearl millet Pearl millet (''Cenchrus americanus'', commonly known as the synonym ''Pennisetum glaucum''; also known as 'Bajra' in Hindi, 'Sajje' in Kannada, 'Kambu' in Tamil, 'Bajeer' in Kumaoni and 'Maiwa' in Hausa, 'Mexoeira' in Mozambique) is the most ...
, and
rice Rice is the seed of the grass species '' Oryza sativa'' (Asian rice) or less commonly ''Oryza glaberrima'' (African rice). The name wild rice is usually used for species of the genera '' Zizania'' and '' Porteresia'', both wild and domesticat ...
are its important agricultural products. The Macina inland delta also provides
water Water (chemical formula ) is an inorganic, transparent, tasteless, odorless, and nearly colorless chemical substance, which is the main constituent of Earth's hydrosphere and the fluids of all known living organisms (in which it acts as ...
and
fish Fish are Aquatic animal, aquatic, craniate, gill-bearing animals that lack Limb (anatomy), limbs with Digit (anatomy), digits. Included in this definition are the living hagfish, lampreys, and Chondrichthyes, cartilaginous and bony fish as we ...
for the Malians living there and during the wet season is a haven for large numbers of birds. Due to its proximity to the widening
Sahel The Sahel (; ar, ساحل ' , "coast, shore") is a region in North Africa. It is defined as the ecoclimatic and biogeographic realm of transition between the Sahara to the north and the Sudanian savanna to the south. Having a hot semi-arid cli ...
, there have been concerns that the Macina may be getting less rain every year. In the early 19th century,
Seku Amadu Sheikhu Ahmadu ( ar-at, شيخ أحمد بن محمّد لبّو, Shaykh Aḥmadu bin Muḥammadu Lobbo; ff, Seeku Aamadu ; ) (c. 1776 – 20 April 1845) was the Fulbe founder of the Massina Empire (Diina of Hamdullahi) in the Inner Niger De ...
founded a
Massina Empire The Caliphate of Hamdullahi ( ar, خلافة حمد الله; also: Dina of Massina, Sise Jihad state) commonly known as the Massina empire (also spelled ''Maasina'' or ''Macina'') was an early nineteenth-century Fulbe Jihad state centered in the ...
in the region, building a capital at
Hamdullahi Hamdullahi ( ar, حمد الله; also ''Hamdallahi'' or ''Hamdallaye''. From the Arabic: ''Praise to God'') is a town in the Mopti Region of Mali. In the 19th century, it was the capital of the in what is now the Fula empire of Massina. Found ...
in 1820. The Massina fell to El Hadj Umar Tall's Toucouleur Empire in 1862, who in turn fell to the
French French (french: français(e), link=no) may refer to: * Something of, from, or related to France ** French language, which originated in France, and its various dialects and accents ** French people, a nation and ethnic group identified with Franc ...
army. The region became a part of the country of Mali on its independence in 1960.


Ecology

The Niger inland Delta lies in the Sahelian zone, and has an
ecosystem An ecosystem (or ecological system) consists of all the organisms and the physical environment with which they interact. These biotic and abiotic components are linked together through nutrient cycles and energy flows. Energy enters the syst ...
that is largely dependent on the amount of flooding it receives.
Precipitation In meteorology, precipitation is any product of the condensation of atmospheric water vapor that falls under gravitational pull from clouds. The main forms of precipitation include drizzle, rain, sleet, snow, ice pellets, graupel and hail. ...
in the water basins of the upper course of the Bani and
Niger ) , official_languages = , languages_type = National languagesIntertropical Convergence Zone The Intertropical Convergence Zone (ITCZ ), known by sailors as the doldrums or the calms because of its monotonous windless weather, is the area where the northeast and the southeast trade winds converge. It encircles Earth near the thermal ...
. A delay exists between the peak amount of precipitation and the maximum water level in the inland delta area. While the
wet season The wet season (sometimes called the Rainy season) is the time of year when most of a region's average annual rainfall occurs. It is the time of year where the majority of a country's or region's annual precipitation occurs. Generally, the sea ...
lasts three months from July till September, the western and southern edges of the delta area are not flooded until early to mid-October. The consequence is that parts of the delta are flooded while the dry season is well under way. Note that only the lowest patches are flooded annually: higher elevations receive flooding in more intermittent periods due to the changing degrees of waterlevel rises. This division in roughly three zones (flooded, periodically flooded and not-periodically flooded), makes for patches that vary in their nature according to their proximity to a main body water and elevation. In turn, this strongly affects land use in and around the inland delta, as human impact is driven by
agriculture Agriculture or farming is the practice of cultivating plants and livestock. Agriculture was the key development in the rise of sedentary human civilization, whereby farming of domesticated species created food surpluses that enabled people ...
, both irrigated and rainfed,
grazing In agriculture, grazing is a method of animal husbandry whereby domestic livestock are allowed outdoors to roam around and consume wild vegetations in order to convert the otherwise indigestible (by human gut) cellulose within grass and ot ...
and browsing of herds and flocks and the collection of wood for fuel, all dependent on the availability of water..


Flora

The Inland Delta forms a green
oasis In ecology, an oasis (; ) is a fertile area of a desert or semi-desert environment'ksar''with its surrounding feeding source, the palm grove, within a relational and circulatory nomadic system.” The location of oases has been of critical imp ...
in its semi-arid surroundings. Its vegetation growth is limited by the availability of water, thus giving patches more often or longer subject to flooding a denser and more tree-like vegetation cover. As said, flooding cycles follow the precipitation cycle. The vegetation cycle in its turn follows the flooding cycle with a certain delay: it takes days for grasses to
germinate Germination is the process by which an organism grows from a seed or spore. The term is applied to the sprouting of a seedling from a seed of an angiosperm or gymnosperm, the growth of a sporeling from a spore, such as the spores of fungi, fer ...
after flooding, but months before trees die of a lack of water when floodwater has once again receded. When classifying vegetation in a grass, shrub and tree layer, up to 80% of vegetation cover in the Sahel consists of grass. In the delta area however, water is more readily available and a larger proportion of cover consists of bushes and trees. Vegetation cover itself changes as well, reaching 100% during and shortly after the flood season. Only low lying patches near a persistent water body are vegetated year-round. The area is not uniform: according to
relief Relief is a sculptural method in which the sculpted pieces are bonded to a solid background of the same material. The term '' relief'' is from the Latin verb ''relevo'', to raise. To create a sculpture in relief is to give the impression that th ...
, proximity to a water body and soil type, different species exist. Roughly, three regions with characteristic species can be discerned: Southern Delta The low-lying floodplains can sustain aquatic plants and grasses including the grasses '' Acroceras amplectens'' and ''
Echinochloa pyramidalis ''Echinochloa pyramidalis'' is a species of large grass, occurring naturally in flooded regions and beside lakes in tropical Africa and America, and introduced to various other countries. It is commonly known as antelope grass. Description ''Ec ...
'', burgu millet (''
Echinochloa stagnina ''Echinochloa stagnina'' (Burgu millet, bourgou, hippo grass) is a species of ''Echinochloa'' widespread in tropical Africa and Asia, with an invasive status in many Pacific islands. It was once one of the major grasses cultivated in the Inner N ...
'') and the lovegrass '' Eragrostis atrovirens''. Outer fringes - The grasslands on the edges of the watercourses, are heavily grazed. Plants include the beardgrass ''
Andropogon gayanus ''Andropogon gayanus''. commonly known as gamba grass, Rhodesian blue grass, tambuki grass, and other names, is a species of grass native to most of the tropical and subtropical savannas of Africa. History and naming ''Andropogon gayanus'' was ...
'', dūrvā grass '' Cynodon dactylon'', and the thatching grass '' Hyparrhenia dissoluta''. Along the many watercourses, '' Mimosa asperata'' and '' Salix chevalieri'' grow above a '' Cyperus maculatus'' understory. Northern Delta Characterized by emergent sand ridges which sustain the palm trees ''
Hyphaene thebaica ''Hyphaene thebaica'', with common names doum palm (Ar: دوم) and gingerbread tree (also mistakenly doom palm), is a type of palm tree with edible oval fruit. It is a native to the Arabian Peninsula and also to the northern half and western pa ...
'' and '' Borassus aethiopum'', the gum arabic tree '' Acacia nilotica'', '' Guarea senegalensis'', '' Mimosa asperata'' and ''
Ziziphus mauritiana ''Ziziphus mauritiana'', also known as Indian jujube, Indian plum, Chinese date, Chinese apple, ber, and dunks is a tropical fruit tree species belonging to the family Rhamnaceae. It is often confused with the closely related Chinese jujube ( ...
''.


Fauna

The delta is home to birds in large numbers including hundreds of thousands of wintering
garganey The garganey (''Spatula querquedula'') is a small dabbling duck. It breeds in much of Europe and across the Palearctic, but is strictly migratory, with the entire population moving to southern Africa, India (in particular Santragachi), Banglades ...
s, pintails and ruffs and breeding colonies of
cormorant Phalacrocoracidae is a family of approximately 40 species of aquatic birds commonly known as cormorants and shags. Several different classifications of the family have been proposed, but in 2021 the IOC adopted a consensus taxonomy of seven ge ...
,
heron The herons are long-legged, long-necked, freshwater and coastal birds in the family Ardeidae, with 72 recognised species, some of which are referred to as egrets or bitterns rather than herons. Members of the genera ''Botaurus'' and ''Ixobrychu ...
,
spoonbill Spoonbills are a genus, ''Platalea'', of large, long-legged wading birds. The spoonbills have a global distribution, being found on every continent except Antarctica. The genus name ''Platalea'' derives from Ancient Greek and means "broad", refe ...
,
ibis The ibises () (collective plural ibis; classical plurals ibides and ibes) are a group of long-legged wading birds in the family Threskiornithidae, that inhabit wetlands, forests and plains. "Ibis" derives from the Latin and Ancient Greek word ...
and other waterbirds including the endangered West African subspecies of black crowned crane (''Balearica pavonina pavonina''). Most large mammals have been removed from the area by the human population. Mammals remaining include the
African manatee The African manatee (''Trichechus senegalensis''), also known as the West African manatee, is a species of manatee that inhabits much of the western region of Africa – from Senegal to Angola. It is the only manatee species to be found in the O ...
, known as the ''sea cow'' which lives in the rivers and feeds on underwater plants. And the rivers are rich in fish including two endemics; the Mochokidae catfish '' Synodontis gobroni'' and a
cichlid Cichlids are fish from the family Cichlidae in the order Cichliformes. Cichlids were traditionally classed in a suborder, the Labroidei, along with the wrasses ( Labridae), in the order Perciformes, but molecular studies have contradicted th ...
, ''
Gobiocichla ''Gobiocichla'' is a small genus of rheophilic cichlids native to the Cross ( Manyu) and Niger Rivers in Africa. Species There are currently two recognized species in this genus: * '' Gobiocichla ethelwynnae'' T. R. Roberts, 1982 * '' Gobiocich ...
wonderi''.


Threats and preservation

The construction of a large irrigation project upstream of the Inner Niger Delta threatens its ecology and the livelihoods of its inhabitants. The 100,000 ha project is an extension to the area irrigated by the
Office du Niger The Office du Niger is a semi-autonomous government agency in Mali that administers a large irrigation scheme in the Ségou Region of the country. Water from the Niger River is diverted into a system of canals at the Markala dam downstream of S ...
through the Malibya canal. The extension, which was under construction in 2010, is financed by the Libya Africa Investment Portfolio which will also have the right to exploit the irrigated land. According to James Leten, a researcher, the project will reduce the area under deep inundation in the Inner Niger Delta by 43 percent. The area under deep inundation is crucial for pastoralists, because only there Borgou (
Echinochloa stagnina ''Echinochloa stagnina'' (Burgu millet, bourgou, hippo grass) is a species of ''Echinochloa'' widespread in tropical Africa and Asia, with an invasive status in many Pacific islands. It was once one of the major grasses cultivated in the Inner N ...
) grows, a plant which is particularly nutritious for cattle. Nomadic pastoralists come from as far away as Burkina Faso and Mauritania to allow their cattle to graze on the Borgou of the Inner Niger Delta. According to a report in
Jeune Afrique ''Jeune Afrique'' (English: ''Young Africa'') is a French-language pan-African weekly news magazine, founded in 1960 in Tunis and subsequently published in Paris. It is the most widely read pan-African magazine. It is also a book publisher, under ...
, the researcher tried to alert the authorities about the need to find alternative livelihoods for the pastoralists, apparently without success.Elise Marti
Main basse sur le fleuve
Jeune Afrique No. 2583 du 11 au 17 Juillet 2010
Three
Ramsar site A Ramsar site is a wetland site designated to be of international importance under the Ramsar Convention,8 ha (O) *** Permanent 8 ha (P) *** Seasonal Intermittent < 8 ha(Ts) **
Lac Horo, Lac Debo, and the Séri floodplain. But the delta is largely unprotected and at the same time fishing and farming in the delta is vital to the livelihoods of the people of Mali. Low water levels in the rivers, lack of rain, increasing human population and a break-up of the traditional tribal arrangements for sharing the resources of the delta are all factors that may contribute to severely damaging the ecosystem. In particular fishing is less regulated (in the past only two tribes were permitted to fish) and fish stocks in the rivers are declining. In a similar way lack of control is also causing over-grazing. Finally the Selingue Dam and other water control projects affect the levels and seasonal behaviour of the rivers.


See also

*
River delta A river delta is a landform shaped like a triangle, created by deposition of sediment that is carried by a river and enters slower-moving or stagnant water. This occurs where a river enters an ocean, sea, estuary, lake, reservoir, or (more rare ...
* Flooded grasslands and savannas


References


Further reading

* * Link includes both volumes. Volume 2 includes 8 maps. The L'Institut de recherche pour le développement site also has pdf files containing individual chapters. * Also published in French with the title
''Le Niger: une Artère vitale. Gestion efficace de l’eau dans le bassin du Haut Niger''
*


External links

* {{Regions of Africa *Inner Floodplains of Africa River deltas of Africa Flooded grasslands and savannas Afrotropical ecoregions Ecoregions of Mali Freshwater ecoregions of Africa Grasslands of Mali French West Africa Massina Empire Mopti Region Ramsar sites in Mali Landforms of Niger