The Muyovozi River () is a river in southeastern Burundi, a tributary of the
Malagarasi River
The Malagarasi River is a river in western Tanzania, flowing through Kigoma Region, although one of its tributaries comes from southeastern Burundi. The river also forms the western border of Tabora Region, the southern border of Kagera Region and ...
.
Course
The Muyovozi River is in the Mosso-Malagarazi depression, which has forest galleries in wooded fringes along the watercourses.
The Muyovozi forms in the northwest of Rutana Province and flows south along the RN8 highway, then southeast or south-southeast where it is joined by the Musasa River to the northeast of Bukemba.
The Muyovozi continues east to join the
Malagarasi River
The Malagarasi River is a river in western Tanzania, flowing through Kigoma Region, although one of its tributaries comes from southeastern Burundi. The river also forms the western border of Tabora Region, the southern border of Kagera Region and ...
.
Falls
The Nyaganza Falls are on the Muyovozi River.
The Cikinga Falls are on Musasa River, a right bank affluent of the Muyovozi River.
The Karera Falls are on the Karera River, a left bank affluent of the Muyovozi River.
Sugar
The Muyovozi River swamp has been heavily exploited, and contains several sugar cane plantations.
The Muyovozi River supplies water to the Moso sugar project in Rutana Province, which was included in Burundi's third five-year economic and social development plan in the early 1970s, but began construction in 1986.
It is run by the Moso Sugar Company (SOSUMO SM), founded in 1982.
The project is in the
Moso natural region
The Natural regions of Burundi () are geographical subdivisions of Burundi that date to colonial times.
They can be broadly grouped into the Plain zone in the west beside Lake Tanganyika and the East African Rift valley, the Congo-Nile ridge, the ...
.
Marshes
The Muyovozi-Malagarazi marsh subcomplex starts near Nyabihori (Rwabira) at election, , and reaches downstream along the Malagarazi to the level of the Muvumu '' colline'' at elevation, .
The Muyovozi River was diverted at Rusabagi at elevation, , which created a large pond dominated by ''
Cyperus papyrus
''Cyperus papyrus'', better known by the common names papyrus, papyrus sedge, paper reed, Indian matting plant, or Nile grass, is a species of aquatic plant, aquatic flowering plant belonging to the sedge family Cyperaceae. It is a Hardiness (pla ...
''.
The Muyovozi River and the Kinwa River meet at and form a large channel that flows towards the Malagarazi through a huge papyrus grove. These channels are used to irrigate rice fields.
Protection
The upper Malagarazi – Muyovozi system has been protected as a
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)
**
grey crowned crane
The grey crowned crane or gray crowned crane (''Balearica regulorum''), also known as the African crowned crane, golden crested crane, golden crowned crane, East African crane, East African crowned crane, African crane, Eastern crowned crane, ...
,
Hadada Ibis
The hadada ibis (''Bostrychia hagedash'') or hadeda () is an ibis native to Sub-Saharan Africa. It is named for its loud three to four note calls uttered in flight especially in the mornings and evenings when they fly out or return to their roost ...
hippopotamus
The hippopotamus (''Hippopotamus amphibius;'' ; : hippopotamuses), often shortened to hippo (: hippos), further qualified as the common hippopotamus, Nile hippopotamus and river hippopotamus, is a large semiaquatic mammal native to sub-Sahar ...
, which are on the
IUCN Red List
The International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) Red List of Threatened Species, also known as the IUCN Red List or Red Data Book, founded in 1964, is an inventory of the global conservation status and extinction risk of biological ...
.
It contains a range of types of vegetation including woodlands, gallery forests, savannas and marshes.
It is threatened by slash and burn agriculture, deforestation, siltation, the use of toxic chemicals in fishing, and waste water discharges from the nearby sugar-producing industry.
A 2024 study of fish in the Upper Malagarazi Basin in Burundi proposed creation of a Muyovozi Nature Reserve to protect the upper stretches of the river, and the endemic fish species in this stretch.
The proposed reserve would cover the headwaters of the river, and the main river down to and around the Nyaganza Falls.
See also
*
List of rivers of Burundi
This list of rivers in Burundi is a partial list of the larger rivers, arranged by drainage basin, with tributaries indented under each parent stream's name.
The coordinates given for each river are those of the mouth, if in Burundi, or of the las ...