Lake Chad

Lake Chad is a body of water with a dramatic and troubling biography that makes it one of the most compelling environmental stories of the modern era. In the 1960s it was one of the largest lakes in the world, a vast shallow inland sea covering some 26,000 square kilometres and supporting a fishery that fed millions of people across Nigeria, Niger, Chad and Cameroon. Today it is a fraction of that size, having lost roughly ninety percent of its surface area in less than sixty years, shrinking to a few thousand square kilometres in the dry season and exposing the rich lakebed soil that was once under metres of water. The pace of this transformation has been faster than most people believe possible for a body of water that once seemed inexhaustible.

The reasons for the shrinkage constitute a textbook case study in cascading climate and human impact. Reduced rainfall across the Lake Chad basin, increased evaporation from rising temperatures, and the diversion of water for irrigation by the expanding agricultural populations of all four countries have all contributed simultaneously. The lake that seemed inexhaustible in the mid-twentieth century turned out to be balanced on a knife edge of climate variability and human use, and as both climate and population pressure have intensified, that balance has been lost. The story is not finished: the lake continues to fluctuate with rainfall cycles, and wet years can see significant recovery of open water, but the long-term trend remains downward.

Yet the lake that remains is still remarkable in its own right and still supports a remarkable level of biodiversity and human activity. The seasonal floodplains at the lake's edges support large numbers of waterbirds including the world's most northerly breeding population of the slaty egret, a species found almost nowhere else. The fishery, though reduced from its peak, still provides essential protein for millions of people and remains one of the most important freshwater fisheries in West Africa, with over a hundred species of fish recorded in the lake before the recent contraction. The communities that live around the lake have adapted to its rhythms and its contractions with remarkable resilience, and their fishing boats and settlements are a constant presence along the shoreline.

The political dimension of Lake Chad is as significant as the ecological one and adds layers of complexity to any visit. The lake's basin is shared by four countries that have not always been on friendly terms, and the management of the lake's remaining resources has been a source of both cooperation and tension for decades. The Lake Chad Basin Commission has worked since the 1960s to coordinate water management, but the challenges of climate change and population growth have consistently outpaced the institutional response. In recent years the security situation in the region has added another dimension of difficulty, making some parts of the lake difficult to access and some communities vulnerable to disruption.

For visitors, the experience of Lake Chad is one of unexpected abundance within an agricultural landscape that stretches to the horizon in every direction. The town of Bol on the Chadian side sits at the edge of the lake with fishing boats pulled up on the sandy shore and the dark line of water visible beyond a fringe of reeds. The sunsets over the lake can be extraordinary, the sky turning deep orange and then purple above the waterline, and the birdlife along the reed beds is diverse and accessible from the shore. There is a rawness to the landscape that comes from the lake's dramatic contraction, with abandoned boats and former shorelines visible behind the current waterline, reminders of what the lake once was and hints of what it might become.

The lake's dramatic transformation from one of Africa's largest lakes to a fraction of its former size is a compelling story of climate and human impact.

Despite its reduced state, the lake still supports one of West Africa's most important freshwater fisheries.

The birdlife, including the slaty egret, remains exceptional at certain times of year.