GREAT SPINE OF AFRICA EXPEDITION TEAM DISCOVERS NEW POSSIBLE SOURCE OF IMPORTANT CONGO TRIBUTARY.
Without water, there is no life. In Africa, water security has become a major concern, but the Great Spine of Africa Expeditions, led by Rolex Perpetual Planet Initiative partner and National Geographic Explorer Steve Boyes, is revolutionising our understanding of the continent’s water supply. By showing that many of Africa’s great rivers originate in massive but little-known water towers like the Angolan Highlands, Boyes is ensuring that we can finally understand and protect an area that provides water security for nearly 500 million people.

The peat contained here acts like a giant sponge, holding 25 times its dry weight in water, ensuring a constant supply for rivers, even in the dry season. This makes peatlands incredibly effective water towers; areas that store and provide fresh water that sustains life downstream during the dry season. These structures are usually in the form of high-altitude glaciers. Boyes estimates that, despite the absence of snow cover, 423 cubic kilometres of water, equivalent to ten times the water usage of the entire State of California, come off the Angolan Highlands Water Tower, where the Cassai River finds its source, every year.

In his latest expedition, Boyes led his team of 12 on an epic five-week, 627-kilometre odyssey along the Cassai River, a major tributary to the vast Congo River. The findings have been extraordinary.

An early and startling discovery was that the source of the Cassai may have been misidentified. The team found that the Munhango River, which originates in the Angolan Highlands, contributes almost twice as much water as the currently credited source. This means that the Cassai’s source might be just 20 kilometres from the true source of the Zambezi, which is also in the Angolan Highlands Water Tower.

Whilst such big discoveries are important, most of the expedition is concerned with much finer details. Boyes and his team document everything, using aerial photography, measurements of water flow and quality, and environmental DNA samples to establish meticulous ecological and hydrological baselines for the river. “We record everything we see: birds, animals, people, settlements,” says Boyes. “These are the most detailed river baselines ever undertaken, so in 50 years’ time, scientists will be able to make comparisons.”

Few worthwhile achievements come easily, and Boyes’ expedition was beset by hardship. The expedition passed through country littered with landmines – a legacy of decades of civil war in Angola – and the team had to use a specialised armour-plated truck for the first part of their journey.

“It’s almost a relief when you get onto the river,” says Boyes. “But on the water, every day involves going into the unknown. No one navigates these rivers or knows what’s in them.”

On the first stretch of river, progress was painfully slow, as the thin stream was blocked by dense vegetation, and in the first 12 days of the expedition, the group only covered 42 kilometres. Then, as the river widened and deepened, the tedium was replaced by the danger of encountering crocodiles, hippos and, in Boyes’ words, “terrifying rapids”.

However, the difficulty of exploring such a remote and inhospitable river also brought indescribable rewards, as the animals have not learned to be fearful of humans, so the team were given a uniquely intimate view of the local wildlife: so far, they have discovered new species that are new to science in the Angolan Highlands. “The hippos and monkeys have never seen any people; the birds aren’t scared of you. It’s like being in Madagascar or New Zealand, where animals are not programmed to be scared of people. It was extraordinary.”

Peatlands are not just important as water towers, but as carbon sinks, storing huge amounts of densely compacted carbon for thousands of years. According to Boyes, the Angolan peatlands are so rich in biodiversity and so effective at storing carbon and water that protecting them is of global importance. Understanding this The Great Spine of Africa Expeditions: Cassai River 3/3 key source of the Congo and Zambezi rivers is key to protecting it. “Our work is important for helping governments make informed decisions around water use, urban developments and infrastructure projects.”

According to Boyes, this is where his partnership with Rolex is so fruitful – in getting the message across to key decision makers. He maintains that Rolex has provided him with the global reach to pass on his discoveries, and the support has been unwavering.

“It’s really inspiring, interacting with an organisation where you talk about big ideas, and they seem to want you to think even bigger than that idea. The support from Rolex has changed my life.”

Over the last decade, Boyes has explored 12,000 kilometres of Africa’s wild rivers, and his travels and discoveries have made him cautiously optimistic about the continent’s future.

“The world looks at us as climate change sets in and thinks ‘Africa is going to suffer the most’. But when we modelled that, we didn’t know that Africa has these water towers, this built-in resilience that can still be protected, but we need to protect it now.”

ABOUT THE PERPETUAL PLANET INITIATIVE
For nearly a century, Rolex has supported pioneering explorers pushing back the boundaries of human endeavour. The company has moved from championing exploration for the sake of discovery to protecting the planet, committing for the long term to support individuals and organizations using science to understand and devise solutions to today’s environmental challenges.

This engagement was reinforced with the launch of the Perpetual Planet Initiative in 2019, which initially focused on the Rolex Awards for Enterprise, as well as longstanding partnerships with Mission Blue and National Geographic Society.

The initiative now has more than 30 other partnerships in an expanding portfolio. They include, for example, Cristina Mittermeier and Paul Nicklen, Rewilding Argentina and Rewilding Chile, offspring organizations of Tompkins Conservation, the Under The Pole expeditions, the Monaco Blue Initiative, and Coral Gardeners.

Rolex also supports organizations and initiatives fostering the next generations of explorers, scientists and conservationists through scholarships and grants, such as Our World-Underwater Scholarship Society and The Rolex Explorers Club Grants.