The Zambezi River Delta (Fig. 1) comprises an area of approximately 12,000 km2 , extending 120 km downstream of the
Zambezi and Shire Rivers confluence to the Indian Ocean. It also extends 200 km southwest–northeast along the coastline, from the Cuacua River, to the Zuni River Delta. The climate of the region is tropical, with a distinct dry winter season from April to October and a wet summer season from October to March (Barbosa et al., 2001; Hoguane, 2007). The mean annual precipitation ranges from 1000 mm at the most upstream regions of the delta to more than 1400 mm along the coast, with considerable inter-annual variation (Bento et al., 2007). Eighty-five percent of the rain falls from mid-November to late March (Tweddle, 2013). Mean monthly temperatures range from a minimum of 27 C in June to a maximum of 37 C in October (Tweddle, 2013).