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Zambia’s Changing
Environment
2
C H A P T E R
In 2012 the country’s population
was 13,092,666 of which
51 per cent were female. Although
61 per cent of Zambia’s population
reside in rural areas, migration to
urban areas is high (CSO 2012).
Lusaka, Zambia’s capital city has the
largest population growth rate in
the country.
Over the years, changes have
occurred to the biodiversity,
water-based ecosystems and
the general landscape of the
country due to a number of
drivers among them population
growth, economic, natural and
anthropogenic activities.
Indigenous forests are estimated
to account for 66 per cent of
the total land cover (FAO 2008).
The main source of energy is
woodfuel, accounting for
80 per cent of domestic energy
(ECZ 2008). Other sources of
energy are electricity, biofuels
and fossil fuels such as petroleum
and coal. Zambia’s energy
consumption has risen over the last
few years as a result of increasing
activities in economic sectors
among them mining, construction,
manufacturing and agriculture.
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