Introduction

The interactions of human with other species and the natural environment and their appropriation of natural resources are central to any discourses centering on human history. Drawing from this awareness and understanding, scholars across different fields of academic study have attempted to explore the history and dynamics of human relationship with the natural environment. These studies and scholars particularly paid laser-focused attention to Africa's international rivers and the impacts of changing dynamics in the allocation, use, and management of river resources on the environment and climate. Notably, African rivers serve as conspicuous indicators of the environmental and climatic transformations that are occurring throughout the continent; their modified circulation patterns and reduced strength function as a disconcerting caution. As revealed in this chapter, the diverse and substantial evidence of change in these critical waterways emphasizes the severe repercussions that this has on both ecosystems and human societies. This is evident in changes in river flow regimes, reduction in rivers’ sizes and water compositions, eutrophication of rivers, destruction of aquatic habitats, loss of biodiversity, and climate change. Though the carefree use of river resources without concerns for sustainable development is not the only cause of environmental and climatic change, an understanding of the history and dynamics of allocation, use, management, and conservation of river resources is crucial to a full-picture analysis of Africa's environmental history, and the changing environmental and climatic dynamics on the continent.

According to Beinart, environmental history runs in parallel with trends in African history because it shares many well-established Africanist concerns and perspectives about the environment.