Irreplaceable
Flamingo Factory
stays in business
ust as this issue of the
magazine was going to
press, some extremely good
news arrived in the form of
Government of Tanzania abandoning
plans to construct a soda ash factory
at Lake Natron, the most significant
breeding site of Lesser Flamingo
Phoeniconaias minor, after becoming
aware of the potential environmental
impact.
“The government move validates
our ongoing collaboration to promote
ecotourism as a sustainable alternative
for local communities at Lake Natron”,
said Patricia Zurita, BirdLife International
CEO. “Through a three-year Darwin-
funded project, a long term plan to
help coordinate ecotourism as well as
boost management capacity is already
underway. BirdLife looks forward to
continued positive engagement with
the Government of Tanzania.”
Located in Northern Tanzania,
J
Lake Natron is the ‘it’ spot for Lesser
Flamingos. Although many plants and
animals eschew the waters, which
frequently reach temperatures above
40° C and are so alkaline as to burn
skin, it’s a paradise for flamingos,
where the high salinity just means
more food. Roughly 75 percent of
the world’s Lesser Flamingos are
hatched at the lake, and tourists flock
to see the incredible ‘pink parade’ that
results when flamingos strut around
performing their mating dance.
The threat to Lake Natron first arose
in 2006 when Tata Chemical Industries
and the Tanzanian Government’s
National Development Corporation
(NDC) announced a soda ash
mining proposal. Building a soda ash
factory near the lake would have
been disastrous to local people and
flamingos. The factory would have
taken valuable freshwater away from
flamingos as well as local communities,
and pumping waste into the lake would
have lowered the quality of the water.
NDC now proposes to focus on soda
ash deposits in Engaruka, about 50
kilometres away.
“The lives and livelihoods of our
people are inextricably linked to
this lake and its environment”, said
Councillor Ibrahim Sakai of Engaresero
Ward at Lake Natron. “A soda ash
factory would have disrupted our
livestock grazing lands and watering
areas; we can now look at a bright
future through ecotourism.”
John Salehe, the Board Chair of
Nature Tanzania, a bird-focused
NGO based in Arusha, echoed these
sentiments.“We are delighted that our
government has decided to protect
Lake Natron. The future of critical
ecosystems is in ecotourism, which
contributes over 12% to the Gross
Domestic Product of Tanzania and
other East African countries.”
Margaret Sessa-Hawkins