Conservation

Tanzania has one of the highest percentages of protected areas in the world. It has designated National Parks, Game Reserves, Game controlled areas, Forest Reserves, Nature Reserves and Wildlife Management Areas which in total amount to between 30% and 40% of the total area of the country.

It is a signatory to a number of international agreements including Biodiversity, Climate Change, Climate Change-Kyoto Protocol, Desertification, Endangered Species, Hazardous Wastes, Law of the Sea, Ozone Layer Protection and Wetlands.

In common with many African countries, there are numerous environmental issues which include soil degradation, deforestation, desertification, destruction of coral reefs which threatens marine habitats, recent droughts which have affected marginal agriculture and threats to wildlife by illegal hunting and trade, especially for ivory. A recent gold rush in Tanzania is threatening nature and forest reserves in the Eastern Arc, including the Amani Reserve ­ ABC Bulletin Vol 11 No 2 August 2004 p 96. 

A countrywide waterbird count is planned in January 2005 covering areas counted in 1995. The count is organised by the Tanzania Wildlife Research Institute in conjunction with the BirdLife partner, the Wildlife Conservation Society of Tanzania.

A study to estimate the population size of Loveridge's Sunbird Cinnyris loveridgei, endemic to the Uluguru mountains, eastern Tanzania, was conducted in September ­ December 2000. Using mist-netting data and a computer simulation, the population was estimated at between 21,000 and 166,000 individuals ­ ABC Bulletin Vol 11 No 2 p 96.

A large project, which aims to develop a conservation strategy for the globally important Eastern Arc mountains and finance a trust for long-term conservation in these mountains, was launched in June 2002 in Dar es Salaam. The Tanzanian Forest Conservation and Management Project is funded by the Global Environment Facility and Danish International Development Aid, who committed close to US $40m.

The African Bird Club has awarded a small grant to permit forest habitat appraisal and baseline searches for globally threatened birds of the West Usambara mountains ­ ABC Bulletin Vol 11 No 2 p 101. 

Conservation News

18th October 2007: Africa’s leading conservationists meet as chemical plant threatens three-quarters of world’s Lesser Flamingo.

Leading conservationists from 23 African nations have today met to sign a petition opposing the proposed chemical plant on the shores of Tanzania’s Lake Natron, which threatens 75% of the world’s Lesser Flamingo. The petition was signed by delegates of BirdLife’s Council for the Africa Partnership (CAP) in Nairobi and follows months of speculation and international outcry over the proposed salt ash development on Tanzania’s border with Kenya.

More than half a million pairs of Lesser Flamingos may nest at Lake Natron. The lake is the only reliable breeding site for the species' East African population – more than 75 per cent of the world’s total. Lake Natron's isolation and vast salt flats provide crucial safety from predators, while its alkaline waters, rich in cyanobacteria, and lakeside springs supply food and freshwater for parents and chicks. The lake supports the huge concentrations of Lesser Flamingos that feed and roost on other lakes up and down the Rift Valley, hailed as “the greatest ornithological spectacle in the world” and supporting a thriving tourist economy.

The proposed salt ash plant would pump 530 cubic metres of brine per hour and produce 0.5 million tons of sodium carbonate a year. The large-scale development would also include a sizable residential complex.

Delegates attending the BirdLife Council Meeting fear that the entire flamingo population could be lost if the development goes ahead, citing a number of reasons, including: likely changes in the chemical composition of the water (affecting the cyanobacteria on which the flamingos depend); disruption of nest sites; and expansion of surrounding infrastructure, a factor which could bring in new predators, particularly Marabou Stork – a species linked to mass nest desertions in breeding Greater Flamingo.

Much has been made of the Tanzanian government’s role in the final decision: “As a continent, Africa is making great strides towards conserving its immense biodiversity,” said the Head of BirdLife’s Africa Division, Dr Hazell Shokellu Thompson. “Tanzania must think clearly of what this decision on Lake Natron says of its environmental credentials, and to the other twenty-four nations which are represented here at this meeting today.” "This is a clear opportunity for the Tanzanian government to continue showing moral and environmental responsibility in Africa by taking a decision not to proceed with the Soda Ash development." The petition, signed by conservationists from 23 African nations, will now be sent to the Tanzanian government and Tata Chemicals.

Source: BirdLife International

4th July 2007: Soda ash development threatens entire East African Lesser Flamingo population.

A proposed development near Tanzania’s border with Kenya, threatens the survival of the entire East African population of Lesser Flamingo Phoenicopterus minor. Lake Natron - the only East African site in which Lesser Flamingo has bred in the past 45 years – currently faces an uncertain future due to a proposed Soda Ash extraction and processing plant. Lake Natron is recognised internationally as a Ramsar site, and as an Important Bird Area by BirdLife International.

The proposed Soda Ash development will pump 530 cubic metres of brine per hour and produce and export 0.5 million tons of sodium carbonate a year. There may also be a 11.5 Megawatts thermal power facility using coal and petcoke, and a potentially sizeable residential complex, with 152 permanent and 1,225 construction staff members expected on site. In compliance with Tanzania’s environmental laws, in 2006 TATA Chemicals (on behalf of the proponent, Lake Natron Resources Limited) commissioned a consultant to carry out an Environmental Impact Assesment (EIA) for the proposed development.

In addition to Tanzania, the consultant also carried out further consultations with interested and affected parties in Kenya, due to the project’s vicinity to the Kenyan border as well as the dependence of Lake Natron on Kenya's Ewaso Ngiro River.

The outcomes of these consultations are yet to be made public, although indications suggest that the first draft of the EIA will be presented at a workshop in Dar es Salaam (Tanzania) on 12 July, 2007. Conservationists await the outcome; their main concern being that the EIA process, including scrutiny of the draft, should be made participatory and take in the views of all relevant stakeholders.

“It is important that whatever decisions are made do not jeopardise the survival of the Lesser Flamingo, a key component of the tourist experience in East African national parks,” said Mr. Lota Melamari, CEO of the Wildlife Conservation Society of Tanzania (WCST, BirdLife in Tanzania), before highlighting how important it is for the EIA to be disclosed to all stakeholders interested.

In September 2006, experts met at the BirdLife Africa Partnership Secretariat office to start the process of drafting the International Lesser Flamingo Species Action Plan under the auspices of the Convention on Migratory Species and AEWA (the African-European Migratory Waterbird Agreement). At the time the experts involved declared: “the most critical threat to the survival of the Lesser Flamingo to be the loss and / or degradation of its specialised habitat through altered hydrology and water quality”.

According to a spokesperson from BirdLife's Africa Division: “Any declines in the breeding of Lesser Flamingos at this site could effectively push the species rapidly towards extinction.” “The Lesser Flamingo is globally classified as 'Near Threatened' in the 2006 IUCN Red List of Threatened Species,” said Dr. Brooks Childress, Chair of the IUCN-SSC (Species Survival Commission); Wetlands International Flamingo Specialist Group. “Over 75% of the species’ global population occurs in the Great Rift Valley of East Africa. There appears to be very little interchange between this large sub-population and other smaller Lesser Flamingo regional populations.The East African sub-population has bred only on Lake Natron for the past 45 years, effectively making Lake Natron the only breeding site for over 75% of the global population. “The Lesser Flamingo is very sensitive to water levels and disturbance during breeding. Changes in water level, water chemistry or disturbance could easily cause the birds to abandon their breeding attempt.” he added.

A group of concerned organisations and stakeholders within the region, including WCST and NatureKenya (both BirdLife Partners), have joined hands with other conservation groups in pushing for the EIA outcomes to be disclosed to all stakeholders and for a full participatory process. Lesser Flamingo breeding in such enormous numbers has been referred to as the “greatest ornithological spectacle in the world” by the renowned artist and naturalist Roger Tory Peterson. The local extinction of Lesser Flamingo at the site is therefore predicted to have a devastating impact on the tourism industry that has become the backbone of local economy in the two countries.

Source: BirdLife International News

23rd March 2007: Uluguru Bush-Shrike found over the limit

Until January this year, a single doubtful record from 1981 was the only evidence for the presence of Critically Endangered Uluguru Bush-Shrike Malaconotus alius in the Uluguru South Forest Reserve, which was believed to be above its normal altitudinal limit. Repeated surveys had failed to find it.

Now a team from Wildlife Conservation Society of Tanzania (WCST, BirdLife Partner in Tanzania), having repeatedly sighted the bird in the Uluguru South Forest Reserve, has evidence that suggests the bush-shrikes are breeding there.

In 1999-2000, a census supported by WCST estimated a population of 1,200 pairs. The bulk of the population is in the 84 km2 Uluguru North Forest Reserve and an adjacent area, which still holds a good tract of flat forest at 1,200-1,500 metres.

The Uluguru North and South Forest Reserves are separated by the Bunduki Gap (1.5km), thought by many to be a potential obstacle to movements of Uluguru Bush-Shrike, a canopy-reliant bird. Jasson John of WCST, who led the survey team, says that on 24 January 2007 at 8:25 am, a pair of bush-shrikes was attracted by playback of their calls to a census point at an altitude of 1,739 metres. "The area is the nearest part of Uluguru South to the Uluguru North Reserve, and has almost the same forest structure as that within Uluguru North. This was about 3.4 kilometres from the nearest record of the Uluguru Bush-Shrike in Uluguru North."

Later that morning the team heard another Uluguru Bush-Shrike about 400 metres from the first pair.  "This time it was the highest record of our survey in terms of altitude, at 1,885 metres." Between 23 and 28 February, Jasson, with WCST’s Elias Mungaya, returned to Uluguru South at the same census point.  "We were aiming to catch the original pair, so we put mist-nets up in the tree canopy, and attracted the birds by playing back their calls." But they refused to be caught. "On two occasions one flew into but bounced back out of the mist-nets, and on another occasion one was trying to attack a Loveridge's Sunbird, another of Uluguru's endemics, that was caught in the nets."

The pair rarely came to the playback together. A month before, the birds had always been seen together. Jasson has an explanation: "we think the female was probably sitting on a nest." The team from WCST was supported by the Critical Ecosystem Partnership Fund (CEPF).

Source: BirdLife International

23rd October 2006: The Wildlife Conservation Society of Tanzania (WCST, BirdLife in Tanzania) organised two birdwatching expeditions to the North Uluguru Mountains and Pugu Forests Important Bird Areas (IBAs), as part of the World Bird Festival celebrations.

The Uluguru team was lucky to see Uluguru Bush-Shrike Malaconotus alius, a Critically Endangered species endemic to the Uluguru Mountains. “These expeditions will help raise conservation awareness amongst local people in the Uluguru Mountains and Pugu Forests," said Elias Mungaya, a participant on the Uluguru trip. "Both places are suffering from human encroachment,” he added.

Source: Birdlife International news

4th May 2006: Record bird numbers slip towards extinction

BirdLife's annual evaluation of how the world's bird species are faring shows that the total number considered threatened with extinction is now 1,210. When combined with the number of Near Threatened species this gives a record total of 2,005 species in trouble – more than a fifth of the planet’s 9,799 total species.

A species now regarded as Critically Endangered is the Uluguru Bush-shrike Malaconotus alius, from the Uluguru Mountains of Tanzania. Repeated surveys in the 1990s found that the species is restricted to the small Uluguru North Forest Reserve, which is suffering from ongoing habitat degradation. Loveridge's Sunbird Nectarinia loveridgei, also only found in the Ulugurus, has also been uplisted (to Endangered) to reflect its continuing decline.

Source: BirdLife International News

23rd February 2006: Tanzanian Government endorses conservation projects. 64 projects launched to protect Tanzania and Kenya's threatened forests and species.

The Critical Ecosystem Partnership Fund (CEPF) and four East African organisations today announced the launch of a portfolio of conservation projects in the Eastern Arc Mountains and Coastal Forests. These projects aim to significantly improve the conservation of Kenya and Tanzania’s rich natural resources.

During the launch, the Government of Tanzania's Forestry and Beekeeping Division signed an important Memorandum of Understanding with Conservation nternational, which administers CEPF. The Forestry and Beekeeping Division of the Ministry of Natural Resources and Tourism, Government of Tanzania are the owners of over 200 forest reserves in the Eastern Arc and Coastal forests of Tanzania. The agreement outlines how CEPF's investment can contribute information and training to support the Forestry and Beekeeping Division's management of these reserves.

"This agreement is an important step towards ensuring that the results of CEPF's investment are properly integrated into management decisions for Tanzania's forests," stated Nike Doggart from the Tanzania Forest Conservation Group.

Source: BirdLife International News

Page last updated 7th January 2008