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Wildlife and livelihoods in the Mara River region of East Africa are under threat
A report by the nature conservation group WWF (World Wide Fund for Nature) highlights the environmental threats to the Mara river in East Africa. The river is a vital habitat and water supply for local wildlife. Its well-being is crucial for both the environment and the livelihoods of the inhabitants of the Mara basin, a region which covers parts of Kenya and Tanzania. Farming, deforestation, mining and invasive species combine to endanger the survival of native animals and plants. This, in turn, could have a negative impact on the local population.
Mara river
The Mara river rises in the Mau forests of Kenya, from where it flows across savanna grasslands. In Tanzania it forms a floodplain wetland before reaching its mouth in Lake Victoria. Around 65% of the river basin is located in Kenya, 35% in Tanzania. The region is home to the highest density of large grazing mammals on Earth. The area is famous for the annual wildebeest migration.
The Mara is the only source of water during the dry season for grazing animals. Although it appears shallow, the river swells up to twice its normal size after heavy rainfall.
Water flow
The Mara's flow rises and falls naturally through the year. In recent decades, however, it has been more erratic than usual: there have been more dramatic peaks and lows. Drawing (or abstracting) water from the river for various purposes such as irrigating crops, providing water for livestock, supplying tourist hotels and industrial plants have all combined to reduce its flow. The construction of dams upstream in the Kenyan highlands for the purposes of generating hydro-electricity could potentially "lock up" even more water. The Mara is not a large river, and if it were to be reduced to a trickle, people, livestock, wildlife and the basin’s economy would be badly affected.
On the other hand, the cutting down of the Mau forest, the upper catchment area of the Mara, in response to rising demand for agricultural land and pasture, has reduced vegetation cover. This leads to a faster run-off of rainwater and has the effect of increasing the river's flow downstream.
Soil erosion and pollution
Decades of deforestation and poor agricultural practices have led to soil erosion in the Mau forest. The farms are steep, so when it rains the topsoil is washed into the rivers, choking them with sediment. As the heavy sediment load flows downstream in the Mara, fish spawning sites are lost. The sediment also clogs the fish's gills.
Pesticides and fertilizers used on agricultural land, along with outflow from the number of small-scale goldmines in the region, pollute the river and make it dangerous for river wildlife and humans alike.
Wildlife in danger
Already, a number of river or wetland species in the Mara basin are, to varying degrees, endangered or vulnerable. They include the grey-crowned crane, Madagascar pond heron, killifish, shoebill and some crab and freshwater mussel species. Some species of fish—the ningu, singida and Victoria tilapia—are threatened by the introduction of non-native fish such as the Nile perch.
Wildebeest migration
When the rains on the Serengeti Plain in Tanzania end in May, the wildebeest start moving northwest into lusher pastures, crossing the Mara river in July. The herds stay in Kenya for the remainder of the dry season, before moving south again when the rains begin in November. To watch the wildebeest brave the steep cliffs—and hungry crocodiles, which depend on them for food—to cross the Mara river is one of the most awe-inspiring sights of the natural world, and tourists flock to the area to witness it. Without the natural ebb and flow of the river's waters, this unique spectacle would cease to exist—and the millions of tourist dollars would dry up too.
Finding a solution to maintaining the Mara river's natural flow and cleaning up its waters is an urgent priority for both the well-being of the animal and human population of this part of East Africa.
10th November 2020
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