FourDistrict Councils sharing the Mara River basin on the Tanzanian side have been directed to design immediate strategies that will help to stop human activities threatening the survival of the basin.
Mara River
The councils are Serengeti, Tarime, Rorya and Musoma rural which is now in the new Butiama District.
“Every District Council should come up with a plan responding to environmental threats facing Mara River,” Tarime District Commissioner (DC), Mr John Henjewele ordered.
He gave the order at a crucial meeting he opened and chaired on behalf of the Mara Regional Commissioner (RC), Mr John Tupa, early this week. The meeting held at a hotel in Mugumu town, capital of Serengeti District aimed at planning on how the forthcoming Mara Day will be organised.
“Environmental officers in every district council must cooperate fully to design the plans and we need them in place before Mara Day celebrations,” the DC further ordered during the meeting which was attended by District Executive Directors (DEDs), conservationists and other stakeholders of Mara River Basin.
The forthcoming Mara Day will be held at Sokoine Grounds in Mugumu town September 15. This will be the first time for Tanzania to host Mara Day after the decision to commemorate the day on September 15 every year was reached by Lake Victoria Council of Ministers in Kigali, Rwanda in May last year.
Commemoration of the day will be involving the two East African sister countries of Kenya and Tanzania sharing Lake Victoria. The first Mara Day was held in Bometi District in Kenya last year. Commemorations of the day came at time when the survival of the Mara River Basin is reportedly threatened by human activities with deforestation taking lead.
Conservationists are concerned over environmental threats facing the river basin forming important part of the Serengeti eco-system on the Tanzanian side and Masai Mara Game reserve in Kenya. Several speakers at the meeting said environmental damage within the river basin is almost getting out of hand.
Mara River is the entry point of the great annual migration of wild beasts crossing from Serengeti National Park to Masai Mara Game Reserve.
The migration of around 1.5 million wildebeests attracts thousands of tourists from different parts of the world, hence making significant contribution to the economy of the two nations. Livelihoods of thousands of people from the two sides rely on the river basin covering about 13,500 square kilometers.
By MUGINI JACOB, Tanzania Daily News
