The Serengeti will die if Kenya dams the Mara River

[Extract] The Serengeti ecosystem hosts the annual wildlife migration of up to 2 million animals (mainly wildebeests, zebras and other species of the plains). It is a World Heritage site, important to the Tanzania tourism industry, and an ecosystem living laboratory. It comprises the Serengeti National Park, the Masai Mara National Reserve in Kenya, and several Conservation, Game, and Wildlife Management areas. The Serengeti has one perennial river, the Mara, which is the only source of water for migrating wildlife in a drought year. The Mara River is formed by the confluence of the Amala and Nyangores Rivers, which drain the Mau forest in the Kenyan highlands; it is a transboundary river shared between Kenya upstream and Tanzania downstream

Bird records from the Isunkaviola Hills of Ruaha National Park, Tanzania

Volume: 25Start Page: 61End Page: 6

Towards an ecohydrology-based restoration of the Usangu wetlands and the Great Ruaha River, Tanzania

An open channel flow model, calibrated against field data, suggests that cattle intrusion in the eastern Usangu wetlands, as well as both dry and wet weather irrigation upstream, are responsible for the seasonal drying out of the Great Ruaha River (GRR) downstream. This human-induced change has severe socio-economic implications downstream, including hindering hydroelectricity production, as well as a devastating impact on the Ruaha National Park (RNP) ecosystem that is now shifting from wet tropics to dry tropics. To ensure sustainable development, governance is urgently needed for the Usangu catchment in a way that is compatible with ecohydrology principles for the sustainable use of water resources. In order to do that, perennial flow must be restored to the GRR. For this to happen this study suggests that all the livestock must be removed from the eastern Usangu wetlands and dry weather irrigators must return at least 25% (∼4 m3 s−1) of the water to the river