Kenya, Tanzania to Cooperate on Mara River Basin
By Henry Neondo
Eight local authorities in Tanzania and Kenya plan to jointly work towards promoting natural resource management in the Mara River Basin. The Mara ecosystem includes the world famous Maasai Mara game reserve in Kenya and the Serengeti national park in Tanzania.
The Tarime, Rorya, Musoma Rural, Serengeti district councils from Tanzania and Narok, Trans Mara, Bomet county councils in Kenya on Friday agreed to promote best practices in integrated natural and water resources management in the basin.
“The councils also agreed to promote trans-boundary Mara Basin Local Authorities meetings, exposure tours and networking,” said Transboundary Water for Biodiversity and Human Health in the Mara River Basin Project Coordinator, Qureish Noordin
Noordin said the council also resolved to lobby for more resource allocation for their work.
The councils also agreed to shared expertise, promote equity and share benefit that will accrue from their joint ventures.
They made the collaboration agreement after a local authorities training on integrated natural resources management for enhanced management organised by the Lake Victoria Commission.
According to Noordin, USAID East Africa is funding the project at a cost of Sh127 million for three years.
“All the councils are doing something about environmental protection in the basin but we want it done jointly,” added Noordin.
Noordin added that the preparations for the inaugural Mara sensitisation day to be held in Musoma, Tanzania next month were complete.
The Mara River Basin (13,325 Km2) is shared by Kenya and Tanzania. The river originates from the forested Mau Escarpment along the western rim of the Eastern Great Rift Valley in Kenya (at an altitude of 2,900 meters above sea level).
The Mara Basin is home for 1.1 million people who are mostly engaged in agricultural activities.
Musoma (Tanzania) and Bomet (Kenya) are the largest urban centers with about 120,000 and 95,000 residents respectively. The rest of the population lives in rural areas, with a very high percentage (up to 64 per cent) being below the poverty line.
The Mara-Serengeti is a World Heritage site and a Biosphere Reserve of global conservation significance and of great economic importance to the local communities in Kenya and Tanzania.
The Mara River Basin faces serious environmental and water resources problems, primarily from the intensive settlement and cultivation in the Mara River Basin leading to loss of vegetation cover, widespread soil erosion, decreased water infiltration capacity, decreased soil fertility, and increased sedimentation and water pollution in the rivers.