Born Free Foundation - Keep Wildlife in the Wild

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Lake Natron in East Africa’s Great Rift Valley, a vital breeding ground for lesser flamingos, is under threat from an industrial plant proposed by one of the world’s largest chemical conglomerates, Tata Chemicals.  Lake Natron is listed by the international Ramsar Wetland Convention and designated an Important Bird Area by BirdLife International.

The Lake Natron Consultative Group (LNCG), which includes Born Free Kenya, has renewed efforts to stop construction of a soda ash plant at Lake Natron after the investor’s insistance on going ahead with the project despite the negative environmental impact that the project is likely to pose.

Lake Natron Resources Ltd is jointly owned by Tata Chemicals Ltd of Mumbai India and Tanzania’s National Development Corporation. The company’s initial plan was to set up a soda ash plant with an annual production capacity of 0.5 million tonnes which has raised serious environmental concerns. To extract ash from Lake Natron’s water, a large-scale industrial plant will be constructed along with a network of pipes across the surface of the lake. A new road and rail infrastructure would be built to serve the soda ash plant.

The LNCG has aggressively opposed the project warning that it was likely to have the following impact;-

• Affect the breeding of 75 percent of the world’s lesser flamingos due to increased disturbance by the presence of humans and vehicular traffic. Moreover, changes in volumes and chemical composition of the water and increased presence of predators are other important factors to consider.
  Destroy the local pastoral livelihoods as pastures are encroached and water resources get depleted.  Calculations show that in 15 hours the plant alone will consume enough water to meet the needs of 40,000 heads of cattle!
• Destroy the tourism appeal of the Lake Natron area as a result of loss of wilderness quality.
• Negatively affect the national economies of Tanzania, Kenya, Ethiopia and Uganda that depend on flamingo related tourism.  Tanzania earned US $ 746 million from tourist receipts in 2004 while Kenya earned US $ 886 million from tourism in 2006.
• Lead to increased environmental degradation and pressure on natural resources such as fuel wood and water.
• Lead to increased pollution from the soda ash plant by products and waste from the urban centre.
• Affect the health of the local people and lead to increased incidences of respiratory diseases

The LNCG is stepping up efforts to have the project halted through advocacy and by commissioning further studies into the comparative cost benefits of the project.

The cost benefit analysis study will compare the costs and benefits of soda ash mining and those of tourism, pastoralism, culture, biodiversity and other natural resources (tangible and intangible) within the ecosystem.

In addition, the LNGC will be contacting key people in Tanzania, Kenya and East Africa generally to lobby support and to create an awareness of the significant issues arising from this renewed proposal.

In the long term, the LNCG would like systems put in place to make it difficult for other trans-boundary projects with significant environmental impacts initiated. The Lake Natron basin and the cross border ecosystem should be developed for flamingo tourism and other forms of tourism including cultural tourism.

The Group would like the Tanzania government to initiate and complete a management plan for the Natron Basin Ramsar Site with the plan extended beyond the Tanzania border in order to encompass the whole ecosystem. LNCG has offered expertise to help realize this.

The Group is also petitioning the authorities in Kenya in order to have the portion of Lake Natron that is located in Kenya, and the adjoining ecosystem, listed as a Ramsar site as well.  This will complete the picture across the border and will foster collaborative planning and management of this critical ecosystem.