Surfbirds News: BirdLife International Archives
Judgement day for Africa’s flamingos
The enormous clouds of pink flamingos that grace the skies of East Africa and ring the edges of some of its most scenic lakes with a bright band of living colour may soon be a thing of the past if the path is cleared on November 2nd 2007 for a major industrial development on a remote and isolated lake in Africa’s Great Rift Valley.
Officials in Tanzania are to assess plans for a soda ash plant on Lake Natron, the world's single most important breeding site for the Near Threatened Lesser Flamingo, where more than a million of these beautiful birds nest.
Lesser Flamingo ?? Tar J??nos, from the surfbirds galleries
They will advise Environment Minister Mark Mwandosya on whether to allow Lake Natron Resources, jointly owned by the Tanzanian Government and the Indian company TATA Chemicals, to pump more than 100,000 litres of freshwater and 550,000 litres of brine (saltwater) from the area every hour, for the production of soda ash, a material used in glass and dye production.
The lake is the only reliable breeding site in East Africa for the Lesser Flamingo. All the 1.5 - 2.5 million Lesser Flamingos alive in East Africa today were probably hatched at Lake Natron - Africa's "flamingo factory". |
