Tanzania's largest reserve under threat

27/08/2018

Tanzania's Selous Game Reserve, one of the last areas of untouched wilderness in the world, could face permanent damage should construction of a proposed hydroelectric dam go ahead. This important World Heritage Site contains multiple ecosystems that support a myriad of animal species, including Malagasy Pond Heron, as well as Lions and African Elephants.

In late April, the Tanzanian government confirmed plans to clear an expansive swathe of vegetation inside Selous, with a hydropower dam expected to be created. However, this decision is in breach of Tanzanian environmental legislation, and also goes against the World Heritage Committee position against dams with large reservoirs being built on World Heritage Sites.

Selous is an almost entirely undisturbed tract of wilderness roughly the size of Switzerland, and the largely untouched habitat hosts a long list of species typically associated with the savanna regions of Africa. The largest population of African Buffalo on the continent is found on the reserve, and it is an internationally important wintering site for Malagasy Pond Heron, which is listed as Endangered by BirdLife International. This species is highly threatened by a loss of habitat, and consequently the extensive wetlands of Selous is a key refuge.

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After a 10 year battle, Tanzania's 'Flamingo Factory' is safe

21 Mar 2018

The Government of Tanzania has decided against building a soda ash factory on the shores of Lake Natron, thus ending a ten-year struggle of the fate of the waters.

By Margaret Sessa ...

Last week, the conservation world received some extremely good news when the Government of Tanzania decided to abandon plans to construct a soda ash factory at Lake Natron, the most significant breeding site for Lesser Flamingos (Phoeniconaias minor) after becoming aware of the potential impacts. BirdLife International congratulates the Government of the United Republic of Tanzania on the decision, and their commitment to safeguarding flamingos.  

“The government move validates our ongoing collaboration to promote ecotourism as a sustainable alternative for local communities at Lake Natron”, said Patricia Zurita, BirdLife International’s Chief Executive Officer (CEO). “Through a three-year Darwin-funded project, a long term plan to help coordinate ecotourism as well as boost management capacity is already underway. BirdLife looks forward to continued positive engagement with the Government of Tanzania.”

Located in Northern Tanzania, Lake Natron is the ‘it’ spot for Lesser Flamingos. Although many plants and animals eschew the waters, which frequently reach temperatures above 40° C and are so alkaline as to burn skin, it’s paradise for flamingos, where the high salinity just means more food. Roughly 75 percent of the world’s Lesser Flamingos are hatched at the lake, and tourists flock to see the incredible ‘pink parade’ that results when flamingos strut around doing their mating dance.

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Birds Sleep in Giraffe Armpits, New Photos Reveal

Nighttime camera trap images from Serengeti National Park in Tanzania reveal giraffes acting as "bed and breakfasts," scientists say.

By Joshua Rapp Learn

PUBLISHED FEBRUARY 27, 2018

The best way to guarantee breakfast in bed for some small African birds is falling asleep on your dinner plate—even if it's a giraffe's armpit.

Scientists have long known that yellow-billed oxpeckers hang out on massive African mammals like giraffe, water buffalo, and eland during the day—an often beneficial relationship that provides hosts with cleaner, healthier skin. These small brown birds can often be seen perched on top or hanging off the animals, picking through their hair in search of tasty parasites like ticks.

But a series of rare photos from a large multi-year camera trap study in Tanzania's Serengeti National Park have revealed that the birds actually roost on some of their hosts overnight. The National Geographic Society provided funding for the project, called Snapshot Serengeti, which is led by lion expert Craig Packer. (See how hidden cameras reveal the secret lives of the Serengeti.)

"You look at them on the giraffe and they're just right up in there," says Meredith Palmer, a Ph.D. candidate in behavioral ecology at the University of Minnesota. "It's a very safe, comfortable place for the birds."

Palmer, who led a new study on these giraffe "bed and breakfasts" in theAfrican Journal of Ecology, believes the roosting may also be a territorial maneuver to deter competitors.

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Targeted forest regeneration: A blueprint for conserving tropical biological diversity?

Date:  August 22, 2017

Source:  University of Utah

Summary:

Targeted forest regeneration among the largest and closest forest fragments in the Eastern Arc Mountains of Tanzania and the Atlantic Forest of Brazil can dramatically reduce extinction rates of bird species over time, new research shows.

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New hope for critically endangered Tanzanian tailorbird

17 Mar 2017


One of the world’s rarest birds appears to occur in slightly higher numbers than previously thought. The bird is also responding positively to conservation efforts that involve working with farmers to allow re-growth of vegetation necessary for the birds. This has offered the opportunity for the bird to recolonise some areas, in what bird conservation experts say provides new hope for the species’ small population found only in Tanzania, East Africa.

About 100 – 200 pairs of the Long-billed Forest-warbler Artisornis moreaui (previously also known as Long-billed Tailorbird) are present in the East Usambara Mountains in north-eastern Tanzania, the only place where the species is found, according to annual surveys. Intensive research and conservation work had previously focused on Amani Nature Reserve. However, recent emphasis in Nilo Nature Reserve, a protected area found north of the Amani Nature Reserve, has resulted in more records. Surveys were done by the BirdLife Species Guardian, the local field team and other experts from the University of Dar es Salaam. This new figure represents more than 50% of population assessment made in 2000, when only 150 – 200 individuals were estimated to be in the Amani Nature Reserve.

BirdLife supports conservation of the tailorbird on farms bordering the forest, where the land is leased and vegetation allowed to regenerate naturally without disturbance. These farm plots started as an experiment in 2012 by Nsajigwa Kyonjola, a masters student of the University of Dar es Salaam and was supported in part by the African Bird Club. Results after four years of natural regeneration on these farm plots show that the tailorbird has colonised 50% of these restored plots.

This enigmatic Long-billed Forest warbler prefers relatively open parts of the forest like canopy gaps, stream lines and forest edges above 800m for habitat. It is not found outside the forest.



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Hadza foragers say hungry honeyguides lead them to more honey

Hadza hunter-gatherers of northern Tanzania have developed a deep and mutually beneficial relationship with the Greater Honeyguide bird, which, as its name indicates, leads people to sources of wild honey. Yale anthropologist Brian Wood has studied in great detail the intricate, and often surprising, interactions between people and birds in a new study published in the journal Evolution and Human Behavior.

The Hadza follow the Honeyguide, which leads them to colonies of honeybees, where the foragers harvest rich honeycomb. The birds are very good at their jobs, according to Wood, who estimates the Honeyguides help foragers find five times more bee colonies than if they searched for them on their own. The colonies that the birds find also yielded more honey than bee colonies the foragers found on their own. Eight to 10 percent of the Hadza's yearly diet is derived from following the Honeyguide's lead.

But what do the birds get out of this relationship? Turns out, not too much. Many writers have suggested that people actively reward honeyguides, but Wood found that the opposite is true. 

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Soda ash factories threaten flamingos

Lesser Flamingos could be at risk if the Tanzanian Government goes ahead with its plans to allow the National Development Corporation (NDC) to build two soda ash factories at Lake Natron and Engaruka in northern Tanzania Birdlife International have warned.

The NDC have stated that the factories are expected to produce 1.5 million tonnes of soda ash per year, employ over 1,000 people and are expected to bring in net income of $480 m (720 billion Tanzanian shillings. They have further stated that the Lake Natron factory will be built at least 10 kilometres from the lake “to avoid disrupting the flamingos.” 

Festo Semanini, the Head of the BirdLife International Office in Tanzania, based in Arusha says: “Mining of soda ash from Lake Natron would be the greatest ecological mistake Tanzania has ever committed. Indeed, recent studies have shown that mining would wipe out the lesser flamingos, to the detriment of Tanzanian economy and that of other East African countries. Flamingos use over 90 per cent of the Lake and digging the soda ash is the real threat; not where you place the factory.”

Mining of soda ash at Lake Natron would contravene international conventions especially the Ramsar Convention on Wetlands. 

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Over 70 rare birds under threat as forest depleted

Mamiwa Forest Reserve in Ukaguru Mountains, Kilosa District, Morogoro Region, home to over 70 rare bird species, may soon disappear, due to illegal logging, agriculture and mining activities.

This was revealed by Project manager for forest justice in Tanzania Elinas Monga, a project under Tanzania Forest Conservation Group (TFCG) during a one-day stakeholders meeting to present results of a disturbance and biodiversity survey to stakeholders in Kilosa district over the weekend.

According to Monga the survey revealed that increased human activities also threatened newly discovered endangered amphibian and bird species scientifically known as probreviceps durirostris and Moreau’s sunbird respectively.

He told 30 participants and stakeholders comprising village executives and district officials explained that the survey was conducted in six sites in the forest to determine the condition of the 14,000-hectare forest located 85 kilometers away from Kilosa district and which supplies water to several villages in Kilosa and Gairo districts.

The forest is surrounded by Nongwe,Masenge,Mkobwe, Mtega East, Mtega West and Mandege villages.

He said that TFCG was conducting researches and regular surveys on the conditions of forests in the country so that the government and relevant organs could act on their findings.

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Protected Areas Provide African Birds With Stepping Stones to Survival

June 20, 2013 — The protected area network in Tanzania is playing a vital role in the survival of savannah bird species as they move west in response to climate and environmental changes, according to new research led by the University of York.

Using data on savannah birds from the Tanzanian Bird Atlas project -- which has documented Tanzanian bird distributions over recent decades -- the researchers found that they are using protected areas as stepping stones as they move to areas further west where dry seasons are getting longer, with movements of up to 300km noted.

Much debate has centred on the effectiveness of the current protected area network to protect biodiversity in the face of climate and environmental changes.

However, the new study, which is published in Ecology Letters, not only provides the first evidence of climate-driven shifts for an African bird community, but suggests that continued maintenance of existing protected areas -- which include national parks and game reserves -- remains an appropriate response to the challenge of climate and environmental changes.

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Major flamingo breeding event begins on Lake Natron

Many thousands of lesser flamingos have flocked to Tanzania's Lake Natron to begin nesting.

Early reports suggest that this could become the most significant breeding event since 2007.

But the flamingos' breeding success will depend on a combination of environmental factors.

The gathering is one of nature's "fantastic spectacles", said Sarah Ward, of the University of Southampton.

Three-quarters of the world population of lesser flamingos (Hoenicopterus minor) live in East Africa and use Lake Natron as their nesting site.

"Large breeding events involving over a million [lesser] flamingos are not unusual if conditions at Lake Natron are suitable and if the flamingos are in good health," explained Ms Ward, a PhD research student studying the relationship between East African lakes and lesser flamingo populations at the university's Institute of Complex Systems Simulation (ICSS) and geography departments.

Continued:  http://www.bbc.co.uk/nature/20271751

Tanzania: Aquatic Bird Species Face Extinction

 Arusha — TANZANIA's water bird species are in danger of extinction due to drying off of wetlands, a situation contributed by climatic change.

Speaking during the 13th Pan-African Ornithological Congress (PAOC 13), taking place here, the Minister for Natural Resources and Tourism, Ambassador Khamisi Kagasheki, said effects of climate change and increasing human activities in reserves and wetlands are to blame for the situation.

The country is said to have more than 1,500 bird species, but already 30 of them are at the verge of extinction, with water bird species topping the list. Some of the endangered aquatic birds include ducks, geese, swans, magpie geese, screamers. Others are storks, herons, egrets, ibises, spoonbills and pelicans.

The drying off of Lake Manyara which is one of the breeding sites for the pink flamingos is one of the examples cited. 'The speed at which wetlands are drying off is worrying us, so there is need to put in place remarkable measures to address the situation, as water birds depend on such eco-systems for their reproduction and survival," he said.

Ambassador Kagasheki promised that his ministry will work on the matter and rescue the important resource for the current and future generations. 'Drying off of wetlands is a threat to water bird species, which depend on it for their survival. So, among other issues, PAOC meeting will provide a good platform for experts in wild birds to extensively discuss and exchange views on how to conserve the sector."

He also noted that birdwatching, a popular hobby around the world, can present significant economic opportunities for countries through sustainable tourism. "Birding plays a significant and growing part in the tourism industry and creates direct and indirect economic benefits for many countries and communities, also amongst developing countries.

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