Lake Tanganyika and its Basin are endowed with exceptionally large and highly diverse heritage of flora and fauna. The lake is a global hotspot of biodiversity, and an extremely valuable aquatic ecosystem containing almost 17% of the global available surface freshwater supply and some of the largest freshwater fisheries on the African continent. Estimates suggest that Lake Tanganyika harbours at least 1500 species out of which approximately 600 are currently considered endemic to the lake. In addition to Lake Tanganyika’s elevated levels of aquatic biodiversity, the Basin is renowned for its terrestrial biodiversity and scenic beauty. The Basin contains several forest reserves and national parks including Rusizi Nature Reserve and Kigwena Forest Reserve in Burundi, Gombe Stream, Katavi and Mahale Mountains National Park in Tanzania, and Nsumbu National Park in Zambia. The lake and its Basin provide a diverse range of ecosystem services that sustain the livelihoods of millions of people.
Environmental degradation caused mainly by human induced activities poses serious threats to the biodiversity and sustainable use of the natural resources in the Lake Tanganyika Basin. In recognition of these threats, the four riparian countries of Burundi, Democratic Republic of Congo, Tanzania and Zambia with support from international partners convened the first international scientific conference on the conservation of biodiversity of Lake Tanganyika and its Basin in 1991. One of the main outcomes of this conference was that international funding agencies were attracted. Between 1992 and 2003 the riparian countries and supporting partners jointly implemented the Lake Tanganyika Research Project (LTR), the Lake Tanganyika Biodiversity Project (LTBP) and the Lake Tanganyika Management Planning Project
Lake Tanganyika is internationally recognised as a global hotspot of biodiversity, representing some of the most diverse aquatic ecosystems in the world (Groombridge and Jenkins, 1998). The lake’s valuable aquatic ecosystem and the many natural resources found in its Basin provide essential sources of livelihood and income for over 10 million riparian population around the lake, and contribute to the growing economies of surrounding countries of Burundi, Democratic Republic of Congo (DR Congo), Tanzania and Zambia.
Estimates suggest that Lake Tanganyika harbours at least 1500 species (Coulter, 1991), although species numbers vary according to taxonomic authority. Approximately 600 species are endemic to the lake, including 245 morphologically diverse and colourful cichlid fish species (Snoeks, 2000; Genner et al., 2004). Lake Tanganyika is unique in harbouring endemic species clusters of bagrids, cyprinids, mastacembelids, and mochokids (Coulter, 1991; Vreven, 2005; Day & Wilkinson, 2006). Moreover, a large diversity of endemic ostracods, gastropods, shrimp, crabs (e.g., Martens, 1994; West et al., 2003; Marijnissen et al., 2004; Fryer 2006), as well as many other taxa can be found in Lake Tanganyika. The lake is valuable not only for the presence of these unique species, but also as a microcosm in which to study the processes of evolution that have led to this diversity.
The Lake Tanganyika Basin faces multiples challenges, resulting from the activities of rapidly expanding human populations in the riparian countries. The most immediate threats are:
The transboundary environmental problems in Lake Tanganyikabasin have the potential to impact the livelihoods of millions people.
]]>The East African Community (EAC,) in an attempt to boost investment and the livelihood of more than the 20 million people whose livelihoods depend on Lake Tanganyika and its surroundings, organized a conference entitled, “Unlocking the Overflowing Trade and Investment Opportunities in the Lake Tanganyika Basin,” for the first time on Nov.28-29 in Bujumbura.
In his opening speech, Burundi President and the outgoing Chair of the EAC Heads of State Summit Pierre Nkurunziza appealed to investors from the EAC, Common Market for Eastern and Southern Africa (COMESA), Southern Africa Development Community (SADC), Europe, North America, China, Japan and India to exploit the investment opportunities in the lake’s basin.
“The development of transport on the lake, improvement of existing ports and the construction of new ones, and investment in the fishing industry would open up Lake Tanganyika basin as a whole,” said Nkurunziza. “The commercial and cultural exchanges between the three communities—[EAC, SADC, COMESA]—will accelerate the integration through the tripartite free trade zone,” he said.
Nkurunziza pointed out that the lake—also bordered by DRC, Zambia, Tanzania—forms a unique ecosystem, with its vast heritage of flora and fauna found in several forest reserves and natural parks, including the Kibira Forest, Kigwena Forest Reserve, and Rukoko Reserve in Burundi; Mahale Mountains National Park in Tanzania; the Nyungwe Forest between Rwanda and Burundi; Nsumbu National Park in Zambia, and the wetlands of Malagarazi shared by Tanzania and Burundi.
These areas, he added, are also rich in mineral resources such as nickel, diamonds, gold, iron, cobalt and oil and agricultural resources such as palm oil, sugar, fruits and vegetables.
Speaking at the same conference, Burundi’s Minister for EAC Affairs Hafsa Mossi added that Lake Victoria—which borders Kenya, Uganda and Tanzania—also has a “vast potential to feed the region [and] produce a surplus for export.”
“The two great lakes and their basins hold potential that goes beyond sustaining the livelihoods of their specific inhabitants,” she said. “With sustainable management and rational utilization of their resources, they would yield food sufficiency and surplus production for export.”
Mossi called for cooperation among the countries that share the lakes in the sustainable utilization of resources, including the conservation and protection of the delicate ecosystems. Cooperation, she said, was particularly necessary in the areas of joint marketing strategies and promotion of investments and trade in the two basins.
Activities, she highlighted, have included the ongoing joint negotiations of the Economic Partnership Agreement with the European Union. “Breakthroughs have also been made towards the conclusion of tailor-made trade and investment agreements with the leading world markets, USA, China, India and other strategic markets,” said Mossi.
Despite the EAC’s heavy call for investment, there are outstanding security and environmental issues that need to be addressed. According to Gerson Fumbuka, a maritime security officer at Lake Victoria Basin Commission (LVBC) cases of piracy have limited vessels from carrying goods and people in the area, and police remain poorly equipped to handle this threat. The situation, says Fumbuka, is consequently, “a pity in terms of trade and tourism.”
On the other hand, Lake Tanganyika’s biggest threat stems from its rising water temperatures. Geologists from Brown University in the U.S. recently revealed that at 26 degrees Celsius (78.8°F), temperatures are the warmest it’s been for a millennium and a half. This has impacted Tanganyika’s unique ecosystem by affecting necessary nutrients for the lake’s ecosystem.
Three new invasive plant species—Water Hyacinth, Mimosa Diplotricha, and Mimosa Pigra—have also recently been discovered in the lake. An invasive species is an animal or plant that is introduced into a new area where it does not occur naturally. If the introduction occurs without the accompaniment of its pests and diseases that keep the species under control in its natural range and if it is able to survive, establish and spread it can cause damage to biodiversity and peoples’ livelihoods or development. “It is thus a threat to the coasts, wetlands and inflowing waters of Lake Tanganyika in all four riparian countries,” says Henry Mwima, the executive director of Lake Tanganyika Authority (LTA).
Despite the challenges, the two lakes are receiving help from the beneficiary governments and development partners. Fumbuka said that with regard to Lake Victoria, the EAC enacted the Lake Victoria Transport Act in 2007, which intends to deploy new boats to patrol the lake.
“We have already brought [lake security] to the attention of the council of ministers and they directed Lake Victoria Basin Secretariat to institute a framework, which will be put in Lake Victoria and other inland waters to address the issue of personnel and equipments,” said Fumbuka.
The partner states, he said, will purchase state of the art equipment, including boats, which will help to fight piracy and carry out search and rescue activities—currently a big challenge to the people using the lake. “We are going to have boats and these boats will be equipped with personnel who are capable of assisting in any eventualities,” said Fumbuka, adding that the personnel will also receive heavy training to perfect their job.
As part of ensuring safety on Lake Victoria, the commission is carrying out an awareness program in all the five partner states of the EAC. Two sensitization campaigns have been held, one in Kenya and another one in Burundi. Last week, a similar campaign was held in Uganda and the team is expected to come to Kigali in the coming week to conduct the same exercise.
Actions are also being taken to harmonize national legislations amongst countries that border Lake Tanganyika in order to minimize conflicts that could arise from the lake’s resources.
Moreover, with the help of Nordic Fund for development and the African Development Bank, LTA is working with communities to identify and fund projects that would support socio-economic development in the lake basin.
If such actions can prove fruitful, both Lake Victoria and Tanganyika offer an abundance of resources. Lake Victoria Fisheries Organization (LVFO), another EAC institution charged with promoting fisheries in the lake, says the lake yields between 800,000 – 1 million tons valued at $350 – 400 million at the beach, with export earnings estimated at $250 million annually.
The fishery is supported by three main important fish stocks—the Nile perch, Rastrineobola argentea and Nile Tilapia. Over 75 percent of the Nile perch is directly sold to the fish processing factories for export while Dagaa and tilapia are serving the regional and local markets.
Unlike Lake Victoria, Lake Tanganyika yields between 165,000 to 200,000 tons of fish are harvested from the lack each year
]]>Previous knowledge of Burundi's wildlife came from scientific surveys conducted in the mid-20th century, when the nation was under Belgian administration. But its history since then has been one of political unrest, population growth, and habitat loss. Today, approximately 10 million people occupy an area the size of Massachusetts, giving Burundi one of the highest population densities in Africa.
Academy curator David Blackburn joined his colleague Eli Greenbaum, professor at the University of Texas at El Paso, on the 2011 expedition with the goal of finding Cardioglossa cyaneospila, as well as other amphibians and reptiles first described 60 years ago. To their pleasant surprise, the habitats of the Bururi Forest Reserve in the southwest part of the country were still relatively intact, with populations of rare forest birds and chimpanzees present.
With little knowledge to go on except a hunch that C. cyaneospila would make a call like its possible close relatives in Cameroon, Blackburn finally found a single specimen on his fifth night in the forest.
"I thought I heard the call and walked toward it, then waited," said Blackburn. "In a tremendous stroke of luck, I casually moved aside some grass and the frog was just sitting there on a log. I heard multiple calls over the next few nights, indicating a healthy population of the species, but I was only able to find this one specimen."
The Bururi long-fingered frog is about 1.5 inches long, with a black and bluish-gray coloration. The males are notable for one extra-long finger on each foot, analogous to the "ring finger" in humans, whose purpose is unknown. Its closest relatives live in the mountains of Cameroon, more than 1,400 miles away.
The lone specimen collected, which now resides in the Academy's herpetology collection, can be used for DNA studies to determine how long the Cardioglossa species from Burundi and Cameroon have been genetically isolated from one another. The results will shed light on Africa's historical climate conditions, a topic that has far-reaching implications for understanding the evolution of life in the continent that gave rise to our own species.
In addition to locating the Bururi long-fingered frog, Blackburn and Greenbaum also documented dozens of other amphibians in Burundi, many of which had never before been recorded in the country. The team also discovered some species that may be new to science.
"Eventually, we will use the data from our expedition to update the IUCN conservation assessment for amphibians of Burundi," said Greenbaum. "Because Burundi is poorly explored, we've probably doubled the number of amphibian species known from the country. Once we demonstrate that Burundi contains rare and endemic species, we can work with the local community to make a strong case for preserving their remaining natural habitats."
Source: Science Daily
]]>For him, if nothing is done in terms of protection, Lake Tanganyika can become an unusable pond. He called on all Burundians to act for the protection of this important aquatic ecosystem. Mr. Toyi also mentioned that the Burundi Government is committed to protecting the lake by promulgating the Water Code and the National Strategy for Sustainable Tourism Development in Burundi. He recalled that people should avoid throwing waste of any kind in this lake, which, after all, is not a public dumping ground, and instead, promote rational fisheries.
Dr. Henry Mwima, the Executive Director of Lake Tanganyika Authority (LTA) has recognized the efforts made by Burundi in protecting the lake and appealed to other Lake Tanganyika riparian countries (DRC, Tanzania and Zambia) to emulate the example set by the Government of the Republic of Burundi by setting aside one day to celebrate the unique and shared heritage: Lake Tanganyika. Mr. Mwima however informed that the problems to be solved for the protection of this lake include climate change, invasive species, sedimentation, overexploitation of natural resources, habitat destruction and pollution.
In addition, Mr. Albert Mbonerane, the Legal Representative of ACVE (Green Belt Action for Environment), noted that Burundi was the first Lake Tanganyika riparian country to ratify in 2004, the Convention on Sustainable Management of Lake Tanganyika and to organise in 2005, the celebration of the national day dedicated to this lake. He took this opportunity to recommend a better implementation of the Water Code by users and investors in the sector of water.
However, it was noted that the shoreline of Lake Tanganyika is seriously threatened by pollution from riparian cities, particularly in Bujumbura, at the place called "Ku mase". During a visit along the Lake Tanganyika shore, held on Friday 20th July, people were forced to hold their noses to avoid unpleasant odours caused by domestic wastewater flowing to the lake, and blackening the water and the silver sand on the beach.
Participants to this visit organised as part of the celebration of the day, also remarked that in some places along the lake, as in Gitaza, Bujumbura Rural province (in the west) and Magara, in Bururi province (in southwest), uncontrolled constructions threaten the protection zone of 150 meters from the lake as stated in the Water Code and some palm oil processing units visited in Rumonge, Bururi province, do not pre-treat their liquid waste before discharging them into the lake. However, some hotels located near the lake as "Blue Bay" in Rumonge, took into account the environmental aspect and comply with the standards in relation to beach management. For this, many tourists are coming to rest on the picturesque beach and enjoy swimming in the clean waters of Lake Tanganyika.
The Minister of Water, Environment, Land and Urban Planning, Mr. Jean Marie Nibirantije took this opportunity to mention that Burundi Government has implemented strategies to protect the lake through the Water Code. He indicated that severe penalties are provided for polluters, and that the water code requires observing a protection area of 150 meters from the shore, the destruction of illegally implemented building in this area, and the environmental impact assessment prior to implementing any project near the lake.
Mr. Gabriel Hakizimana, LTA Director of Environment, as he is concerned, stressed that pollution of the lake, considered as a freshwater reserve with a volume of 19,000 km³, is mainly caused by wastewater from the lake riparian cities, including Bujumbura. However, he moderated, analysis of waters in this lake of 32,900 km², conducted by the NGO "GIZ" confirm that the bacteriological quality of water from Lake Tanganyika is not proper for human consumption but, however, the chemical aspect of this water is not worrisome.
It is worth to mention that the celebration of this day was marked by cleaning the beach near Bujumbura Port, the destruction of illegal fishing gears and giving awards to students who had presented the best poems and best sketches about the theme: "Lake Tanganyika is a treasure to protect".
]]>
In his opening speech, the Minister in charge of water, Mr. Jean Marie Nibirantije declared that Lake Tanganyika, a globally important fresh water reserve hosting the richest biodiversity in the world, has become a dumping ground for industrialists and households in Bujumbura. According to him the sector of water faces numerous challenges that influenced the development of the water code adopted on 26th March 2012. Those challenges are related to uncontrolled management, drinking water supply, basic sanitation, the role of water playing a dynamic role in development, as well as to the problem of climate change. He called for a change of behaviour for a better management of water resource which is becoming increasingly rare and vulnerable in Burundi. “Without water, life is not possible, water is life. Water protects our environment as all living beings need this primary resource”, said the minister Nibirantije. Given these challenges, the Government of Burundi created the ministry in charge of water resources in order to distinguish management and use of water resources. Mr. Nibirantije recalled the vision of the Government with regard to this issue, which is “Building a nation where water is sufficiently available in quality and quantity to meet the needs of present and future generations, and where water is efficiently and equitably used for a sustainable socio economic development without compromising the environment”.
As he is concerned, the Coordinator of PROSECEAU/GIZ (Sectoral Programme Water and Sanitation of the German Cooperation), Mr. Rudolph Jochen, indicated that in the aim of ensuring an equitable access to clean water and sanitation, the German Government is committed to support the Burundi Government to implement reforms in the sector of water. He noted that the promulgation of the water code is an important step in the reform process started some years ago. The PROSECEAU accompanied the ministry in charge of water in developing the national water policy which provided key orientations in terms of water resource management. It also supported the process of water code development, a tool that will enable all categories of Burundians to understand the importance of this resource.
According to M. Jochen, the two reference texts go back to the Dublin Principles, two of which are interesting for the sector of industry; these are the “polluter pays” principle or the “responsibility principle”, and the “collector pays” principle or the principle of recognizing the economic value of water which address to the main users of water resource. He called for the respect of the provisions of the code, mainly those related to the qualitative and quantitative protection of water. He reaffirmed the commitment of Germany to stand by Burundi side in implementing reforms complying with the main provisions in this code.
The water code being disseminated for the implementation of the national water policy adopted in 2009, proves that water management and use are based on 10 key principles. The first principle recognizes that water is an economic asset. The second principle of subsidiarity implies the transfer of related skills to the community at the base. The third is related to the participation of women in making decisions on water. The principle of solidarity insists on measures to enable the poor and vulnerable have access to water at an affordable price. The fifth principle focuses on the regional and international cooperation in this matter. The principle of good governance emphasizes on transparency and accountability in the sector. The principle of sustainability is to make water available for future generations. The eighth principle is on the participatory approach at all levels of development and water management. The principle of the program approach emphasizes on the development of water sector as a whole. The tenth principle of responsibility is meant to avoid misuse and potentially harmful activities to water resources.
]]>