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Tanzanian gov't moves to save Ngorongoro Crater from ruin

Xinhua, December 30, 2016 Adjust font size:

Authorities in Tanzania said on Friday they will work closely with the Ngorongoro Conservation Area Authority (NCAA) to protect it from an ecological disaster.

William Ole Nasha, the east African nation's Deputy Minister for Agriculture, Livestock and Fisheries, said Ngorongoro Crater, one of the country's seven World Heritage Sites, was facing immense ecological crisis.

Ole Nasha said the government is keen to resolve the ecological crisis within the Ngorongoro Crater in a bid to restore its lost glory.

To start with, said the minister, the government has started working closely with the NCAA in looking into ways of bringing water to communities living around the crater.

"This move will see a drop in the number of livestock grazing into the crater in pursuit of water and salt," said Ole Nasha.

"At the moment we are in touch with the NCAA and have already earmarked some initiatives that will save the crater," he said.

Ole Nasha added some of the initiatives included construction of enough boreholes and dams outside the crater.

He said the government was also looking into ways of controlling the number of livestock in the area by introducing a new breed of bulls to livestock keepers.

On Thursday, reports said the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organisation (UNESCO) was planning to delist the crater as a recognised world heritage site if ongoing human activities were not brought under control.

The UN agency has on several occasions warned that factors like the human population boom, pressure for grazing land, the spread of invasive animal species, and poaching activities could jeopardize the wildlife ecosystem within the crater.

Freddy Manongi, the NCAA Chief Conservator, said the authority was working round the clock to rescue the situation.

Manongi admitted that the unprecedented human activity coupled with cattle over-grazing within the crater was spelling doom for the survival of the crater which is home to over 30,000 animals of various species, including elephants, lions, cheetahs, wildebeest, buffaloes, and the rare black rhinos.

Early this month, Prime Minister Kassim Majaliwa directed the NCAA to conduct a census on the numbers of humans and livestock co-existing with wild animals in the area. Endit