TROPICAL BIOMES: 2013

They say the law is an ass, The Tanzania Environmental Management Act 2004 sets out the way to go about as a society regarding environmental matters at all levels of society in Tanzania. In this case the said law earmarks areas deemed as environmentally sensitive and deserving protection, these include swamps, wetlands, estuaries, river banks etc, among a myriad of others. It declares penalties to those found guilty of contravening the clauses protecting such areas but falls short of saying why, or at least falls short of doing so as clearly for the whys and wherefores are implicit in the context of the document.

We therefore have the task of explaining why it is wrong to fell trees, source sand, aggregates, clay for brick burning and stones from the river banks.

· The activities force the river to re-erode its sides to retain its natural cross sectional profile and in so doing carries sediment load that it otherwise would not need to carry.

· They loosen stable or bound sediment and make it available to transportation as above.

· Denial of a habitat to plants and dependant animals that live together besides the river this leads to deaths or emigration to other places which may turn out to be not as hospitable(see picture of monkey ransacking a domestic dustbin) it also forces primates to visit human farms for sustenance for lack of fruits, honey and edible roots back there .

· Causes flush floods during rains as the land nearby loses its ability to hold water for any substantial periods due to increased porosity, the fibrous plant roots and micro organisms in the subsoil help it contain more capillary water as compared to empty granular soil.

· Exposes the water mass in the river to increased rates of evaporation and elevated temperatures which in turn depletes dissolved oxygen and may lead to suffocation of organisms living inside the water such as fish, mollusks and arthropods.

· Causes unnecessary expenses to HEP power plant operators(in this case TANESCO for Nyumba ya Mungu dam) by loading their systems with sediment.

· Causes the premature filling up of lakes and other water bodies downstream with sediment, lake Jipe is a case in point as it is fed by rivers with the comparable problems.

One can, with further research, add to the list but the problem remains that even after making everybody internalize the reasons for not harming these delicate environments, how could we possibly keep vigilance against those of us who reason otherwise. The primary motive for using the river as a source of livelihood is that there are no alternatives, could anyone name some?, In the face of this valid question one finds her/himself at a loss for an explanation.

The central government delegates the task of protection to district councils which delegate it to village leaderships which, as there are no possible process audit mechanisms, shelf it and goes about their businesses, actual businesses I mean. The minister responsible for the environment , Theresia Huvisa (MP) has put it in black and white for all to hear, that her ministry (under the office of the vice president) lacks sufficient budgetary allocations for monitoring the enforcement of environmental laws, it is not known whether this lack of funding is accidental or a carefully planned malice considering that well placed names are heard in the media every now and then in connection with illegal activities done against the same laws. Again it is not known whether the ministry responsible is appropriately staffed, professionally enough to be able to prepare a budget sufficiently realistic to carry on its activities, even if they do not know anything about cloud seeding and artificial rains mvua za Lowasa as the media jokingly reffered. The point here is that at the village level if there are no checks from above the most important attitude is for everyone to have the way of feeding their own without breaking the law, breaking the law meaning stealing from others, otherwise everything goes.

The following pictures were taken on 21^st Sept. 2013 at 37 M,0304829 9637148 and 0304832,9636846.Elevetion 971 ASL.

This is Weruweru river(also known as Uweweri) in Hai district, Kilimanjaro. The amount of water you see in the river is a small fraction of its natural flow, most of it is abstracted upstream of this point for irrigation of vegetables and large foreign operated coffee estates. The river is a tributary of the Pangani river by way of joining with Kikafu,Kiladeda,Karanga and others at different points downstream.