VS: [AfricanBirding] Birdlife release : Lake Natron faces renewed threat from soda-ash mining

> From: Raymond Katebaka [raymond.katebaka@gmail.com]
> Sent: 2009-08-26 14:36:06 MEST
> To: keith_betton [keith_betton@hotmail.com]
> Cc: AfricanBirding@yahoogroups.com
> Subject: Re: [AfricanBirding] Birdlife release : Lake Natron faces renewed threat from soda-ash mining
>
> Things are getting out of hand for our neighbors in Tanzania Keith! I
> recall in the last year such information was circulated to most of us
> conservationists who signed against that development. However, I am not sure
> if the government of Tanzania environmental agency has approved or certified
> the development by the time the advert was posted. If it did then they
> should have based on EIA provided. Apparently it?s hard for people who are
> not on ground to judge. Nevertheless what does the Environmental Management
> Plan (EMP) say? Was the assessment done in favor of the developer? Has the
> EIA contained the TEV of both direct and indirect? Does it consider
> offsetting incase of net loss? Is there anything like EIA national
> regulations, policies, acts etc?
>
> I think this is cross boarder issue that Tanzania government doesn?t have to
> decide alone. I would want to understand the involvement of the multilateral
> institutions such as World Bank. Soda ash I imagine is non renewable
> resource. How long will it last if extraction starts? If it?s short period
> of time fine, but say 40 years the biological diversity of the area will be
> affected significantly. So, does the EIA spell out this properly? Does the
> new team of experts contain neighboring countries? Surprisingly if the new
> EIA has not been produced how then there is speculation of Tanzanian
> Government Agency is seeking to buy mining equipment for large-scale soda
> ash extraction from Lake Natron?
>
> Let?s work together to conserve the flamingos
>
>
> On Wed, Aug 26, 2009 at 2:23 PM, keith_betton <keith_betton@hotmail.com>wrote:
>
> >
> >
> > Lake Natron faces renewed threat from soda-ash mining
> > 26-08-2009
> > BirdLife has learnt that a Tanzanian Government Agency is seeking to buy
> > mining equipment for large-scale soda ash extraction from Lake Natron ? the
> > most important breeding site for Lesser Flamingo Phoeniconaias minor [Near
> > Threatened] in the world. "This is worrying indeed", said Lota Melamari -
> > the CEO of Wildlife Conservation Society of Tanzania (WCST-BirdLife in
> > Tanzania).
> > "An advert for the supply of mining equipment, and a recent announcement of
> > the expansion of the railway and building of new port at Tanga to handle
> > soda ash all point to deliberate efforts to keep alive the intention of
> > mining Lake Natron's soda ash", added Lota Melamari.
> > The Tanzania Investment Centre, a Tanzanian Government Agency, is inviting
> > interested parties to quote for the "Supply of machinery and equipment, as
> > well as trucks in a greenfield soda ash/caustic soda processing plant". The
> > advert was placed on behalf of KDCL Minerals (T) Ltd - a private company
> > which states that the $US 125 million project at Lake Natron in Northern
> > Tanzania will produce approximately 200,000 tonnes of soda ash annually.
> > Three-quarters of the world's population of Lesser Flamingo live in East
> > Africa ? and all depend on Tanzania's Lake Natron as a breeding site. The
> > development and associated infrastructure could permanently prevent the
> > birds from nesting at Lake Natron, spelling doom for the region's
> > spectacular flamingo flocks.
> > In opposition to development proposals of 2007, BirdLife launched its
> > `Think Pink' campaign. At the same time the Lake Natron Consultative Group -
> > a coalition of 49 mainly African institutions - was formed to urge the
> > Tanzanian Government to abandon the project. "Through campaigns like Think
> > Pink, the world, local communities, Tanzanian NGOs and ordinary citizens
> > have said a big `No' to the project - this will not change", warned Ken
> > Mwathe of BirdLife Africa Partnership Secretariat and Coordinator of Lake
> > Natron Consultative Group.
> > Earlier plans for mining Lake Natron involved Tata Chemicals Ltd. and the
> > governmental National Development Corporation. BirdLife welcomed the
> > withdrawal last year of an initial, inadequate and inappropriate
> > Environmental and Social Impact Assessment (ESIA), and is awaiting a new
> > ESIA to be produced and reviewed by a competent team of experts. "The
> > Tanzanian Government has promised, and consistently maintained, that no new
> > ESIA would be conducted before having in place an Integrated Management Plan
> > for the Lake Natron Ramsar Site, and this process is still ongoing",
> > concluded Lota.
> >
> >
> >
>
>
> [Non-text portions of this message have been removed]
>
>
>
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