Environment destruction threatens
Loliondo hills

by Valentine Marc Nkwame

From The Arusha Times
June 20, 2009

Bernhard Grzimek who 50 years ago commented that 'Serengeti shall not die,' must be turning in his grave. The vast plains are now facing demise.

Extensive environment destruction practices within the Loliondo Game Controlled area are posing major threats to the Serengeti eco-system. Officials and Environmentalists in the area are concerned with recent cases of uncontrolled farming topped with mass livestock grazing, (including animals from neighboring Kenya) trashing Loliondo hills.

The extended highlands happen to be the major sources of rivers and natural water springs feeding both the Serengeti and neighboring Maasai Mara plains located further downstream.

"The Loliondo Game Controlled Area is an important lifeline for both the Serengeti and Maasai Mara ecology because the unique range of hills are the sources of water that sustain the eco-system," explained Naiman Martin Mollel the Natural Resources officer for the Ngorongoro District within which, the LGCA is situated.

According to Naiman Mollel, recent human activities on the hills have resulted in destruction of forests as peasants chop down trees to pave way for new farms, "The forest cover is diminishing fast while the cultivation at water sources impede water flow and is also drying-up the rivers," he warned.

A visit in the affected hills revealed many acres of new farms (filled with mostly maize and beans crops) mushrooming in the water catchments areas, replacing the razed down forests, but even worse, the owners continue to cut down trees, this time using their stems and branches to fence the crops, protecting them from wild animals said to be destroying the farms.

Siltation arising from uncontrolled cultivation at water sources not only impede water movement but is slowly but surely killing rivers flowing into the adjacent Serengeti plains.

"The hills on the West side of Loliondo are the ones mostly affected but the destructions are taking over the entire precinct including local hunting blocks, we fear that even the licensed hunting firms here will leave because farms are now encroaching their areas," said the Natural Resources Officer adding that of late there have been complaints from affected hunting companies.

The same concern was raised by the area member of Parliament Saning'o ole Telele who lamented during a recent Regional meeting that farming was threatening both conservation and hunting activities in the vicinity.

The wildlife officer however warns the situation is far much worse than could ever be explained by mere words. "Farming has invaded the local animal corridor and other wildlife passages," stated Naiman listing, Oldonyowasi, Oloipiri, Olorien, Arash and Magaiduru villages being notorious for 'destructive farming activities!'

Asked why the Maasai have turned into farming though they are pastoralists by nature, Lemushokua Shugume a resident of Oldonyowasi village explained that his tribe has been suffering food shortages due to drought spells that has been killing their livestock in large numbers. Shugume aged 70 added that food prices have also been escalating leaving the Maasai with only one survival option; to grow their own grains and legumes.

"A number of institutions and organizations have been coming round to teach Maasai people how to grow crops, a rather new trade to us," he stated.

Loliondo hills are the sources of the legendary Grumeti River, a lifeline for the Serengeti National Park and surrounding plains. Grumeti is home to variety of hippos and crocodiles within Serengeti. The Grumeti is also crossing point for the famous internationally acclaimed wildebeest migration.

Loliondo Hills is also the source of River Pinyinyi which feeds Lake Natron and is highly depended upon by the residents of Loliondo, Waso and Enkaresero areas. The Game Controlled area has always been the 'water reservoir' for variety of eco-systems in the north, being the ultimate water catchments and 'rain-making' area.

Bernhard Grzimek the late Germany Zoo Director and conservationist had in 1959 produced a documentary entitled 'Serengeti shall not die!' but Grzimek who died on shooting location for the film, had not foreseen the current environmental destruction that may just spell doom to the legendary plains.

Local authorities, including the District Council, the District Commissioner's office and other institutions are now in the process of re-forming previously dormant village environment committees that had previously collapsed in order to address the situation; this is according to the Ngorongoro DC, Elias Wawa Lali.

Loliondo is located in Maasai ancestral lands in the northern part of Tanzania along the common border with Kenya. It borders the Ngorongoro highlands to the south, Serengeti National Park to the west, and the Maasai Mara Game Reserve (Kenya), to the north.

The Loliondo Game Controlled Area encompasses an estimated 4,000 square kilometers, roughly a third the area of Serengeti National Park. There is no physical barrier separating the LGCA from these other protected areas; it is a continuous ecosystem.

LGCA was initially established in 1959 as a Game Reserve by the British colonial government under the then Fauna Conservation Ordinance, Section 302, a legal instrument the colonial authorities used to set aside portions of land for wildlife conservation. The legal status of the reserve was later changed to that of a Game Controlled Area to allow for commercial trophy hunting, a status that defines LGCA today.

Loliondo is an important part of the semi-annual migratory route of millions of wildebeests and other ungulates northward into the Maasai Mara Game Reserve and Amboseli National Park in Kenya between April and June, and returning southward later in the year. The survival of the Ngorongoro-Serengeti-Maasai Mara ecosystem and the wildlife it supports is highly linked to the existence and health of Loliondo.