![]() ![]() ![]() Unprotected lake and wetland habitats are increasingly subject to developments that threaten their waters. Arengo - and how they mightīut the problems at Lake Natron represent what is happening elsewhere. Mining soda ash could change thatĭynamic by excavating the lake, which creates a greater influx of water, and so dilutes the dense mud that helps solidify the nests.Īnd then there are the inevitable disruptions of an industrial site - “movement and the presence of people, the coming and going of heavy machinery,” said Dr. That additive material comes from the lake, because unlike other birds, flamingos source their nesting products locally. On their return to Lake Natron each year, the nesting flamingos “can reuse mounds, but they’ll always repairĪnd build on an existing mound,” Dr. Sarah Ward, a geographer from the University of Southampton who specializes in East African lake research.įor the several hundred thousand eggs laid during a robust breeding event, home is a brown mound. “A breeding colony is very nervous and prone to deserting nests and young if there is any disturbance,” There are concerns that the plans could seriously disrupt the flamingo activities there. Plans for development lay fallow until Tanzania’s president, Jakaya Kikwete, announced a decision to proceed with the plant last year. Is mined for its widespread industrial uses in items like detergents and dyes, ramen noodles and sherbet. Soda ash is the commercial name given to sodium carbonate, a product that occurs naturally in alkali lakes like Lake Natron, and Since 2006, there have been plans to build a soda-ash extracting facility on the lake. But on Lake Natron, which is a Ramsar site - a measure that recognizes ecologically valuable wetland habitats - the lesser flamingos face another potential threat. Little water leaves them high and dry, and vulnerable to opportunistic predators that will venture in. Too much rainfall into the lake will flood their nests too The birds are somewhat delicate breeders: by building their nests at the lake’s center, they depend on a perfect balance of water to keep them safe. These larger areas work like “satellite sites” that offer a kind of refuge that is increasingly sought after - especially for the lesser flamingo, described as ‘near-threatened’ on the International Union for Conservation of Nature’s Red List. Some breeding sites have been consistently important.” Habitat fragmentation means that fewer true wetland areas exist. Yet breeding requires more stability, which explains why the birds flock to larger bodies of water like Lake Natron to take part in the lengthy annual ritual of pairing up, mating, and laying their eggs.įor such itinerant creatures, these dependable breeding sites play a surprisingly vital role. That proliferates in numerous salty lakes. The lesser flamingo, which is the smallest and most common species, feeds predominantly on the blue-green algae She said, “but what they’re doing is tracking resource availability in a whole complex of wetlands.”īy moving from one place to another, the pink-stockinged birds are able to explore several feeding grounds. “They’re not considered to be properly migratory in that they don’t have a directional seasonal movement,” Felicity Arengo, a flamingo specialist and associate director of the Center for Biodiversity and Conservation at the American Museum of Natural History in New York. The expected population boom could strengthen the position of conservation groups intent on halting construction of an industrial plant that will lay pipesĪcross the lake’s surface to extract soda ash from its watery shallows.įlamingos are famously mobile, says Dr. Large groups were spotted flying toward the lake this month,Īnd several hundred thousand are already gathered there. Up to 2.5 million can settle there at breeding time when conditions are right, and this year is one of the most significant breeding events in recent time. ![]() Every year, rippling pink streamers descend from the sky and settle on Lake Natron in Tanzania, materializing into thousands of mating flamingo pairs.Įast Africa is home to 75 percent of the world’s population of lesser flamingos, and Lake Natron offers the most important breeding ground for ![]()
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