The Mara River is the only year-round source of water in the Serengeti ecosystem. It arises in Kenya where the Mau forests form the catchment of several rivers. Deforestation and damming of rivers endanger this important source of freshwater and ecosystem services.
A number of rivers run through the Serengeti ecosystem. Gallery forests line the rivers that spread across the plains like green ribbons. But most of them are actually only seasonal. It is only the Mara River that has some water all through the dry season when all others dry up to form series of ponds or leave only sandy riverbeds.
Wildlife depends on drinking water from Mara river
The Mara River is an important stop for the great herds of wildebeests, zebras and Thomson’s gazelles crossing it at least twice on their yearly migration between the Serengeti’s plains in the south and the Mara ecosystem in the north. If the water supply should become irregular or cease altogether, populations of aquatic animals like the famous large Nile crocodiles would disappear from Serengeti. It would also severely impact all wildlife depending on the river for drinking water.
Yet, the source of the Serengeti’s lifeline, the catchment area of the Mau Forest Complex in Kenya, is in danger. The forests are being cut down as people try to make a living of the land. The forest is Kenya’s largest, but it has already lost more than a third of its original area. Consequences are showing: perennial rivers running east from Mau have become seasonal.
Deforestation impacts the Mau Forest Complex’s function as a catchment area. With twelve rivers originating in the area, it is the largest source of water in Kenya. The rivers serve agriculture throughout western Kenya and also the protected areas of the Serengeti Mara ecosystem in the south before feeding into Lake Victoria. The rivers flowing in an easterly direction drain into lakes in the Rift Valley such as Natron and Nakuru.
In the area where the Mara river arises, the forest has been cut down including even the riverine vegetation. The land is used for cultivation, but soil erosion and increased flush floods are decreasing yields. Only few of the sources of the tributaries to the Mara river remain with intact vegetation.
Furthermore, plans are being carried out to build a dam at the northern edge of the Mau Forest Complex. The Itare Dam is intended to shore up water for human use in times of drought. But through impacts of the large-scale project on the Mau ecosystem and on the recharge of groundwater once the dam is in place, it may do more harm than good to the people in Kenya.
With environmental impacts of human activities reaching beyond ecosystems’ and even countries’ boundaries, protection of remaining natural landscapes and ecosystem services to growing populations becomes an increasingly complex task. Trans-boundary coordination of conservation efforts and support to developing countries and their natural heritage are vital.