Guest guest Posted February 19, 2004 Report Share Posted February 19, 2004 ***************************Advertisement*************************** eCentral - Your Entertainment Guide http://www.star-ecentral.com ***************************************************************** This message was forwarded to you by yitzeling. Comment from sender: This article is from The Star Online (http://thestar.com.my) URL: http://thestar.com.my/lifestyle/story.asp?file=/2004/2/19/features/7337833 & sec=f\ eatures ________________________ Thursday February 19, 2004 Disrupted ecosystems IN 2002, lions killed some 30 farmers in the Rufiji District of Tanzania. The farmers had inhabited their land for years and the lions had kept to their forest – until widespread logging forced the animals to look elsewhere for food. These shocking deaths are only one effect of the degradation of the Rufiji River basin which covers 20% of the Tanzanian landscape. This flood-dependent ecosystem provides the natural resources which account for half of the district’s income, and support the 200,000 people that live on its banks. Whether an individual is a farmer, fisherman, forester, gatherer or weaver, his livelihood is derived from the Rufiji River. However, this wetlands ecosystem – and the livelihood of its inhabitants – has been severely undermined by industrial developments in recent years. The shrimp nurseries that provide 80% of Tanzania’s exports are being decimated as mangroves are cleared for planting padi. Fisheries have been disrupted as land upstream is cleared for other cash crops. Floodplain agriculture has been disrupted by the arrival of pastoral nomads with over 10,000 cows – people who have been driven out from their native pastures due to land degradation. In 1994, the IUCN-World Conservation Union initiated the Rufiji Environment Management Project to support sustainable development initiatives. Project staff worked with four villages to develop and implement environmental management plans. They gathered community members together and talked to them about how and why they should conserve the environment. Ismail Lusonzo was so enthusiastic about the project that he travelled to Utete to be trained to join the Environment Management Team. Now, with other team members like Hadija Ngingo, he travels to other communities to share knowledge on environmental management. The first thing the team does is show local communities how to obtain resources from their environment in a sustainable matter. “The first step is for them to know, and then be told what they can do,” says Lusonzo. He explains to the communities how overfishing wrecks their environment, encourages sustainable farming practices and introduces new environmentally-sound occupations like bee-keeping. The team meets monthly to discuss their progress and plan new initiatives. Each year Lusonzo’s community holds a celebration to show people from other places what they are doing as part of the project. “Then those people get interested and get trained, too.” Lusonzo says participating at COP-7 has widened his experiences. He learnt about new fishing methods from Kenyan participants and irrigation systems in the Philippines, and talking with people from Uganda has sparked an interest in eco-tourism ventures. “When I go back, I know what to tell my people and what to do because I have seen so many changes and learnt new things,” says Lusonzo. – By Meredith Griffiths <p> ________________________ Your one-stop information portal: The Star Online http://thestar.com.my http://biz.thestar.com.my http://classifieds.thestar.com.my http://cards.thestar.com.my http://search.thestar.com.my http://star-motoring.com http://star-space.com http://star-jobs.com http://star-ecentral.com http://star-techcentral.com 1995-2003 Star Publications (Malaysia) Bhd. All rights reserved. Reproduction in whole or in part in any form or medium without express written permission of Star Publications is prohibited. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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