Good News for Lesser Flamingos

Plans to build a soda ash plant at Lake Natron, breeding site for 75% of the world’s Lesser Flamingos, have been halted, at least temporarily.

Conservation groups are breathing a sigh of relief as Lake Natron Resources, the company proposing to build a soda ash plant at Lake Natron in Tanzania, is ordered to put its plans on hold, at least for now. The reprieve seems to be due to an inadequate environmental assessment, which makes vague statements about the possible effects on the Lesser Flamingo, and possibly to strong opposition to the plan. The company, a partnership between TATA Chemicals (based in India), and the Government of Tanzania, must now go back to the drawing board and do a better job of assessing the probable environmental impact of the development. They must also consider other sites for the plant that would not be so vulnerable.

Lake Natron is a designated Ramsar site and, as such, is protected under the Ramsar Convention on Wetlands. The Lesser Flamingo is designated “near threatened” on the IUCN Red List, and 75% of the birds breed at this one location – Lake Natron is not a site to be destroyed lightly. Numerous birding and environmental groups have vigorously protested the development proposal.

The current breathing space is not the end of the story – Lake Natron Resources may persist in its plan to build a plant at Lake Natron. Until the plan is dropped for good, the lake and all of its species are threatened. Bird Life International is still urging us all to “Think Pink” to save the Lesser Flamingo.