$3m to save Mara Basin, vanishing new wonder of the world

Commonly referred to as a New Wonder of the World, USAid’s support will help reverse negative environmental trends in the basin, said Dr Rotich.

He said the intervention on the Mara River Basin is timely, since environmental issues, in particular global climate change, are affecting all people.

“You don’t have to spend a lot of time trying to convince people about the environmental devastation that is being experienced. Rains are failing, rivers are drying up or getting polluted. We have all contributed to environmental degradation. And now we must do something about it,” he said.

USAid’s acting African regional director, Larry Meserve, said livelihoods in Kenya and Tanzania would be affected severely unless East Africans put in place structures and measures to manage their watershed ecosystems.

He said the funding agreement on the protection of the Mara was an expression of USAid’s and international partners’ commitment to strengthen African regional organisations in addressing development challenges.

In 2003, East African Community partner states signed a protocol on Sustainable Development of the Lake Victoria Basin.

With its headquarters in Kisumu, the Lake Victoria Basin Commission was established in 2005 as a specialised institution of the EAC responsible for co-ordinating the development of the basin.