Erosion is a major challenge to the Mara River Basin, as identified by the Lake Victoria Basin Water Offices (LVBWO) in Mwanza. The SELVA team, working with the Tanzanian Ministry of Water in Dar es Salaam and the LVBWO, looked…
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Agriculture in the Lower Mara Basin
The SELVA team observed and discussed agricultural practices with locals throughout the Lower Mara River Basin in Tanzania. We were visiting at the tale end of the dry season (March) and talked with farmers harvesting fruit and vegetables to consume…
Mining in the Lower Mara River Basin
Mining activity in the Mara River Basin impacts the soil, water, and people. Gold is the most valuable and predominant mining focus and gold mining processes involve toxic chemicals in both the small- and large-scale operations. If you were following…
Posted in communities, environment, gold, Mara River basin, mining, natural resources, non-river resources, SELVA, Tanzania
Mara River Plants and Animals
Aside from people, many different types of lifeforms rely on the Mara River water resources and the type of ecosystems vary with the landscape throughout the basin. From the dry plains of the Serengeti National Park through the saturated Mara Wetlands…
Local Importance of the Mara River
The Mara River holds essential important because it is a water resource for local human and ecological communities. As a water resource, the Mara provides year round, albeit inconsistent, flow. The river reflects seasonal flow and level fluctuations due to whether it is…
Water Borne Disease and Human Health in the Mara
The SELVA team traveled throughout the Lower Mara River Basin in Tanzania to collect data from water users about their water access, water quality, and water quantity and encountered chonga moto – Swahili for challenges – related to water and…
Fishing Lake Victoria and the Mara River
The SELVA team encountered men, women, and kids fishing every day in the Lower Mara River Basin and on Lake Victoria. Fishing is done with traps, nets, line and hook, and with a local plant-based poison. People fish from boats,…
River Resources Beyond Water
People living along rivers use more than just the water for livelihoods around the world. In the Lower Mara River Basin, people fish, harvest plants and trees, hunt, and mine. The SELVA team identified these resources that are termed non-river resources.…
Contrasted Landscape Between Local Agricultural Areas and Conservation Areas
Conservation efforts for critical ecosystems around the world are continually threatened by human pressure, and Serengeti National Park (NP) manages resources conflict along its borders with locals. The SELVA team recently traveled around and in the Serengeti National Park where…
Posted in agriculture, basin management, communities, ecosystems, environment, Mara River basin, SELVA, Serengeti, Tanzania, water resources
Fetching Water on a Saturday Morning
On a typical Saturday morning in Miami, you can find children playing on the beach, in the yard, or on their tablet in the living room. On a typical Saturday morning in rural parts of the Mara River Basin in…
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