By Emmanuel Mgimwa
About 100 km northwest of Tanzania’s tourism capital, Arusha, lies Lake Natron. The Lake, part of the Great Rift Valley covers an area of 1,040 square kilometers, and is renowned for its reddishpink coloration arising from high concentrations of special microscopic algae and bacteria, making it one of the most alkaline water bodies in the world. It is also a breeding site for 75% of the global population of Lesser Flamingos (Phoeniconaias minor), classified as Near Threatened on the IUCN Red List. Designated as a Ramsar site in 2001, Lake Natron’s wetland ecosystem supports more than 300 bird species including significant numbers of waterbirds of global conservation importance. Further, more than 20,000 people depend on the lake for their livelihoods including ecotourism, small- scale irrigation and livestock keeping
Despite its ecological and economic potential, Lake Natron is threatened by degradation leading to biodiversity loss, unsustainable agricultural practices, deforestation in the catchment, and inadequate wetland management practices, among others. Further, the Lake previously faced a serious threat from proposed soda ash mining, which first came to light in 2006. The Government of Tanzania and Tata Group planned to invest $450 million to construct a factory on the shores of Lake Natron to mine and process 500 tonnes of soda ash per year for export. However, Tata Group withdrew from the project on 22nd May 2008 following an international outcry and pressure lead by BirdLife International and like-minded pressure groups. In 2018, the Government of Tanzania announced the complete withdrawal of the project, following sustained concerns by BirdLife and environmental groups regarding potential impacts of soda ash mining on biodiversity, especially flamingos, the natural environment and local communities.
In January 2025, the government announced the relocation of communities at Engaruka, a village 50 km from Lake Natron, to pave the way for a new soda ash project in the Engaruka Basin. Engaruka is a key wildlife dispersal area critical for biodiversity and local communities who depend on the plains for grazing land. Thus, it is important to consider the impact of this proposed development on the biodiversity, and the scarce water resources used for irrigation and domestic use by the local communities.
Nature Tanzania commends the Government of Tanzania for stopping the previously proposed soda ash mining in the Lake Natron Ramsar Site. We strongly recommend that due process be followed to consider the short-term, long-term and irreversible negative social and environmental impacts of the proposed soda ash mining in the Engaruka Basin. Different parties, including civil societies, should also be engaged in the process” said John Y Salehe, Chairman of the Board of Directors of Nature Tanzania
