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Forestry
Natural forest cover in the LVB consists of tropical
forest, woodlands and savannah forest. About 80 per
cent of rural households in the Basin depend on forest
resources for basic energy and food. The forests provide
a range of environmental services such as greenhouse
gas mitigation, watershed protection, climate
regulation, soil and water conservation and nutrient
cycling. The forestry sector contributes an average
of 6–10 per cent of partner states GDP and provides
between 850,000 and one million jobs in the formal
sector (Lake Victoria Basin Commission 2012). The
majority of these jobs are in fuelwood and charcoal
production.
The diverse forest ecosystems in the LVB provide an
array of habitats for multiple species of high global
significance. These include species of megafauna in
protected areas such as the Akagera National Park,
Lake Mburo, the Burigi Game Reserve, the Maasai Mara
National Park in Kenya and the Serengeti National
Park in Tanzania. The ecosystems also include natural
forests such as Gishwati, Nyungwe, Kakamega, Nandi
and Timborua and remnants of previously widespread
riverine forests along the Kagera, Mara, Nzoia, Yala
Nyando, Miriu and Simiyu Rivers. Many endemic plant
and animal species such as
Ficus toningii
,
Markhamia
luttea
and
Eritrina abbissinic
species are valued for
their medicinal properties and as sources of food (Lake
Victoria Basin Commission 2012).
Extensive swampy forests and grasslands with dense
tall grasses and papyrus are important ecological
components of the LVB floodplain ecosystem. However,
these continue to be cleared for commercial and
subsistence agriculture, as well as for grazing during times
of drought. This severely compromises the important
function that swamps and wetlands play in regulating
water flow, filtering nutrients such as excess nitrogen
and phosphorous, capturing sediments and nurturing
biodiversity and habitat for fauna and flora – upon which
the health and productivity of the LVB depends.
Serengeti National Park, Tanzania