The 14th
Mara Day celebrations will be held in Butiama district, Mara Region, Tanzania, on September 15.
Preparations for the
celebrations, which are held in Kenya and Tanzania annually on a rotational
basis, have already begun. Last year, Kenya hosted the 13th Mara Day
Celebrations in Sekenani, Narok County.
This year’s theme is: “Protect Mara River: Preserve
Life.”
Several activities
are lined up. Some of the activities planned for the event include a scientific
conference to be held a day before the event, tree planting, exhibitions, inter-school essay writing competitions, and sports activities.
The Mara Ecosystem is one of the most critical
ecosystems within the Lake Victoria Basin, supporting a wide range of economic,
environmental, and social activities, including tourism.
Recognising its importance, the 10th Sectoral
Council of Ministers for Lake Victoria Basin, held on May 4th, 2012 in
Kigali, Rwanda, declared September 15th of every year as Mara Day, to
coincide with the great migration of wildlife from Serengeti National
Park in Tanzania to the Maasai Mara Game Reserve in Kenya.
The Lake Victoria Basin Commission (LVBC), under
the leadership of Executive Secretary Masinde Bwire, coordinates the
celebrations on a rotational basis among the East African partner states.
Mara Day serves as a platform to recognise and
safeguard the vitality of the shared Mara/Serengeti ecosystem.
Positive outcomes from past celebrations include the
signing of a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) between Kenya and Tanzania on
the trans boundary water resources management for the Mara River Basin, and the
formation of the Mara River Trans boundary Water Users’ Forum, according to
Bwire.
Several dignitaries from East African Community (EAC) partner states are expected to grace the occasion.
The Lake Victoria Basin
Commission (LVBC) in collaboration with Mwalimu Nyerere University of
Agriculture and Technology (MNUAT), Maasai Mara University (Mmara-U) and the
Inter-University Council for East Africa (IUCEA) have already called for
papers, posters and exhibitions for the 14th Mara Day
Scientific Conference.
The scientific conference will
be held at Mwalimu Nyerere University of Agriculture and Technology (MNUAT) on
September 14.
“The
commission invites researchers, students, the private sector and
government officials from the East African Community member states Kenya,
Uganda, Tanzania, Rwanda, Burundi, DRC Congo, and Somalia as well as
international researchers focused on the Mara Basin Ecosystem, to contribute
their insights on issues related to the Mara River through conservation,” said
a statement from LVBC.
The conference sub-themes are biodiversity
conservation and ecosystem management to foster Sustainable development in the Mara
River Basin.
Cross-border cooperation, policy
implementation, and conflict resolution through community-based and gender
mainstreaming approaches for River Basin management is the other sub-theme.
The scientists will also seek
ways of coming up with innovative technologies for addressing threats within
the Mara River Basin.
