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Lake Manyara

This biosphere reserve is situated in the depression of the East African Rift Valley in the Lake Manyara Basin in northern Tanzania. Below the rift wall, perennial springs in the north support a ground water forest (characterized by Trichilia roka and Croton macrostachyus or the yellow fever tree (Acacia xanthophloea) but also riverine habitats, swamps, woodland and alkaline grasslands characterize the area.

The human population in the biosphere reserve is estimated to over 250,000 people (1999). With most indigenous people practising pastoralism and agriculture, these are the most important socio-economic activities in the area. Ethnic groups of the Lake Manyara region are the Maasai, the Iraq and the Barbaig. Most of the immigrants in the region depend on tourism. Poaching of wildlife for meat and trophies, illegal fishing, selling of firewood and charcoal constitute threats to the biodiversity in the biosphere reserve.

The biosphere reserve was part of the UNESCO-MAB project ‘Biosphere Reserves for Biodiversity Conservation and Sustainable Development in Anglophone Africa (BRAAF)’ which had the objective to ensure the long-term conservation of biodiversity in including local population in its sustainable use. Several BRAAF projects aimed to promote income-generating activities such as bee keeping or to control the tick infestation in the livestock of the pastoralist communities. Read more about this reserve on the UNESCO Biosphere Reserves website.