The World Wide Fund for Nature has designated these lakes as one of its Global 200 priority ecoregions for conservation. More species are expected to be discovered. The Rift Valley lakes are well known for the evolution of at least 800 cichlid fish species that live in their waters. Many are freshwater ecoregions of great biodiversity, while others are alkaline "soda lakes" supporting highly specialised organisms. These include some of the world's oldest lakes, deepest lakes, largest lakes by area, and largest lakes by volume. The Rift Valley lakes are a series of lakes in the East African Rift valley that runs through eastern Africa from Ethiopia in the north to Malawi in the south, and includes the African Great Lakes in the south. Map of larger region that the lakes are in, including the so-called Great Rift Valley. The developers claim the factory would be well away from the lake, would not disturb the flamingos and would not have a negative impact on tourism. Indian conglomerate Tata Chemicals put forward plans three years ago for a factory to produce 500,000 tonnes of soda ash a year, used in pharmaceuticals, washing powder and glass making. An estimated 1.5m hatch on its mudflats each year, 75% of the global population of the species. Its lava is rich in sodium carbonate and the high salt concentration creates an abundance of spirulina bacteria on which the flamingos feed. Natron is a shallow lake at the foot of the Ol Doinyo Lengai (Mountain of God) volcano. "Our hope is that The Crimson Wing can save Lake Natron," said Ken Mwathe, of BirdLife Africa.ĭisney is also in discussions with the US-based Wildlife Conservation Society to set up a research programme to examine the link between the lesser flamingos and Natron, the largest soda lake in the Rift Valley. But we have an end card telling the audience that what they have just seen is now threatened."īirdLife International hopes the production will lead to a surge in support for its Think Pink campaign against the mine, and are urging filmgoers to write to the Tanzanian environment minister to register their protest. People will see this fantastic place, this amazing wildlife spectacle. It is the most important flamingo lake in the world and this mine proposal would be disastrous. British wildlife film-maker Matt Aeberhard, 42, co-director of The Crimson Wing, who spent 14 months filming at the lake, said: "The film was developed to draw attention to Lake Natron. It records the fate of the 1.5m flamingos who come to the remote soda lake to breed. The move marks the return of Disney to the genre it first made famous between 19 with the True-Life Adventure series. The film is the first to be produced by Disneynature, launched to make wildlife films. They also hope that the film will lead to a dramatic increase in tourists who will boost the economy and persuade the Tanzanian government to abandon the proposed development. The Crimson Wing, set to hit UK cinemas in the autumn, charts the perilous lives of the vast flocks of shimmering pink flamingos that breed on the isolated shores of Lake Natron in northern Tanzania.Įnvironmentalists believe it will prove a powerful weapon in the fight to prevent a controversial soda ash mine being built at Lake Natron, which they claim will destroy the unique habitat vital to lesser flamingos throughout the region.
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