By Patrick Mayoyo and Lucas Liganga, The Citizen Reporters
(email the author)
Posted Monday, August 26 2013 at 09:52
Posted Monday, August 26 2013 at 09:52
In Summary
Incomes of hundreds of tour operators in the region
is also in jeopardy.The studies show that the mountains are the main
source of attraction for tourists from different parts of the world.
Nairobi/Dar es Salaam. The income generated from
tour operations based on East Africa’s mountains -- Kilimanjaro,
Ruwenzori and Kenya -- is under threat due to the receding glaciers,
studies have revealed.
Incomes of hundreds of tour operators in the
region is also in jeopardy.The studies show that the mountains are the
main source of attraction for tourists from different parts of the
world.
Commenting on the study results, Tanzania National
Parks (Tanapa) public relations manager Paschal Shelutete, admitted
yesterday that the melting of glaciers will impact heavily on the
tourism industry.
“The real magic about Mount Kilimanjaro is its
snow. This is what attracts thousands of climbers each year to climb it
and see the snow,” said Mr Shelutete over the phone.
He said Tanapa was implementing projects aimed at
saving the Kilimanjaro National Park (Kinapa) from further environmental
degradation.
He said the projects included discouraging people
from felling down trees for making charcoal and giving them alternative
means of energy such as biogas.
“Deforestation is one of the reasons behind the
trend,” he said, adding that Tanapa has been running tree planting
projects in surrounding villages.
Evidence links snow melting to global warming, he
said, adding that the government should partner with other countries in
pressuring industrialised nations—whose gaseous emissions are mainly
behind climate change—to provide funds for adaptation and mitigation.
According to a UN Environmental Programme (UNEP)
study and studies by other environmental experts, glacier loss on the
three EA mountains is likely to mean a loss of tourism revenue that is
important to the economies of the respective countries.
Tanzania received 945,794 tourists in 2012 while Kenya’s stood at 1.7 million during the same period.
Tourism earned Tanzania Sh109.3 billion in 2012 while Kenya earned over Sh1.7 trillion in foreign revenue in the same period.
A big part of this income could be wiped out unless global warming is controlled.
source: The citizen
source: The citizen
