Wetlands International is shocked to see the plan resurrected,
after it was abandoned in 2008 due to concerns from Tanzania's
own National Environmental Management Council (NEMC) that mining
would adversely impact the ecology of Lake Natron and its high
importance for biodiversity; e.g. 75% of the global population
of the Lesser Flamingo depends on this site. The Lake Natron
Basin – being part of the Serengeti ecosystem - was listed as
Tanzania’s second Ramsar site in 2001. The 58 x 15 km lake which
is only 0.5 – 2 m deep was nominated as a Wetland of
International Importance under the Ramsar Convention on Wetlands
as a representative example of a Rift Valley soda lake in East
Africa. Recommendations to Tanzanian Government In 2008, a
Ramsar Advisory Mission recommended the Tanzanian government to
suspend the decision-making process on the current Environmental
and Social Impact Assessment as it does not deal with the full
scope of the project’s impact. Furthermore, the Mission
recommended that the government