The thirteenth Mara day celebrations have commenced in Narok County with delegates from neighboring country Tanzania, Bomet, Nakuru and Narok counties flocking the county to mark the event.
Narok Deputy Governor Tamalinye Koech said the theme of this year’s celebrations is ‘flowing forward together, conserving Mara basin for bio diversity and climate resilience’.
He said a chain of activities on conservation on nature and the Mara basin are ongoing ahead of the main celebrations that will be held on Sunday at Sekenani gate of Maasai Mara National Reserve.
The deputy governor said other activities like exhibitions and tree planting are ongoing at Maasai Mara University, all aimed at conserving the Mara basin.
Narok Chief Officer in charge of Environment and Natural resources Willy Loigero said the activities began with cleaning and planting trees in major trading centers that border the Maasai Mara National reserve.
“We began the celebrations with town cleaning in Sekenani, Talek and Nkoirare and Ngoswani centers. We are doing this so that we can bring all the members of the public on board as we commemorate this important day,” he said.
At the same time, the chief officer said they were trying to reflect the efforts they have made in the conservation of the Mara-Serengeti ecosystem.
Dr. Naano Anei, from Tanzania reiterated that the survival of the Mara-Serengeti ecosystem largely depends on River Mara as the great wildebeest migration occurs across the river.
“In Tanzania we have a saying ‘Serengeti will never die’, but if River Mara dries up, then the great Serengeti will die,” he underscored, adding that this is the great reason they are collaborating with the Kenyan side to conserve the environment.
Dr. Anei revealed that they had a plan to expand the Serengeti ecosystem to connect with Lake Victoria basin, so as to provide a wider range of conservation owing to the effect of climate change.
Mara day is celebrated from 12th to 15th September every year. The climax of the celebration will be on 15th (Sunday) at Sekenani area where Environment Cabinet Secretary Aden Duale is expected to lead.
By Ann Salaton
