Effect Of Anthropogenic Activities On Degradation Of Lake Shores; A Case Of Lake Babati

ABSTRACT

The sustainability of many lake ecosystems in the world including Lake Babati is threatened by the ongoing degradation due to anthropogenic activities. A study was carried out to assess the effect of anthropogenic activities on the degradation of Lake Babati shores based on specific objectives: (1) to identify institutions and institutional arrangements responsible on the management of lake ecosystem, (2) to identify drivers leading to the lake shores degradation, (3) to assess the extent of lakeshores degradation, and (4) to assess mitigation measures being implemented for sustainable management of Lake Babati shores. Structured questionnaires were enumerated among 90 respondents selected randomly from five villages surrounding Lake Babati. The questionnaire survey was coupled with two focus group discussion (FGD) sessions each comprising 9 participants. Lake shore degradation was assessed from satellite imageries generated from GPS coordinates and quantitative data on lake shores degradation were processed into Arc GIS 3.2a. Qualitative data on questionnaire survey were analyzed into simple descriptive statistics using Statistical Package for Social Sciences (SPSS) version 16.0. Identified main drivers associated with degradation of the Lake Babati shores include non-environmental friendly agricultural practices such as vegetable growing and uphill cultivation (56.6%), deforestation (10%), expansion of the lake shores due to establishment of human settlements (8.9%). Other drivers associated to degradation of Lake Babati shores include illegal fishing (7.8%), oil and petroleum spillage from car washing (6.7%) uncontrolled bush fires (5.6%), livestock grazing and cutting of grass fodder (4.4%). Extent of Lake Babati shores degradation was estimated at 1,410 ha equivalent to 8% of the area degraded. Sustainability of the Lake Babati ecosystem is threatened by the ongoing siltation mainly due to poor land use management practices