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Mara wetlands field visits presentation
The Mara Wetland is a riverine flood plain wetland located near Lake Victoria where the Mara River discharges its water into Lake Victoria.
Contents
The wetland is mainly fed by the Mara River, which has its source in the Kenyan Mau escarpment
Main Issues
The Mara Wetland like other wetlands is an important source of natural resources and habitat to a variety of fauna and flora. A number of plant species are found the major ones being Cyperus papyrus (Matende/Matete) and Typha domingensis (Mabilimbili). The livelihood of the communities living around the wetland depends on various services provided by the wetland. The main social economic activities of the communities around the Mara Wetland are fishing and papyrus harvesting
Over 80% of the population in communities adjacent to the wetland make their daily living from fishing activities. Although papyrus harvesting is among the major social economic activities of the community around the Mara Wetland only 5% of the papyrus is harvested per year. Papyrus is normally used in making of different household commodities such as mats, baskets, placards, ceiling board, vegetable containers, lamp shades, pads and arm chairs.
The threats
Mara wetland is continuously degraded despite many efforts that have been done to rescue its biodiversity. Land use change over the past years was the major problem in the Mara river basin. Therefore protection of the wetland against biodiversity loss is crucial to improve the wetland health