KILIMANJARO, AN EXEPTIONAL PICK IN WORLD WHICH NEEDS TO BE PRESERVED!

KILIMANJARO, AN EXEPTIONAL PICK IN WORLD WHICH NEEDS TO BE PRESERVED!

AS far as I have learnt through different sources, I discovered that Mount Kilimanjaro climatic changes which are nowadays not as stable as it was in the past year due to environmental pollution.

According to Kilimanjaro Environmental conservation Management Trust Fund, (KECMTF) among the major activities practised by people living around the mountain pick if agriculture whereby most of them use inorganic fertilizers which leads to unfertile land.

The source also discovered that due to much of chemical fertilizers, the lad becomes arid and a result the melting of the ice at the Kilimanjaro pick. This is very dangerous to the Tanzania economic development because many people from foreign countries tend to travel the whole way long to Tanzania so as to witness the wonders of the world.

Environmental pollution in agriculture is mainly due to the use of agrochemicals and inorganic fertilizers. The pollution arises out of improper handling and overuse of agrochemicals, use of banned chemicals, chemical control of migratory pests, etc. The water hyacinth (Eichlora Crasipes) invasion in Lake Jipe is becoming a threat in the Kifaru River course and is a serious environmental problem.

Uncontrolled tree felling for firewood and construction, encroachment on arable agricultural land on the steep slopes of the foothills of the Mountain and the Upare Ranges, pollution of water supply sources and destruction of the water catchments systems have deprived many inhabitants in the region of the benefit of the continued supply of clean and safe water.
Seven major categories of environmental problems in the Kilimanjaro Region have been identified. These problems include :
• Land degratation
• Inadequate water suply
• Pollution
• Habitat fragmentation and loss of biodiversity
• Deterioration of aquatic systems
• Deforestation
• Frequent forest fires.
The problems impact negatively on the economy and well being of the people of Kilimanjaro and the nation at large.

The process of land degradation varies and may not be easily detected or measured. Its severity can be gauged from the red-brown color of streams and in floods as the vital top-soil is washed away from upland areas due to bad cultivation habits - such as cultivating on slopes of a gradient of more than 50% without terraces. In other areas, silting of dams and reservoirs and the bareness of the top soil in many fields are a manifestation of land degradation. The productivity of soil has been considerably reduced in many parts of the highland and middle ecological zones of the Kilimanjaro Region. In lowland areas, overgrazing contributes to land degradation.