Africa-Press – Tanzania. THE Burunge Wildlife Management Area (BMWA) is now counting losses following heavy rains that pounded the area.
Speaking here recently, BMWA’s Secretary Benson Mwaise disclosed that the deluge experienced in 2019/20 have rendered most of the roads leading to some of natural attractions and lodging facilities almost impassable.
Mr Mwaise who was briefing Journalists’ Environmental Association of Tanzania (JET) members here recently, admitted that they were now forced to dig deeper into their pockets to have the area’s dilapidated infrastructure fixed to revitalise tourism activities along the wildlife migratory route that lies between Lake Manyara Biosphere Reserve and Tarangire National Park.
“Some of the roads were destroyed beyond repair and this somewhat drained us as we had to source cash from our revenues,” Mr Mwaise explained about the area lying roughly 18 kilometers from the main gate of Tarangire National Park and 20 kilometers from Majimoto and Tarangire airstrips.
The tourism crisis is further compounded by the shutting down of Maramboi Tented Lodge, where the proprietors of the facility were forced to temporarily close shop after the heavy rains.
According to the BWMA Secretary, floods accounted to 40 per cent loss of their total revenues.
“Maramboi is one of our economic strongholds but things took a turn after the floodwater rage submerged some of the establishments,” he said.
Mr Mwaise added that they were still reeling from the effects of climate change. The JET members pitched camp in Babati for a three-day fact-finding mission at Burunge WMA, courtesy of the United States Agency for International Development (USAID) Tuhifadhi Maliasili Project.
Considered as the flagship Wildlife Management Area in Tanzania, Burunge’s idyllic landscape has made it a well established tourist destination.
It occupies land and migratory corridors between Tarangire, Lake Manyara, and the adjacent Manyara ranch, making it an area of high conservational significance.
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