17 Mar 2008 - Nairobi,
Kenya – Forget the snows of Kilimanjaro
– Africa is at risk of losing the central
African glaciers that are the highest permanent
source of water to the Nile.
A WWF and partner organization
team of 27 people of eight nationalities
recently returned from the Rwenzori Mountains
after gathering data showing that the mountain's
glaciers have shrunk by 50 per cent in the
last 50 years and more than 75 per cent
in the last century.
Visually, the change
is obvious with the team finding the exact
locations from which photographs were taken
in 1952 and 1956 and taking new photographs.
“I have never seen the glaciers shrink to
this level in my 25 years of climbing the
Rwenzori Mountains,” exclaimed one porter
accompanying the team.
The Rwenzori, straddling
the borders of Uganda and the Democratic
Republic of Congo (DRC), are Africa's third
highest mountains and, along with Mount
Kilimanjaro and Mount Kenya, are the only
African peaks with permanent snowpack.
The range also borders
another African icon, the Virunga National
Park, Africa’s first and the home to the
only remaining populations of mountain gorillas.
The mountains play a vital role in supplying
water to the forests and about 2 million
people in the area.
WWF, together with the
Congolese Institute for Nature Conservation
(ICCN) and the Uganda Wildlife Authority
(UWA) had organised an ambitious 10-day
expedition from DRC to Uganda that criss-crossed
the massif and reached the Margharita peak
at 5,119m above sea level.
“The impact of melting
of glaciers was felt by the team when it
discovered that the route leading from DRC
to Uganda used a glacier that no longer
exists, forcing the team to open a new route”
says Marc Languy, head of WWF’s Programme
in the Great Lakes region.
“However, the impact
is more severe on wildlife and the vegetation
that can not adapt to the new condition
fast enough. While it was comforting to
find many signs of leopards, chimpanzees
and other wildlife, one wonders how they
will survive if changes continue at the
present rate”.
The team was armed with
historical data showing that the Rwenzori
glaciers covered 650ha in 1906 and were
down to 352ha in 1955. The team's surveys
showed a current total glaciated area of
148 ha and at this rate, WWF estimates that
the glaciers will completely disappear in
the next 30 years.
The expedition, comprising
WWF, the Congolese Institute for Nature
Conservation and the Uganda Wildlife Authority,
undertook a number of conservation projects
in the Virunga and the Rwenzori Mountains
National Parks.
The Ugandan part of
Rwenzori and its glaciers, high altitude
lakes, bogs and rivers are soon explected
to be designated as a Ramsar site (a wetland
of international significance) .
“The rivers and wetlands
that I saw in this amazing ecosystem were
just phenomenal. But the simple fact remains–they
are threatened,” says Dr. Musonda Mumba,
WWF’s Freshwater Programme Coordinator for
eastern Africa.
“Their ability to provide
water for both nature and man is really
jeopardised by the changes that are taking
place. Speaking to local people it is already
clear that the rainfall pattern has changed
and this is having an effect on water resources,”
adds Dr. Mumba.
