By Marc Nkwame, 14 September 2013
UNTIL last week, Gombe Stream, located in
Kigoma region, used to be the smallest National Park in Tanzania,
trailing behind the other fifteen wildlife Edens.
Now the highly forested chimpanzee Eden has just gone up one slot in
size after the country added the 16th National Park while at the same
time boosting the dimensions of Gombe with additional shoreline as well
as part of Lake Tanganyika waters.
Established in 1968, Gombe Stream measuring 52 square kilometres,
used to be the tinniest national park in the country. Featuring mostly
dense forest cover and striding along the hills dotting eastern shores
of Lake Tanganyika, the park was also quite 'hidden.'
When the Saa-Nane Island on Lake Victoria was upgraded from its
previous Game Reserve status to become fully- fledged National Park last
week, the latter, with about 3 square kilometres, became the country's
smallest park while Gombe Stream on the other hand moved up slot after
acquiring more than 20 additional square kilometres, through government
notice.
Gombe Stream is only small in size but otherwise the National Park
wields larger- than-life legend courtesy of globally renowned
primatologist, Dr Jane Goodhall, whose works there have been distributed
all over the globe.
Accessible only by boat, Gombe Stream is most famous as the location
where Dr Goodall pioneered her behavioural research conducted on the
chimpanzee populations. Now the park happens to be the home for the
Kasakela chimpanzee community that has been featured in several books,
films and video documentaries.
The park's highly diversified flora and fauna make a very popular
tourist destination which is only plagued by lack of direct road and air
access. It shares the same environment with Mahale, the other park
along Lake Tanganyika shores.
Besides chimpanzees, there are other primates inhabiting Gombe Stream
and these include beachcomber olive baboons, red-tailed monkeys and
velvet monkeys. The park is also home to more than 200 bird species as
well as bush-pigs. Forget game drives at Gombe because narrow tracks
meandering up the steep hills are how visitors get to move about in the
park.
The treks may also take you past a number of fresh water streams,
rivers and waterfalls. Still, the on-foot trekking under the green
canopy is not for the faint-hearted since the lush vegetation cover
houses 11 species of snakes, leopards and occasionally hippopotamus not
to mention giant crocodiles.
Gombe Stream is mapped along Lake Tanganyika which is the world's
second largest and deepest freshwater body after Lake Baikal of Siberia.
Lake Tanganyika however holds the first position as being the world's
longest freshwater lake stretching at 676 kilometres which is shared
among four countries;
Tanzania, amassing 46 per cent of the waters, Democratic Republic of
the Congo, with 40 per cent, Burundi, and Zambia, sharing the remaining
14 per cent. Tanganyika is also the deepest lake in Africa, whose abyss
steeps down to nearly 2000 metres depth, but as seen on the map, the
water body is rather narrow widening slightly over 50 kilometres,
meaning the hilly shores on either sides can be seen from the Lake
centre.
Lake Tanganyika, holding an estimated 18,900 cubic kilometres of
water reportedly accounts for 70 per cent of the world's total fresh
water reserves that at the moment average at 35,000 cubic kilometres
meaning the Lake can supply the entire globe with the precious liquid
should the situation call for it.
Experts are on view that the Lake which isn't as polluted as others,
needs even more conservation efforts and the recent move to map part of
its waters into Gombe, is along those lines. The state last week axed
part of the Gombe National Park along the Western Peninsular, giving
part of the formerly reserved land to residents of surrounding villages.
In line with that, the state, through Government Notice GN-228 has on
the other hand extended the same forested National Park boundaries to
now include the shoreline and sections of the water along Lake
Tangayika.
"The extension of Gombe Stream has boosted the park's dimensions from
33.7 square kilometres to the current 56 square kilometres, that now
include part of the Lake," explained Mr Paschal Shelutete, the Public
Relations Manager for the Tanzania National Parks.
The Chimpanzee Eden thus gained 1.3 square kilometres of the beach as
well as 21 square kilometres of Lake Tanganyika, but back on the land
section, Gombe National Park loses 0.2 square kilometres that have been
sent back to the neighbouring 'Mtanga' and 'Mwamutongo' villages.
Apparently when the Gombe National Park was being mapped in the past,
it annexed in part of the land formerly used by villagers and this is
the section which has been sent back to original owners.
"The area still holds a number of old crypts and catacombs, seven
abandoned houses, and plots formerly used as farms by the locals," said
Mr Shelutete, adding that the villagers were fully involved in
negotiations to both expand the park and give back their former areas.
"Tourists have been enjoying game drives in other National Parks but
in Gombe, we intend to promote boat tourism as our next attraction,"
said the TANAPA official.
