Flamingos under threat from pollution

Paul Eccleston, The Telegraph 10 Jul 08;

A key nesting site for one of Africa's emblematic birds is under threat from development and pollution.

Kamfers Dam near Kimberley, South Africa, is the only nesting site for lesser flamingos in the country and one of only six breeding areas for the birds in the world.

South Africa has nominated the wetlands as a Natural Heritage Site because it supports an important population of Lesser flamingos as well as many other waterbird species.

More than 50,000 lesser flamingos - about 50 per cent of the South African population - nested at Kamfers Dam and produced 9,000 chicks on an s-shaped island specially created for the birds, this year.

The flamingo has become a symbol for the city of Kimberley and an important revenue earner as their spectacular flying displays brings tourists from all over the continent.

The city has a Flamingo School, a Flamingo Real Estate, a Flamingo Race Course and a Flamingo Casino. Flamingos are also included in the emblems of the Sol Plaatje Municipality and the Frances Baard District Municipality.

But the 400-hectare site on the northern outskirts of Kimberley, in Northern Cape Province is facing a twin threat caused by urban sprawl.

The flamingos already have to cope with deteriorating water quality believed to be caused by pollution from a nearby sewage plant which may be causing visible deformities in their offspring.

Scientists are concerned about young birds seen with swollen joints and open sores and tests are under way to discover the causes.

Campaigners say rapid growth and development in Kimberley and a rise in the population has led to raw sewage flowing into Kamfers Dam as the sewage works cannot cope and needs upgrading.

Now a plan to build new homes in a buffer zone set up to protects the birds' island may lead to them deserting the site because lesser flamingos are notoriously vulnerable to disturbance and human encroachment.

The artificial island where they breed was built in late 2006 by Ekapa Mining company which won the Nedbank Capital Green Mining Award as a result.

It is S-shaped to provide two sheltered bays for lesser flamingos with the long axis of the island facing into the wind to limit wind and water erosion.

It has four large ponds, fed by a solar-powered pump. Flamingos use wet clay from the ponds to construct their nest turrets, or mounds, which resemble sandcastles. Kimberley's guides, scouts and other schoolchildren helped build 1,000 artificial turrets.

Now a campaign (www.savetheflamingo.co.za) has been launched by local conservationists in an attempt to protect the bird.

They want the infrastructure at the Homevale Sewerage Works to be upgraded and an independent management agent brought in to run it.

The campaign is also calling for leaking water pipes - resulting in 40 per cent of water being lost and increasing the volume of sewage - to be repaired.

And Duncan Pritchard, Acting Executive Director of BirdLife South Africa, said: "Creating the breeding island at Kamfers Dam was a huge investment and its future should not be jeopardised by development or pollution.

"If tests prove the birds' deformities are being caused by poor water quality, many other species and possibly the entire aquatic system of the dam could be at risk.

"Without urgent action the dam will become a polluted cesspool devoid of birdlife and a hazard to the people of Kimberley. If nothing is done and the housing development is allowed, our political leaders will have failed us."

The lesser flamingo is also threatened at an important site in Tanzania in east Africa.

Between 1.5m and 2.5m birds - 75 per cent of the world's population - have nested on Lake Natron which for years has been the species' most important breeding site in the world but the Tanzanian government is backing the plans of the Indian multinational company TATA to develop the site. TATA wants to take saltwater and freshwater from the area for the export of soda ash.

Paul Buckley, an Africa specialist with the RSPB, said: "Lesser flamingos are facing enormous threats most of which are being caused by man. South and East Africa are incredibly important areas for these birds and the loss of lesser flamingos from Kamfers Dam and Lake Natron would together be a very serious blow to an already gravely threatened species.

"Lesser flamingos have declined throughout Africa and Kamfers Dam should be allowed to become an important sanctuary for these birds."

More details of Kamfers Dam and an online petition to save Kamfers Dam's lesser flamingos are available at www.savetheflamingo.co.za and more on Lake Natron can be found at www.rspb.org.uk/news.