Industry 'threat' to rare African flamingo (BBC)

[eppur_se_muova]

By Adam Mynott
BBC East Africa correspondent

Plans to build a soda ash plant alongside a lake in Tanzania threaten the future of one of the world's most beautiful birds, a rare species of flamingo, according to wildlife experts.

The Royal Society for the Protection of Birds (RSPB) has condemned the proposals for the industrial plant next to Lake Natron, where 75% of the world's population of lesser flamingos gather to breed in the summer.

It is one of the most iconic and beautiful sights in Africa: the brilliant pink fringe around Lake Natron formed by half a million lesser flamingos strutting in the lake's shallow waters.

Lake Natron, close to Tanzania's border with Kenya in the Rift Valley, is a soda lake rich in salt, vitamins and bacteria which the flamingos feed on.

It is the most important breeding site for the lesser flamingo, a bird whose future is far from secure.
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more: http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/africa/6292434.stm