Tanzania Media Battles Climate Change

Tanzania may soon lose its highest tourism revenue earner- the Mount Kilimanjaro due to climate change. Sidi Mgumia who climbed this highest mountain in Africa eleven years ago reveals that the mountain is seriously under threat.

The snows on the Mount Kilimanjaro are falling on bare ground and the ice cap will disappear entirely within the next two decades, according to studies.

Changes in the local vegetation around Kilimanjaro, which has lost much of it forests, may have affected the cloudiness and amount of snow that falls on the mountain.

Environmental scientists believe that warmer global temperatures have had a bigger impact on the rate at which its glaciers are melting. This will eventual have consequence on the local people.

For instance, the Pangani River basin of the Kilimanjaro is home to about 2.6 million people who depend on the mountain glacier for regular supply of water for domestic, irrigation and industrial purposes.

Also, coffee is the largest export of the basin, though 85% is consumed locally; many landowners in the Pangani River grow their own crops in the backyard-anything from coffee and bananas to livestock rearing-sheep and goats.

Generally, there are bodies of evidence that shows that Tanzania is not free from the repercussions of the climate change.

Tanzania, which is located in East Africa, is facing the heat of the obnoxious and devastating consequences of climate change.

Indeed, extreme weather conditions and greater unpredictability in weather patterns are having negative impacts on the heterogeneous people of the country who rely on land, lakes and seas to feed themselves and to earn a living.

Tanzanians say that temperatures have increased and that the rains are not falling as they used to.

Many are struggling with the impacts of drought and are frustrated by increased environmental degradation and resource scarcity. Yet most Tanzanians don’t understand the relationship between these issues and climate change.

Most Tanzanians are unfamiliar with the concepts of climate change and global warming. They believe the term “climate change” refers to changes in the weather or seasons and have little knowledge of its global context or the greenhouse effect.

Tanzanians draw on their existing knowledge to explain the environmental changes they experience. Most believe that humans are to blame but point to local deforestation and local pollution as the primary causes of the drought and environmental degradation they have experienced.

To most Tanzanians, deforestation is the clearest manifestation of their country’s deteriorating natural environment.

Yet most do not fully understand the role that forests play in the global climate system, according to recent BBC World Service report on Tanzania.

The role of the Tanzanian media

There is a need for greater cross-sector co-ordination and communication on climate change.

The information and communication needs of Tanzanian citizens need to be at the heart of any national response to climate change; the ability of Tanzanians to respond effectively to climate change will be determined by the accessibility and quality of the information available to them.

Increased public understanding of climate change will enable citizens and communities to discuss the issue, adapt to its effects and make more informed long-term choices about their future.

Leaders from the government, local communities, and religious institutions have unrivalled access to communities, and are in a position to communicate climate change information and inspire citizens to respond, and implement local adaptation strategies.

Accessible and relevant public debate will also be critical to increasing public understanding of climate change. It will provide a forum for sharing experiences, bridge the gap between science and society, and enable people to exert political pressure, both internationally and on their own governments.

The media clearly has an important role to play in responding to climate change, and supporting others to communicate about climate change, including governments, national and international Non-Governmental Organizations (NGOs), scientists, religious leaders and community leaders.

The fight is on

Francis Okomo-Okello, the Chairman of the Editorial Committee of Nation Media Group and the Director of Legal and Corporate Affairs at Industrial Promotion Services Group of Companies appeals to Tanzania media to sustain the war against the nefarious climate change.

In consonance with the above clarity, Okello stated in one of the media workshops in Arusha organized by the Knight Center for Environmental journalism at Michigan State University, that the East African especially Tanzania media to help refocus public discourse and policy attention on climate change in a manner that demystifies the fact and diminishes its perceived abstractedness.

“It can do this by radically reframing the climate change news agenda to encompass impacts as well as the causal links of the phenomenon; articulating the phenomenon as an immediate risk management issue and allowing the vulnerable to be active participants in the evolving human story”, he stressed.

According to Omar Mohamed, media analyst with Serengeti Advisers, during 2009, the Tanzanian media gave priority to news associated with the Copenhagen Climate Change Summit and the alleged contamination of the Tigithe River by leakages from Barrick Gold’s North Mara Mine.

Although high in drama and characterization of Barrick Gold as the villain of the piece, the reporting, relying heavily on the comments of various local sources.

Meanwhile the Chairman of the Journalist Environmental Association of Tanzania (JET), Deodatus Mfugale said media people had to be very serious about the issue since all countries are faced with the environmental challenges.

To add up, the non-news media (such as talk shows, dramas and public service announcements) can play vital role in providing information to larger audiences of the society on climate change.

As climate change threatens Tanzanians’ health and homes, and the natural resources upon which many depend to survive, the country’s population faces an urgent crisis. The time to respond is now!