Bomet, Narok to host Mara Day celebrations

 

The 9th annual Mara Day celebrations will be held mostly virtually on Monday and Tuesday focusing on the need to preserve the Mara Basin ecosystem.

Mara Day is celebrated every September 15 to coincide with the Great Migration of wildebeest and zebras from the Serengeti in Tanzania to the Maasai Mara Game Reserve in Kenya.

This year’s event will be held in Bomet  and Narok counties and concurrently in Butiama, Tanzania. Mugumu town in Tanzania staged last year’s event. The day is celebrated on a rotational basis between Kenya and Tanzania.

This year’s theme is 'Conserved Mara Ecosystem – Our Shared Prosperity'.

Previous  celebrations were held with colour and fanfare but this year's activities will be held mostly virtually because of the coronavirus pandemic.

Lake Victoria Basin Commission executive secretary Ally-Said Matano said part of the celebration will be virtual, but there will also be  tree-planting and cleaning in the Mara Basin.

 

A virtual conference will be held on Monday in Bomet while the celebrations will be held on Tuesday at the Maasai Mara National Game Reserve.

Experts and others will present papers during the conference that will generate recommendations on policies and interventions.

High-level delegations are expected.

In Butiama, Tanzania, there will be exhibitions, citizen engagements and tree planting. Conservation activities will take place in Bomet.

The aim is to create awareness of the importance of the Mara River Basin and its resources. The Day also aims to involve public and private actors in managing resources and to promote public-private partnerships to sustain management of the river and the region's biodiversity.