By Joshua Sese
Lake Magadi Key Biodiversity Area (KBA), is a shallow, alkaline soda lake found in a catchment of faulted volcanic rocks in southern Kenya within the Great Rift Valley. The climate is hot and dry. The lake is rich in trona – sodium sesquicarbonate. Trona contains various chemicals, including salt, baking soda, washing soda and caustic soda. It forms a white layer over parts of the lake. The specialized bacteria in the water may turn some areas pink or even red.
Several hot springs feed the shallow, permanent lagoons at the lake’s northern, southern, and western edges, while some remain hidden beneath the surface. These warm lagoons are covered with highly specialized microbial fauna and flora such as cyanophytes, grazed by the endangered and endemic fish, the Magadi tilapia (Oreochromis grahami). The lake hosts significant numbers of Lesser Flamingos, which are known to breed in Lake Natron, about 50 kilometres south of Magadi. It is also home to the little Chestnut-banded or Magadi Plover. Diverse habitats, including wetlands, grasslands, and savannas surrounding the lake are home to a variety of plant and animal life.
For more than a hundred years, Magadi Soda Company, established in 1911, has harvested the trona, which is dried into soda ash. Soda ash is used in the manufacture of glass and many other products, and was Kenya’s main mineral export for many years. Currently, the lake and the company are under the management of Tata Chemicals Magadi.
Lake Magadi is a site recognised for its high biodiversity importance. In collaboration with Tata Chemicals, the National Museums of Kenya (NMK), Kenya Wildlife Service (KWS) and other stakeholders, Nature Kenya holds water bird counts at the lake to help monitor its state.