DAR ES SALAAM, June 8 -- The governments of Tanzania and Burundi on Thursday agreed to step up efforts aimed at protecting Lake Tanganyika's resources for the economic benefit of the two East African countries.

A statement by the Vice President's Office said the agreement was reached after talks between the Minister of State in the Vice President's Office responsible for Union and Environment Selemani Jafo and Burundian Minister for Environment, Agriculture and Livestock Sanctus Niragira, held in Dodoma, the capital of Tanzania.

Jafo said Tanzania was observing the Convention on the Sustainable Management of Lake Tanganyika aimed at protecting the lake's unique aquatic and other biological diversity which were significant for the development of the riparian states of Burundi, Democratic Republic of the Congo, Tanzania, and Zambia.

"The Burundian minister with his delegation of experts discussed and agreed with their Tanzanian counterparts on how best to protect resources of the lake for the benefit of the riparian countries," said Jafo.

In December 2021, Tanzanian Vice President Philip Mpango called on countries sharing Lake Tanganyika to take bold steps aimed at reversing environmental degradation facing the lake.

Mpango suggested Lake Tanganyika's riparian countries should unite toward the conservation of the biodiversity of the lake.

He said the biodiversity of the lake is being lost at an alarming rate through human-induced activities such as unsustainable agricultural and fishing practices, water pollution and deforestation.

  - Xinhua