Sent to live on a remote island in the Tanzanian half of Lake Victoria, Mark Weston finds a community grappling with one of the world's great unknown environmental crises.
Sent to live on a remote island in the Tanzanian half of Lake Victoria, Mark Weston finds a community grappling with one of the world's great unknown environmental crises.
Africa (general), Developing & emerging countries, Environmental conservation & protection
Sent to live on a remote island in the Tanzanian half of Lake Victoria, Mark Weston finds a community grappling with one of the world's great unknown environmental crises.
"You used to be able to stand on the beach and fish. In my father’s time you could catch them with your bare hands."
Lake Victoria was once one of the most biodiverse places on Earth, but a predator released into its waters by East Africa's British colonisers has left a trail of destruction in its wake. The lives of millions of people have been upended, as a fateful confluence of overfishing, pollution and deforestation has triggered one of history's greatest mass extinctions.
On remote Ukerewe Island, Mark Weston finds out how local communities are responding to the crisis. He lives for two years alongside the families and fishermen hardest hit by the upheaval and gets to know the aid workers, sorcerers and holy men whose businesses are booming.
A captivating blend of travel writing and environmental reportage, The Saviour Fish paints an intimate picture of rural Tanzanian life, and of the human cost of biodiversity loss.
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The Saviour Fish is a brightly woven and revelatory vignette of life on Lake Victoria and the communities inhabiting its shores. It's a funny and moving story, but sounds a clear warning about the upheaval wrought by environmental change. ~ Nick Perry, Agence France-Presse
Mark Weston’s book is a delight. From charming neighbourhood children to failing fish stocks, not forgetting the perfect recipe for banana beer, The Saviour Fish is a compelling account of life on a remote Tanzanian island, told by a writer who has his eyes wide open and his heart fully engaged. ~ James Copnall, Presenter, Newsday, BBC World Service, and author of A Poisonous Thorn in our Hearts: Sudan and South Sudan’s Bitter and Incomplete Divorce
Weston takes us with him on a remarkable journey, punctuated by well-drawn anecdotes and sharp observations and brought to life by his elegant description. The Saviour Fish is a charming, compelling exploration of Lake Victoria and its people. ~ Simon Allison, Mail & Guardian
Weston’s account of the disappearance of Lake Victoria’s fish is both alarming and absorbing. The Saviour Fish is a wake-up call for the world as it burns through its biodiversity. ~ David Steven, UN Foundation
A beautiful portrait of a community on the margins…Ukerewe quietly serves as a microcosm of our current fossil-fuelled global predicament – how greed and environmental plunder unravels, and sweeps away innocent lives in the process...There is tragedy and struggle here, but also joy and hope, curiosity and wonder, friendship and community. Overall I found it life-affirming, nicely observed and above all, wonderfully human. ~ Jeremy Williams, The Earthbound Report
A compelling story...Combining travelogue, ethnography and environmental reportage, the book's immersive portrait of local life on the waters of Africa's greatest lake features an engaging cast of characters and their daily struggles to survive. ~ Gavin Thomas, Travel Africa Magazine
Fascinating...A poignant and memorable memoir. Lake Victoria seems to have entered Weston's soul. ~ Tom Chesshyre, The Critic
An engaging story, bustling with the vibrancy of rural Tanzania and the economic, social, and ecological challenges that are shaping life on Lake Victoria. ~ Nathan Hayes, Economist Intelligence Unit
Lake Victoria and the communities that rely on it are grappling with the devastating results of climate change. Mark Weston paints a vivid picture of a way of life under man-made threat. ~ Tom Hawker, Wanderlust Magazine
The Saviour Fish transports readers to a Tanzanian island where we see up close the potential and perils of humans’ fondness for tinkering with nature…Weston touchingly opens a window into the lives of their friends and neighbors on Ukerewe as they grapple simultaneously with the aftermath of the plummeting perch catch and with an uncertain future.” ~ John Cannon, Mongabay
