A move by Kenya Inter-University Environmental Students Association (KIUESA) to manage Water hyacinth (Eichhornia crassipes) in Kenya.

Introduction

The term water hyacinth is an infamous term in Kenya, especially to those who live around the lake. Water hyacinth (Eichhornia crassipes) is an aquatic plant native to the Amazon basin. It is a free floating perennial plant with broad, thick, glossy, ovate leaves.

The weed is believed to have been brought to Africa about a century ago. It has appeared as an ecological nuisance in many parts of Africa. It caused a crisis in South Africa in 1910s, Madagascar in 1920s, Tanzania, Uganda and Kenya in 1930s through 1970s. In the 1980s and ’90s, it bloomed heavily on lake Victoria, the Nile, the Congo and almost all watercourses of Africa (Aquarius Systems)
Water hyacinth production and growth is very fast facilitated by nutrient(fertiliser washed to the water bodies and industrial effluents) channelled into the waters.

Effects

Water hyacinth generally reduces the water quality making it difficult for other aquatic organisms to survive, leading to reduced fish production. It blocks the fishing routes making fishing impossible and recreational activities.The weed is also jeopardizing the survival of flamingos in Lake Nakuru and Lake Elementaita.

Shore of Lake Nakuru

Fishermen on Lake Victoria struggling to navigate through Water hyacinth

The hyacinth also results into dying of native plant since sunlight cannot filter through to the bottom layers of water. It normally looks like an island in the lake or football pitch as shown below.

It also clogs irrigation canals and pipes used to draw water for towns and villages.

These problems are being experienced in the country hindering the lives and the livelihood of of many and putting the country’s economy at stake.

Previous efforts

Several trials have been directed towards eradication and management of the hyacinth but with no success to count on. 

These includes introduction of weevils in the late 1990s( James A. Ogwang, PhD), manual removal of the weed and purchasing of a machine harvester by LVEMP.

Water hyacinth being removed manually

These have not resulted into any significance outcome.

One of the communities in Kisumu, seme sub-county now purchase water from distance places after their small lake was infested by the weed(standard news paper, 18/01/2017).

A move by Kiuesa

Kenya Inter-University Environmental Students Association (KIUESA) is an association of Kenya university students who are pursuing environmental courses and those passionate about environmental issues. We aspire to be a world class Association that inspires advocacy and mainstreaming of environmental concerns in development and sustainability of the present and future global community, through creation of viable society towards environmental sustainability and instill a sense of responsibility and personal commitment for the environment by the students and tapping the challenges into opportunities.

Hence, KIUESA members decided to make a move to address this perennial tragedy. From the discussion conducted on 18-19/01/2017, the students suggested some possible ways on how the hyacinth can be sustainably managed. The resolutions include:

1. Water hyacinth can be used to make mats, baskets and furniture from its fibrous nature.
   

   

   Water hyacinth furniture (http://www.michaelburtonsr.com/?page_id=22)

2. Finding a biological value or chemical content of the weed to further find its possible uses.
3. Making of bioethanol, which is reported to be lucrative, but only on large scale due to its fast growth rate.
4. Paper making- The Mennonite Central Committee of Bangladesh has been experimenting with paper production from water hyacinth for some years. They have established two projects that make paper from water hyacinth stems. The water hyacinth fibre alone does not make a particularly good paper but when the fibre is blended with waste paper or jute the result is good. The pulp is dosed with bleaching powder, calcium carbonate and sodium carbonate before being heated.
5. Biogas production – due to its fast growth, it can produce a reliable biogas for energy, hence reduction in deforestation.
6. Analyse and assess the existing initiatives on the hyacinth and chip in, this is to avoid duplication of efforts.
   

   

   Some of uses water hyacinth can be put into

7. Work with the county governments, national government and interested parties towards this initiative(https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/lets-save-lake-victoria-erick-khamala)
8. Create more awareness on social media to bring this to attention of many.
9. Water hyacinth can also be used to make charcoal briquettes
   

   

   Green charcoal briquettes made from water hyacinth (http://www.michaelburtonsr.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/05/Green-charcoal-made-from-water-hyacinth1.jpg)

10. Form a task force to draw a plan, facilitate and spearhead the implementation of this initiative which is start immediately.

Conclusion

As students from various universities put their heads together, much can be done and we strongly believe that this can be solve permanently. Much funds have been pump into this, but to no avail. It therefore requires a proper thought strategy to manage this weed. KIUESA has the capacity to carry out this and turn Kenya into a green economy through management of water hyacinth. This is a problem which if solved, will contribute tremendously towards reduction of poverty and will boost our GDP through creation of permanent jobs due to its rapid growth rate. It will also contribute towards achievement of Kenya’s vision 2030 and UN SDGs. Kenya through KIUESA, can lead other African nations in the management of this weed. It’s our hope that we will be accorded support to make this a reality.

kiuesaoffice@gmail.com

KIUESA… Bringing sanity to nature

Written by Enocka Odongo
KIUESA
Chairperson, 2017

Urgency of COP 22

Climate change is one of the biggest threats facing the world today. It impacts heavily on agriculture, water, and health. Our Coastal cities continue to experience coral bleaching and will become unliveable due to rising of ocean levels melting of polar ice caps.

Africa is already suffering immensely from high risk of malaria, agriculture (food security), heat stress and drought. Governments are spending huge amounts of money in addressing these issues. This means there would be no much development as focus is directed towards these issues, and our nations likely to lose stability as we continue to nurture the effects of climate change. It’s important that these issues be addressed with urgency to keep temperature below 2°C and to save our people. But science has it clear, even the 2°C will have serious consequences on food, water security, economic stability and international peace . We therefore need an urgent and more ambitious effort.

But hope is not lost yet. Hope is seen in the COP 22 in Marrakech, Morocco after the ambitious Paris agreement. COP 22 is forming the next crucial step for governments and parties looking to actualize and ratify the Paris agreement. Although the Paris agreement was ambitious and gave clear pathways to climate change action, much details on how to move forward needs to be resolved.

The platform for resolution is provided by the COP 22. The COP forms part of the preparation for the entry into force of the Paris agreement. COP 22 holds great potential to accelerate ratification of COP 21 agreement and could see the impacts reversed. It will also act as a response to challenges faced during Paris agreement. In fact COP 22 will be the first Conference of Parties convened after an ever ambitious agreement in the world’s history of climate change.

Governments and parties should therefore converge at the COP 22 as it provides more hope for the African regions.  Kenya’s contribution to world’s GHG is 0.1%, but the climate change impacts continue to hit us hard from severe droughts, malaria, heat stress, low agricultural produce……… The expectations are that Africans government and negotiators should push for more funds for adaption as oppose to mitigation, that’s when we will get a fair share. More pressure should be imposed on big emitters to try and stop their emissions as fast as possible to avert human suffering.

MOVING TOWARDS ZERO DEFORESTATION IN KENYA Attaining At Least 10% Forest Cover

Kenya’s forest cover is estimated to be 7.0% and according to the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO), it is recommended to be at least 10% in order for Kenya to enjoy environmental services and to contribute to climate change mitigation.

Kenya’s forest has been steadily declining due to a number of factors with the major contribution being population increase that put more pressure on trees. It’s estimated that 68% of the Kenyan population use biomass-firewood and charcoal for cooking. Kenya loses 5.6 million trees daily as Africa grapples with massive deforestation(http://www.capitalfm.co.ke/news/2015/03/study-kenya-loses-5-6-million-trees-daily/)

Charcoal is the most widely used source of energy in urban centers estimated at 2.5 million tons produced annually (MEWNR, 2003). Other drivers of deforestation include weak governance, political influence, agricultural expansion and corruption.
The rate of deforestation outweighs afforestation and reforestation. This indicates that deforestation will continue to rise if no steps are taken to curb the menace. Reducing Emission from Deforestation and Forest degradation plus the Role of Conservation, Sustainable management of Forests and enhancement of forest carbon stocks, abbreviated as REDD+, has been estimate by scientists to contribute to about 17-18% of global greenhouse gas emission. This majorly applies in Africa, Kenya being one. REDD+ Readiness Preparedness Proposal estimates that Kenya loses about 12, 000 hectares of forest each year through deforestation.

More on REDD+ http://theredddesk.org/what-redd

This must be addressed if Kenya is to contribute towards climate change mitigation and sustainable development. According to Kenya’s vision 2030, Kenya aims to be a nation that has a clean, secure and sustainable development by 2030. This will be achieved only if urgent steps are taken to address deforestation in Kenya.
Kenya is categorized as a water scarce country(https://thewaterproject.org/water-crisis/water-in-crisis-kenya) and further deforestation may cause more harm to the country’s population, Water act 2002- http://www.wrma.or.ke/index.php/publications/water-act-2002.html. Under the vision 2030 flagship project, 5 water towers are recognized namely, Mau escarpment, Mt. Kenya, Aberdare Ranges, Cheranganyi Hills and Mt. Elgon.

Trees play a key role in the protection of these catchment areas.
The first Kenya’s forest policy was developed in 1968, and it became obsolete thereafter. A draft policy was later developed from mid-1990 to early 2000 after the Earth summit held in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil in June 1992. The Rio declaration was a major shift in environmental governance in Kenya. It exhorted the government to establish an effective legal and regulatory framework in enhancing national capacities to respond to challenges of sustainable development. This resulted into increased integration of environmental concerns into development planning, environmental law and policy formulation in Kenya, for example, The National Environment Action Plan(1994) stressed the need for a comprehensive environmental policy and law, and Environment Management and Co-ordination Act(EMCA, 1999) as a framework for environmental law. However, the alarming rates of deforestation necessitated the enactment of the Kenya Forest Act, 2005 and the coming into force of a Forest Policy in 2007. The Forest Act enshrined participatory forest management through community forest association (CFAs). The Forest Act also led to the creation of Kenya Forest Service replacing Forest Department. Kenya is in the process of finalizing Forest Policy, 2015 and Forest Act 2015.
Kenya’s vision 2030 embraces environmental management alongside with economic prosperity and creates pathways for carbon development in the country. In Africa, since we are less industrialized, our major contribution to climate change mitigation is to invest heavily in forest sector besides adopting green energy. The chapter 5 of the Kenya’s constitution enshines land and environment.

In conserving our forests and increasing our forest cover, it is important to understand the underlying causes and drivers of deforestation and address them. It is important if new technologies are incorporated and we encourage innovation in conserving our forests. The national and county governments must also collaborate since forests is a devolved function. Briquettes which is an alternative for charcoal should be encouraged in Kenya. Briquettes are charcoal-like materials that are made entirely from waste such as rice husks, plants litters…… these materials are found almost anywhere. A briquette (or briquet) is a compressed block of coal dust or other combustible biomass material such as sawdust, wood chips, peat, or paper used for fuel. The term comes from the French language and is related to brick. In East Africa, GVEP works with a large number of micro-enterprises that are manufacturing briquettes from charcoal dust, agricultural waste or sawdust. The advantage is that these enterprises are operating locally in communities where briquettes are used, which should allow for less complex logistics, and an improved ability to adapt products to consumer needs and preferences.

Unlike in America, where the major source of energy is electricity, Kenyan government needs to increase their investment in the energy sector such wind power,

geothermal and solar energy.

The Olkaria geothermal power plant

solar power plant

The increased megawatts will provide more energy including for cooking, reducing the use of charcoal and fossil fuels especially in urban areas.

Many schools, especially secondary schools and colleges consumes very many tones of wood annually yet they have a clean alternative sources.

Heaps of firewood in one of the schools in Kenya

Their latrines/toilets should be redesigned and fitted with biogas digesters to produce biogas for cooking and green fertilizers for their crops and vegetables.

This has been in some institutions and has proved to work excellently. In Kenya taka moto biogas, taka taka solutions, provide the technical support. Likewise, many homes in Kenya can run on bio-gas from their livestock, besides solar energy which is also poorly developed in Kenya.
Biodegradable solid waste coupled with sludge which is seen as a nuisance and a threat in urban areas, can also be converted into bio-gas and fertilizer.

Fecal sludge emptying and transportation service provider

This will provide employment to many besides conserving the environment.

The use of energy saving jikos will also reduce the amount of firewood consumed.

Traditional 3-stone cooking place

More innovation on forest sector include I plant trees technologies, which is a mobile app developed by a passionate environmentalist Mathew Ochanda. This technology provides a digital platform to the tree farming and agro-forestry industry in Kenya and the regions beyond therefore making it a viable, profitable and competitive as other farming practice. It also enhance more investment in the tree seedling business due to quick connection as a result of the technology.
Mainstreaming environmental values and tree planting culture in the school curriculum will see a generation of environmental conscious. For example, the Kenya Organization of Environmental Education (KOEE), led by Dr. Dorcus Otieno, has impacted on the behavior among the pupils and students.

Finally, there is need for continuance and strengthening of government capacity to detect and address corruption. The government should also allocate more funds for conservation and tree planting activities throughout the country, involving youths and women. This should be done through the relevant institutions such as Kenya Forest Working Group(KFWG), Nature Kenya, Forestry Society of Kenya, National Alliance of Community Forest Association (NACOFA).

 

THE SILENCED VOICE, By BeeKing.

 

I am the voice that the world has silenced for generations and generations past. Now, armed with pen and paper in hand, I write my story.

I was born into the world, with the abundance and beauty of the trees, birds and beasts that roamed freely on the earth. It had been several centuries past. The children of the soil, were later brought into the land .Homes were established as the land was tilled. Both the people and the beasts peacefully lived in harmony and undivided unity. This was the peace that let the lands of my siblings be filled with green envy.

 

 

     

The children of the soil, were later brought into the land .Homes were established as the land was tilled. Both the people and the beasts peacefully lived in harmony and undivided unity. This was the peace that let the lands of my siblings be filled with green envy.

My heart beamed with joy, as I watched the people and the forest’s beasts bear fruit and fill the earth. Their offspring explored into lands unknown, establishing laws and guiding communities into practices that had been used years ago and were acceptable to the clan of elders’ .The people were content.

Tension filled the land, as soon as ’the butterflies’ set foot. Prophesies stated that they came from the giant swallowing and disgorging snake, as others called them the ‘‘people with clothes like butterflies’’. Despite the slight resemblance they had with the children of the land, I smelt a rat. The future for the people was unpredictable with the intruder’s presence.

Who were they? Where did they come from? What did they want?

It was not long before more of the foreigners settled their luxurious mansions, upon the lush fertile land. Patches of earth were exposed to the hot, sweltering sun where the people worked, and planted, their master’s produce. The beasts of the land escaped to deeper parts of the forests as the unfortunate paid the ultimate price of death. Lives were lost, for sheer pleasure of sport, and bush meat. Grief and sorrow engulfed me, for the enemy had conquered our land .I wept bitterly as I watched my children march into the ships, bound hand and foot, to the unknown lands of my sibling’s people, beyond the seas. The atmosphere choked in hostility, as death’s odour filled the air. I pleaded for fate to stop the chaos, Mother Nature to restore the peace that once thrived, but to no avail. The land would never be the same.

 

Decades passed to centuries, the vast land had suffered the intruder’s governance, for four centuries. Despite the efforts from my sister-lands to curb the contagious vice, massive damage had already been done. The crime progressed like a deadly malady. I grew weary, and mourned silently as I waited for the land’s redemption.

After a long wait, the descendants of the land, had learnt the master’s ways and were ready to reclaim, that was once lost. It was a battle to reckon with, for the intruder had finally stepped down. I had eagerly waited for this moment, for many years, as I watched the ‘butterflies’ fly to their motherland. Nevertheless, I hardly reckoned what lied ahead, for another malady dwelt within the land. A battle in the land.

Despite the ‘butterflies’ absence, the land did not heal with the people’s governance. I still heard the cries of the wounded beasts that called them, traitor. The leaders became enriched with the crops, planted by the peasants who are unjustly paid, while the sick were left to live under the mercy of fate. Patches of tree stumps are present within the dense forests as trees are cut for distance land under the name of trade.

Rage and fear haunted the beasts of the land as they watched their once called friends, put them to death.

What had become of the people? The sight, which still occurs today, remains etched in my mind, like a broken record.

Be intent dear young ones and strong warriors. I speak to the descendants of the African soil, where the agile lion once treaded upon and the elephant of great strength and wisdom. To listen, once again to the gentle voices, that speaks in the blowing wind, the beats of the forest beasts and the rustling of the trees. I urge to take heed, for time is running out on me. Bring back the continent’s tranquility that dwelt  among the ancestors , lead the people with the wisdom of the elders, judge wisely, speak justly, raise my voice, let the world know that I am Africa.

 

 

 

LET’S FOCUS ON OUR FUTURE, WE ARE DESTROYING IT!

God created Adam and Eve and placed them in the Garden of Eden. That garden was beautiful as you can imagine the work of God.

 

Two rivers were made to flow through it (Euphrates and Tigris) then God made man and woman and mandated them to take care of their environment. I want to call this “the first law of nature,” as a friend of mine from Moi university, city campus (Gideon Ntaiya) told me.
And so my question is, do you obey that law?
For those who believe in evolution theory, imagine how the earth was! Man and his simple tools, his simple and perfect way of life. Rivers were clean and provided clean water, the general condition of environment was good and cool and so was the weather and climate, but now?
Since 18th century, man has been struggling to improve his comfort zone, his way of life through innovation, industrialization and development. These have made our lifestyle better and worse at the same time. Man has been doing these with little or no attention on the environment, and that is where our focus has been, on the economic side.

Traditionally, people have various ways of conserving the environment-forests, land, water, fishing…. The natural resources were used sustainably. This menace (pollution, degradation…) could be traced back from the year 1730, the initiation of industrial revolution. The increasing population and new innovation and industrialization forced man to search for raw materials for the industries and to feed the population. The industries emitted pollutants into the environment, and this is where the history of climate change started from.

It took some good number of years for the industrial impact on the environment to be realized. Human being had limited knowledge concerning his physical environment. Early scientists such as William Hornaday (1854-1937) and Aldo Leopoid (1887-1948) drew attention to the plight of endangered wildlife and wildlife management respectively. In 1960s, the science of conservation started sinking in people’s minds due to the changing environment. They started to appreciate critical issues facing communities and natural resources.
In 1970s, attention was focused on the environment and this led to the formation of international cooperations and conventions to monitor and evaluate environmental issues. Some of them include Friends of the Earth and Greenpeace(1971), UNEP-1972, UN World Commission on Environments and Development-1983, The Ramsar(1971), The World Heritage Convention(1972), Montreal Protocol(1987), Convention on Biological Diversity(CBD, 1992), UNFCCC(1992), UN Convention to Combat Desertification(UNCCD) and many more. Shockingly, despite having these cooperations, the state of the earth has continue to deteriorate. Why?
Everyone wants to live in a clean and healthy environment, just as it is istated in article 42 of the Kenyan constitution, but who cares for the environment?

“Our environment is our responsibility,” NEMA’s motto. Every time we litter we expect someone to come and clean it for us, in that case it’s whose responsibility? Laws and policies have been formulated by the international conventions and adopted by the signatory nations, but do we feel their impacts? Are they being implemented? Formulation and implementation amount to 100%, but implementation takes a bigger part=>99%. This shows the magnitude of implementation process.
Man is at the center of everything. As our population increases, the technology advances as does the environmental deterioration. The earth is our mother nature, it nurtures and nourishes us, and this will happen if we nurture it as well. Andrew Winston once said, “There is no planet B” we are therefore left with no option but to take care of our mother nature.
We do remember and appreciate the work the great environmentalist, the late prof. Wangari Maathai. Today we are enjoying what he fought for, Uhuru Park, Karura forest… she was truly passionate about the environment. She transformed not only Kenya but Africa. The founder of Green Belt Movement. May God rest her soul in eternal peace.

She once said, “It’s the little things we do, that is what makes a difference. My little thing is planting trees,” What are your little things?
I happened to attend a talk of a renowned motivational speaker, Pepe Minambo, and he told us that those who wait for perfection never fulfill the missions, perfection is never attainable. Those who wait to be ready never get ready. I have challenged some people who claim to be the next Wangari Maathai, when is the “next”. Pepe challenged us to launch out our dreams. You want to get into the late Wangari’s shoes but you are still waiting for perfection, something is holding you back, break that chain and move on. Is it fear which is holding captive? Do not be afraid to face the world! Remember fear kills greatest dreams than failure. You never know how far you can go until you are willing. Launch out now!
Something may look wrong in your decision and speculation, but I want to tell you that if all your plans and speculations look perfect, then something is wrong. A perfect decision therefore doesn’t look perfect. You lose nothing by trying and anyone who has never failed has never tried anything new. Do not be afraid to face the world, Barrack Obama said, “We did not come to fear the future, we came to shape it.” What people say about you is none of your business, after all you can’t please everyone. Do not betray the hero in you.
The international environmental cooperations plus local ones are overwhelming, but their impacts are feeble. Everyone wants self-recognition. Leaders wants to maintain themselves in power at the expense of the environment. Their focus is concentrated on the economic side.

  

People tend to focus on the economic side giving little or no attention to the society and environment. This has been the major cause of environmental degradation and climate change. Some companies cut down trees to install their billboards to attract customers. Below is a total oil company billboard, they are fueling our sufferings, not smiles!

Total oil company billboard a long Waiyaki way Feb, 2016. They are fueling our sufferings

Nowadays environmental exercises and activities are source of fame and recognition. People dress in suits to tree planting and clean-ups exercises. Some people turn such exercises to a photo session, “selfie” They even forget what took them there.

Tree planting exercise

Environment calls upon everyone to take care of it regardless of your field of specialization or your economic status in the society.
The United Nations has given environment more attention and this is clear in the sustainable development goals (SDGs)

Twelve out of seventeen of the goals touch on the environment. This calls upon every nation, every organization and every individual to work towards achieving the SDGs. Let us contemplate this and protect our environment, let us sustain ourselves and promote sustainable development. Our environment, our mother, our responsibility.

OVERVIEW OF CLIMATE CHANGE & Fossil Fuels

HISTORY OF CLIMATE CHANGE

The history of climate change began in 18th century. Climate change is due to the emission of green house gases(majorly CO2 & methane-CH4) into the atmosphere. The emission majorly started during the industrial/agrarian revolution when many inventions were made to make work easier.  These inventions created new manufacturing industries, many people also moved away from farms into cities. It was a time of very rapid change in the world. 

This revolution marked a major turning point in Earth’s ecology and humans’ relationship with their environment. At this time man had not invented other forms of energy like hydro-power, geothermal, wind power and solar energy. They were using the cheap readily available fossil fuels majorly coal, which increased very many tonnes of green house gases into the atmosphere.

Annual rates of emission of CO₂ and methane (as CO₂-equivalents) worldwide, and those originating from the Carbon Majors, in millions of tonnes of CO₂-equivalents (MtCO₂/y).
Source: Heede, (Climatic Change (2014);http://download.springer.com/static/pdf/371/art%253A10.1007%252Fs10584-013-0986-y.pdf?auth66=1389756523_ec1069a48cb76c044189eb5109b5c131&ext=.pdf ).

 

 

The above graph shows the trend of GHG emissions into the atmosphere since 1850s. The population was increasing rapidly and so did the rate of industrialization.

It would take just one person in the 1960s to make the general public aware of the cause and effect of human outgrowth from the Industrial Revolution. Rachel Carson took on the powerful and robust chemical industry in her globally acclaimed 1962 book,Silent Spring. In it she raised important questions about humans’ impact on nature, the effects of climate change.

Awakening to climate change

The changing climatic like rising temperatures, melting polar ice, intensified storms and other parameters, drew world’s attention to look for causes and solution to this phenomenon.

The changing climate has impacted negatively on nature which led to the formation international conventions to tackle the issue, United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Climate(UNFCCC), Inter-governmental Panel on Climate Change(IPCC) and various protocols. The UNFCCC has been spearheading stabilization of GHG in the atmosphere to avoid more harm to the ecosystem. This has been done through conference of parties(COP) meeting yearly to discuss way forward towards mitigating climate change. The first COP(COP 1) was held in Nassau, Bahamas, 28 November – 9 December 1994 and the 21st(COP 21) was held in Paris, France from 30th November to 11th December, 2015. Climate change is a global concern and United Nations countries have pledged to reduce their carbon footprints. Climate change is also captured in goal 13 of the sustainable development goals(SDGs). 

Adaptations and Mitigations

As we struggle to mitigate climate change through various ways, we must develop adaptation mechanisms to the already set conditions. And these includes climate smart agriculture,putting up green buildings, agro-forestry, planting resilient crops, reducing herd size, e.t.c.

Mitigating climate change involves a two-way system:

1. reducing GHG emission and,
2. creating a carbon sink.

We therefore need to put up strategies on how to reduce the the emissions and create the sink on the other side. Reducing emissions involves adopting clean and renewable energy in our systems like hydro power, geothermal, wind power and solar energy, afforestation and reafforestation processes.

“It is true that climate change is real, it is happening now. it is the most urgent threat facing our species,” Leonardo Dicaprio, UN messenger of peace.

 

 

Okoa Lake Turkana

Lake Turkana is under threat, and this means those whose lives depend on the lake will have to seek for new ways of surviving. Remember, L. Turkana is the only desert lake in the world and the Kenyan government has failed to address this, instead it has planned to purchase power from the Gibe III hydroelectric dam, which is constructed across R.Omo and is half complete. NEMA has equally failed in its jurisdictions to advice the government appropriately.

Here reads the report; http://www.new-ag.info/en/news/newsitem.php?a=2569

http://www.friendsoflaketurkana.org/news/tag/Gibe%20III%20Dam

Let’s all join hand in this and push for change.

Environmental Concern

Environmental Concern.

Environmental Concern

Our environment is our responsibility, if we neglect it, it will reward us negatively. It’s high time we change our mentality concerning our environment. If we don’t save our environment, who will?
Kenya is a developing nation, a good percentage of the population is poor depending directly on the environment for their full survival. Our environment, our nurture, our responsibility.