Failure to save wetlands puts lives at risk, say experts

• Expert faults the government, saying it has not provided conservation funds

Countries all over the globe mark World Wetlands Day on Tuesday, but experts are yet to find solutions to the wanton destruction of wetlands.

They have lamented over the lack of a clear policy guideline to help in the conservation drive.

Currently, the natural resource is managed by the Ministry of Wildlife.

It is feared failure to conserve wetlands will put at risk livelihoods, increasing animal-human conflicts, besides endangering certain fish species.
Kisumu-based conservationist Okoth Mireri said: “It is so sad that we do not have a wetlands policy, even as the resources continue to dwindle.”

“If the Kenya Wildlife ministry is supposed to manage the wetlands then it means they will only concentrate on those areas where there are animals,” he added.

He said a clear policy on the boundary between wetlands and land use should be put in place to avert the current trend that has seen many encroachments.

Moi University lecturer and chairman of the Lake Victoria Institute for Research and Development, Dr Philip Raburu, voiced the same sentiments.

He argued that the problem is compounded by the fact that some wetlands are located on individuals’ pieces of land and therefore very difficult to enforce conservation measures.

Dr Raburu further said the Kenyan Government has never come up with a clear-cut policy on funding the conservation.

“There has never been funding from the central government, it has been left to non-governmental organizations to push the agenda in a vacuum, as they have no legal backing within which they can authoritatively move it,” said Dr Raburu.

He said even within government structures, not many officials know the importance of wetlands and therefore communities can not get advice and reference on what to do.

Mr Mireri on Monday said the infestation of the water bodies by hyacinth and the increased inflow of silt was a result of the reduced cover on the banks of rivers and lakes.

He said the increased human-hippo conflicts in recent times have been caused by the cultivation of crops on river banks and lake shores, which previously served as grazing ground for the animals.

“Species such as lungfish and mudfish are also facing extinction at the rate at which the wetlands are disappearing,” he added.

But on Monday the government announced that more than 40 per cent of wetland areas in western Kenya have been demarcated in readiness for gazettement .

The Water Resources Management Authority (WRMA) Kisumu sub-regional manager, Mr Reuben Dienya, said they had identified the wetland areas that needed to be conserved.

He said they identified them in joint efforts with other players and affected communities during the demarcation.

Mr Dienya said they are currently targeting wetland areas in Kericho, Rachuonyo and Kisumu districts.

Needs survey

“The process of demarcation and gazettement of wetland areas is the only way we can protect wetlands for future generations,” he said.

Mr Dienya further said Gwasi Hills, a major water catchment area in Nyanza, was one of the areas seriously threatened and therefore needs survey, demarcation and gazettement.

An environment officer at the Kisumu provincial office, Ms Stella Kamwasir, said the recent regulation on polluter pay principle (PPP), which is part of 2008 rules by Environment minister John Michuki, will discourage people from destroying wetlands. The PPP is a concept whereby those who are found polluting wetlands are fined for the offence.

She said the new law would help in conserving wetlands and enhance sustainable use of the resource.

Provincial commissioner Francis Mutie welcomed measures which have been put in place by environmental players that had shielded Nyando District from floods.

“Despite the heavy rains experienced recently, we did not have the usual flooding in Nyando because every stakeholder had played their roles in preventing the floods,” Mr Mutie said.

The PC said wetlands support thousands of livelihoods, adding that the Provincial Administration will do all it can to ensure that the resource is protected.

The PC was speaking on Monday at Karanda Primary School in Nyando during the World Wetlands Day celebrations, whose theme was: “Caring for wetlands an answer to climate change”.

The main event will he held in Naivasha on Tuesday.