Nature Blog – Page 41

Golfers play to raise funds for Mt. Kenya forest restoration

Posted on April 3, 2018April 3, 2018 by the EANHS

The 2018 edition of “Lungs for Kenya” charity golf tournament brought together 124 golfers to raise money for a good cause: restoration of Mt. Kenya forest, Kenya’s largest water tower. The event, which took place on 23 March 2018 at the Karen Country Club, raised 2.5 million shillings to plant trees in Mt. Kenya.

Unlike previous editions, this year’s tournament was a full day event. The tournament comprised of two tee-off times: in the morning and at noon.

Vivo Energy Kenya was the tournament’s main sponsors for the sixth year running. Speaking during the presentation of trophies Vivo Energy Kenya managing director Joe Muganda announced that his company would sponsor the event in 2019.

“We will sponsor the event next year and possibly see if we can do a little bit more,” said Mr. Muganda.

Other sponsors included Ned Bank, NIC Capital, Lake Turkana Wind Power, Commercial Bank of Africa, Knight Frank, Syngenta, Williamson Tea, REA Vipingo, Prime Bank, Delta Airlines, DT Dobie, Platinum Credit, SGA Security, Water Sector Trust Fund and GlaxoSmithKline. Air Kenya, Angama Mara, Safarilink, Loisaba Conservancy, Hemingways Watamu, Silverstone Air, Andrew Kamiti and Peter Blackwell donated auction items. Karen Country Club, Matbronze Wildlife Art, Serena Hotels, Island Camp Lake Baringo, Salma Watt, Daphne Butler and Alex Duncanson donated raffle prizes. Farmer’s Choice supported in providing lunch for the golfers while Coca Cola provided drinking water.

Nature Kenya Executive Director Dr. Paul Matiku thanked sponsors for supporting the tournament urging them to help Nature Kenya reach out to more corporates. Dr. Matiku also thanked golfers for turning out in numbers for the tournament.

Jane Wambui emerged overall winner while Eunice Koome and Peter Kiguru were the lady winner and man winners respectively. The team title went to the Nedbank team comprising of Jaap van Luijk, Raymond Nyamweya, Vincent Rague and Mbuvi Ngunze.

This was the sixth consecutive year the charity golf tournament was running under the “Lungs for Kenya” banner. Nature Kenya’s “Lungs for Kenya” initiative seeks to engage local communities to plant trees to restore Kenya’s degraded forests. Among the sites that have benefited from the initiative are the Arabuko-Sokoke Forest, Taita Hills forests, Dakatcha Woodland and Mt. Kenya forest.

Nature Kenya would like to thank all sponsors who generously contributed towards making the event a success. We would also like to thank the Tournament Director Mr. Alexander Duncanson and the organizing committee, all of our members, special guests and partners who found time to participate in this year’s tournament.

NEW GUEST HOUSE IN DAKATCHA WOODLAND

Posted on April 3, 2018 by the EANHS

Dakatcha Woodland Important Bird Area north of Malindi is at its best at this season. Thanks to March rains, the trees are brilliantly green with new leaves, many of them flowering. Most of the shrubs are in bloom, some are in fruit. Migratory birds are passing through, and Clarke’s Weavers – birds found only in Kilifi County – are checking out the seasonal wetlands as potential breeding sites.

Now there is a new guest house to stay in, overlooking a great nyari or depression and a sweeping view of Dakatcha woodland forest. This is the Bore Community Forest Centre.

Bore Community Forest Centre is about ten kilometres past Marafa off the Malindi-Baricho Road. It is owned by the community, and has just been officially opened. It has a large traditional central banda where you can view the sunrise or sit in the shade in the heat of the day.

Accommodation offered are basic rooms with one or two single beds in another large new banda. The showers and toilets are currently in the next building nearby. Bring your own food and the staff will cook it. Solar panels provide electrcity and you can charge your phone and use the Bore wifi.

The special introductory offer is Ksh.1,000 per person per night, bed and breakfast.

For more information or to book accommodation, contact Alex Katana of Green Umbrella,

E-mail: alex.katana2013@gmail.com

Mobile: 0728-526449

What’s app: 0711-424635

To book an experienced local bird guide, contact Julio Mwambire of Hell’s Kitchen, Marafa

E-mail: juliohellskitchen2@gmail.com

Mobile: 0725-082464

Vultures still poisoned in the Mara!

Posted on February 28, 2018 by the EANHS

One early evening in February, an alarm was raised of a poisoned vulture at the Paradise Plains in the Mara National Reserve. Stratton Hatfield, a researcher with the Mara Martial Eagle Project, noted that the White-backed Vulture displayed symptoms of poisoning and made a call for action to help save the bird. With the help of the Kenya Wildlife Service veterinary officer, the bird was moved and placed on a treatment program.

The manner in which this news spread was startling: a social platform has been formed called “Mara Poisoning Response”. This platform helps engage people, including rangers, vets, researchers, wardens and managers, to get updates of any other casualties and share information of any other poisoning events in the Mara.

Poisoning accounts for over 60% of recorded vulture deaths in Africa. In most cases, this happens when predators kill livestock and herders poison the carcass to kill the predators. Poachers also poison vultures. Over the past two years, Nature Kenya, BirdLife International, The Peregrine Fund and other conservation stakeholders have been championing and raising awareness on the plight of vultures. It is clearly evident that these efforts are yielding positive results, based on the kind of attention and response the current poisoning event attracted.

Rangers from the conservancies and the Mara Reserve have been mobilized to enhance patrols, especially around thickets and riverbeds since sick vultures seek darkness and shade and also tend to feel thirsty. From the thorough patrols being conducted, a number of other White-backed Vulture casualties have since been reported: 3 at Naboisho, 3 at Ol kinyei, 1 at Double crossing and we ended up losing the one that had been rescued at Paradise Plains.

At the same time, six lions and 74 vultures were found dead near a national park in southern Tanzania after they were allegedly poisoned.

Timely response to poisoning incidents can significantly reduce resultant wildlife deaths and environmental contamination. In future, we need to have the necessary equipment and machinery in place to facilitate timely response and minimize casualties.

Lake Ol’ Bolossat now protected!

Posted on February 28, 2018February 28, 2018 by the EANHS

An aerial view of Lake Ol Bolossat. PHOTO: A. WAMITI

Lake Ol’ Bolossat, an Important Bird and Biodiversity Area, is now formally a protected area. This follows the recent gazettement of the lake as a Wetland Protected Area. The immediate former Cabinet Secretary for Environment and Natural Resources, Prof. Judi Wakhungu, made the announcement during this year’s World Wetlands Day on the shores of the lake in Nyandarua County.

The Wildlife Conservation and Management (Protected Wetlands) Regulations of 2015 give the Cabinet Secretary powers to declare a wetland, through a notice in the Kenya Gazette, an important habitat or ecosystem for wildlife conservation upon the recommendation of the Kenya Wildlife Service in consultation with the National Land Commission. The gazette notice will make it clear whether Lake Ol’ Bolossat will be managed as a fully or partially protected wetland or will be subject to conservation by the local community.
Following the declaration, National Lands Commission chairman Mohammed Swazuri, who was also in attendance, said all title deeds for the land stood dissolved. Swazuri noted that according to Sections 10, 11 and 12 of Lands Act 2012, the issuance of a gazette notice means the title deed of the land in question and any others prior to the notice ceases.

Lake Ol’ Bolossat is the only lake in central Kenya. The lake forms the headwaters for the Ewaso Nyiro River, which supports the livelihoods of communities, livestock and wildlife in the dry Laikipia, Samburu, Isiolo and Garissa Counties. Despite its small size (43.3km²) the freshwater lake is known for its rich biodiversity that include hippos and over 300 bird species (both residents and migrants). The lake lies within the central tourism circuit, and supplies Nyahururu town with water. The Ewaso Nyiro River supports the thriving wildlife tourism in Buffalo Springs, Shaba National Reserve, and Lorian swamp in Wajir, where the river goes underground, to re-emerge in Somalia where it joins the Jubba River.

Over the years, Lake Ol’ Bolossat has been experiencing massive shrinking as a result of human activity. In the last one decade, the lake’s water surface area has gone from about 10,000 hectares to 3,000 hectares, escalating human-wildlife conflict as wild animals, particularly hippos, lose their habitat. As an unprotected wetland, the lake has been battling numerous challenges and threats including water abstraction, overgrazing, human encroachment, deforestation of catchment areas and siltation.

It is hoped that the gazettement will provide the crucial legal framework to guide the conservation of the lake. Nature Kenya has been actively engaged in advocacy and awareness creation activities to help the lake attain legal protection and conservation.

Balancing Conservation and Development in Yala Swamp

Posted on January 30, 2018 by the EANHS

February 2 every year is World Wetlands Day. It marks the date the Convention on Wetlands was adopted in 1971 at the Iranian city of Ramsar on the shores of the Caspian Sea. The day is used to raise public awareness about the importance and value of wetlands. Wetlands cover about six per cent of the world’s surface. They provide a range of environmental services, including water filtration and storage, erosion control, a buffer against flooding, nutrient recycling, biodiversity maintenance, carbon storage and a nursery for fisheries among other benefits. Unfortunately, up to 60 per cent of global wetlands have been destroyed in the past 100 years as people search for land to settle on, farm and establish other types of investments.

In Kenya, Yala Swamp is one of the wetlands of great importance. The swamp is the country’s largest freshwater swamp and is crutial to Lake Victoria’s survival. It’s Kenya’s largest papyrus wetland, acting as a filter for rivers flowing into Lake Victoria. And it’s an Important Bird and Biodiversity Area (IBA) for its large flocks of birds and species restricted to papyrus swamps.

Nature Kenya, in collaboration with partners including the national government, County Governments of Siaya and Busia, non-government organizations and local communities (through the Yala Ecosystem Site Support Group), has been working to put Yala Swamp on a sustainable footing. Three years after the initiation of a project titled “Balancing development and conservation in Kenya’s largest freshwater papyrus wetland in Yala Swamp” the gains are quite evident. Here are some of the achievements

Stakeholders conducted an ecosystem services assessment of Yala Swamp in a highly consultative manner and published a report. The report provides a business case for Yala Swamp, and gives evidence that the conservation of significant areas of Yala swamp is crucially important for the sustenance of ecosystem services that support the economy, biodiversity and livelihoods.
The Siaya and Busia County governments, through Nature Kenya facilitation, have formulated a Land Use Plan (LUP) for the Yala Swamp informed by a Strategic Environmental Assessment (SEA). The Yala Swamp land use plan is a negotiated document which provides a framework on how land within the swamp and the surrounding areas will be used. The LUP/SEA process is at an advanced stage and is based on the findings of an Ecosystem Services Assessment.
Criteria have been formulated for selection of community conserved areas (CCAs) within Yala Swamp to safeguard crucial wildlife habitats that maintain and stabilize populations of key wetland species. This was done as part of the ongoing land use planning process. Using these criteria, community conserved areas (CCAs) with a total acreage of 8,404ha were selected. Within the CCAs, 443.8ha were identified as degraded areas, out of which 300ha have been restored through papyrus planting. A management plan for the CCAs is under development.
Upstream of Yala Swamp, 14 Community Based Organizations (CBOs) were trained in principles of tree nursery establishment through partnership with the Kenya Forest Service. As a result, farmers have raised more than 186,293 indigenous tree seedlings in nurseries; collected 33,386 wildings; and grown 1,200 bamboo seedlings. Some 70,500 seedlings have been planted in the River Yala riparian area (175.41ha already rehabilitated) and 34,586 seedlings used to establish own farm woodlots.
Energy saving stoves have been installed in 2000 households and 177 schools (with a combined population of 36,915 pupils who are on the government-sponsored school feeding programme). From an assessment conducted in April 2017, the consumption of wood fuel both in households and schools has been reduced by 50%. The reduction in consumption of wood fuel, together with efforts in tree and papyrus planting, has contributed significantly to increased forest cover in the 2 counties.
Through the implementation of various sustainable nature-based enterprises (NBEs), the wellbeing of Yala Swamp communities has improved. A total of 156 households have benefitted through establishment of 11 fishponds. A total of Ksh. 224,950 was earned by 89 households from sale of high value papyrus and palm products. Over the last 12 months, 13 of the trained community guides earned a combined income of Ksh.120,650 from guiding tourists visiting the Yala Swamp.
A sustainability strategy has been developed where proceeds from income-generating activities are divided three ways: among the individual beneficiaries, wider community projects and to support conservation work through a conservation fund administered by the Yala Ecosystem Site Supprt Group (YESSG).
The Yala Ecosystem Site Support Group (YESSG) is now an integral part of this success story. With training and support, they are now the local conservation champions not only within the Yala Swamp IBA but also within the larger Yala Ecosystem.
Capacitated communities, through the Yala Ecosystem SSG, have been able to negotiate and claim for their rights from leaders. In August 2016 when the County Government of Siaya moved to initiate a process to allot land within the Yala Swamp to an Indian company, the leadership of the SSG wrote to the National Land Commission to object to the move and held a media interview featured in a national newspaper. During the media interview, the SSG strongly advocated for the completion and implementation of the land use plan for Yala Swamp, which provides clear guidance on areas to be put under commercial development, areas to be put under subsistence and commercial agriculture and areas to be conserved to continue providing critical ecosystem services.
In June 2017, Yala Ecosystem Site Support Group was awarded a certificate by BirdLife International as “Nature’s Heroes” in recognition of outstanding commitment to conservation and helping local communities work in harmony with nature.

Clearly, there are lots of gains from aiming to strike the delicate balance between conservation and development, as evident in the case of Yala Swamp. However, there are challenges associated with all the progress. Poverty, like in many other parts of Kenya, remains a key driver to environmental degradation at the Yala Swamp. Poverty has driven people to exploit natural resources to fulfill their immediate human needs such as food with little regard to the consequences of uncontrolled overexploitation of resources. Ironically, this threatens their very own future existence and the existence of other biodiversity within the Yala Swamp ecosystem.

All the same, working through the challenges and with concerted efforts, there is still an opportunity of surpassing the gains already made, hence ultimately striking the elusive “balance” between conservation and development within the Yala Swamp.