Kenya tackles climate threats to wildlife, tourism

Isaiah Esipisu in AlertNet: Climate shifts are forcing Kenyan experts to take drastic action to preserve the stunning scenery and wildlife that have drawn millions of tourists to the east African country, bringing vital revenue and providing thousands of jobs.

From collecting rainwater in national parks to providing animals with hay in hard times and preventing alien species of vegetation from taking over grassland, Kenyans have joined regional and global projects to grapple with the changes, which are having deep and rapid effects on the country’s natural resources.

One of the sites most severely affected by recent changes is Lake Nakuru, in the Rift Valley about 140 km (80 miles) northwest of Nairobi. The soda lake is home to millions of flamingos who make a dazzling display as they wheel and swoop in huge flocks before settling on the water to browse on the dense algae.

The flamingos and other water birds make the lake one of the country’s most magnificent spectacles, watched by thousands of tourists from the 14 hotels overlooking the lake and giving jobs to thousands of Kenyans, as well as bringing in more than 3 billion Kenyan shillings ($36 million) a year in revenue.

...But in the past three months, millions of birds have migrated to other places because of pounding rains that have caused the lake to overflow....

Storks and flamingos at Lake Nakuru, shot by Angela Sevin, Wikimedia Commons via Flickr, under the Creative Commons Attribution 2.0 Generic license

New Report on Sacred Natural Site Protection in Kenya

As Sacred Natural Sites in Kenya and around the world are increasingly threatened, the African Biodiversity Network, the Institute of Culture and Ecology and The Gaia Foundation have released a new report on the protection of Sacred Natural Sites entitled “Recognising Sacred Natural Sites and Territories in Kenya.” The report was commissioned after the enactment of Kenya’s new Constitution in 2010 and authored by Adam Hussein Adam. 

The report is targeted at communities, civil society, lawyers and policy makers. It examines how the Constitution, national and international laws can support the recognition of Sacred Natural Sites and their community governance systems. It makes recommendations for securing greater recognition of Sacred Natural Sites and Territories, and the rights and responsibilities of the communities who protect these sites. It also explores some of the issues which need to be addressed in the pending Community Land Act in Kenya.  

The executive summary can be downloaded here. The full report can be downloaded here.

Impact of a Water Sanitation & Hygiene Program in Western Kenya

Latrine in La Hicaca, Honduras

This is an interesting study by Greene and colleagues that examined the impact of a school-based improved water, sanitation and hygiene (WASH) program in Western Kenya on fecal contamination of students’ hands with E. Coli. 17 intervention and 17 control schools were assessed (as a sample of a larger cluster randomized trial of 135 schools). Intervention schools had specialized buckets provided for hand washing and drinking water, as well as a supply of hypochlorite solution provided for water decontamination. Teachers were trained on how to maintain the handwashing equipment. Schools with a high ratio of students to latrines underwent the addition of new latrines to meet a pupil to latrine ratio of 30:1 for boys and 25:1 for girls.

These authors found no difference in E. coli hand contamination for the intervention and the control schools, and curiously found an increased risk of hand contamination for girls in schools where new latrines had been constructed (RR: 2.63, 95% CI 1.29-5.34). Although it is not clear why this occurred, the authors postulate that this increase in contamination may have occurred secondary to increased latrine use in the absence of improvements in hand hygiene. The authors note poor student access to soap, a fact that likely critically undermined the overall sanitation program. In a geographically discrete location such as a school, the introduction of latrines in the absence of mechanisms to improve hand hygiene may actually lead to increased fecal contamination of hands, with the potential for spread of diarrheal illness.

Although improving access to latrines is a critical component of improving the overall health of communities, improving latrine access without improving access to soap may actually be harmful. Mechanisms to assure soap access should be built in to hygiene programs.

Climate change to cost USD 26.9 billion, says expert

Benson Nyagesiba in the Star (Kenya): An environmental expert yesterday said that climate change will cost Kenya Sh2.3 trillion [about $26.9 billion] if measures to curb changes in weather patterns are not put in place. Alexander Alusa an environment adviser in the PM’s office said the weather changes are a challenge to the realising Vision 2030. “Climate change is a challenge because it affects the development of the country in the socio-economic sphere," said Alusa. That is why we must ensure we are in control of the weather."

Speaking in Kisii county at workshop in Climate Change, he said the PM's office has been holding public debates on climate change to get wananchi's views.

"The meeting are organised to give people an opportunity to say what they know about climate change,” Alusa said. During the hearing, parliament was asked to pass the Climate Change Authority Bill-2012 authored by Emuhaya MP Wilbur Ottichillo before it is dissolved.

The Bill will provide a framework for mitigating and adapting to the effects of climate change on various sectors of the economy. Speaking during the closure of the hearings, Assistant Minister in the PMs Office John Mbadi asked presidential aspirants to give climate change priority in their campaigns like in America.

Mbadi noted that no single candidate has taken concern over the same saying that climate change will consume three percent of the country’s GDP. “I am urging presidential candidates to prioritize climate change in their campaigns because this is a big concern to the country’s development,” Mbadi said....

Presentation to GEF SGP - Kenya

Natural Justice was invited to present at a meeting of the GEF Small Grants Programme (SGP) Kenyan National Steering Committee on 9 November, 2012. The National Steering Committee includes representatives from  governmental, intergovernmental and civil society bodies such as the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP), the Global Environment Facility (GEF), the Kenyan Ministry of Environment, Kenya Wildlife Service, Kenya Forest Service, WWF and Oxfam. It provides support to community based environment projects in the country with the aim of environmental conservation and sustainable livelihood development. Gino Cocchiaro presented on the work of Natural Justice, focusing on biocultural rights and biocultural community protocols as mechanisms to support the wellbeing of communities, conservation and sustainable use of biodiversity.

Kenyan Civil Society Meeting on ICCAs

Natural Justice's Gino Cocchiaro attended a meeting of Kenyan civil society representatives investigating the promotion of Indigenous peoples' and community conserved territories and  areas (ICCAs)  on 7 November, 2012, in Nairobi, Kenya. During the meeting, which was facilitated by the GEF Small Grants Programme and UNDP, Natural Justice presented on the recently completed Kenyan ICCA legal review, developed by Natural Justice and its partners, and on biocultural community protocols, a legal tool being used by communities in Kenya to secure their ICCAs. Through its BCP Initiative, Natural Justice continues to work closely with Kenyan partners and lawyers to assist communities in the development and use of their BCPs and as they attempt to shape and leverage national law and policy that respect their territories and waters.

Major Conference on Land Grabbing

Via www.cornell-landproject.org/

As international investors continue to buy large swathes of land in 'developing' nations, the Cornell University Department of Sociology and the Land Deal Politics Initiative hosted "Global Land Grabbing II: An International Conference on Large-Scale Land Deals" from 17-19 October, 2012. The conference built on the Global Land Grabbing conference held at the University of Sussex in 2011 and included papers and presentations on land grabbing from across the 'developing world.'

One paper considered land tenure security amongst the Boni community of Lamu County, Kenya, a community participating the Lamu biocultural community protocol process that Natural Justice is supporting. The paper was presented by Abdirizak Arale Nunow and is entitled "The Displacement and Dispossession of the Aweer (Boni) Community: The Kenya Government dilemma on the new Port of Lamu." The paper is based on "on-going research that is aimed at establishing and documenting the extent of displacement of Lamu communities, particularly the minority Boni, by the development of the new Port of Lamu with a view to recommending policy measures that may contribute towards the amelioration of the problem."

Download the paper on the displacement of the Boni here. Find all of the papers from the Global Land Grabbing conference here. Learn more about the conference here. 

Tana River Delta a Wetland of International Importance - Kenya

Tana River Delta via www.ramsar.org

The Tana River Delta in Kenya, which includes part of Lamu County, has been officially designated as a Wetland of International Importance by the Kenyan government. According to the Secretariat of the Ramsar Convention on wetlands, the Delta covers 163,600 hectares, is an Important Bird Area in Coast Province, and is the “second most important estuarine and deltaic ecosystem in Eastern Africa.” The delta comprises a variety of freshwater, floodplain, estuarine and coastal habitats with extensive and diverse mangrove systems, marine brackish and freshwater intertidal areas, pristine beaches and shallow marine areas, forming productive and functionally interconnected ecosystems. Kenya presently has six Ramsar Sites, covering an area of 265,449 hectares.

Read more about the Tana River Delta's new designation here. Learn more about the Ramsar Convention here. 

In-Depth Article on Tana River Massacre

After the tragic loss of more than 50 Kenyans on 22 August in Riketa, a village in Kenya's Tana River Delta, numerous commentators identified long-standing conflict between the agricultural Orma community and the pastoralist Pokomo. Paul Goldsmith, a researcher who has worked with Natural Justice in Lamu, has drafted an in-depth article for the East African that challenges some of these assumptions. He notes that "nothing in the literature alludes to a long-standing state of conflict between herders and farmers in this area," and argues rather that "symbiotic relations between mobile producers of animal protein and carbohydrate producing agriculturalists was a basic prerequisite for the emergence of the mono-cultural pastoralism practised by the Orma and their Somali counterparts." He concludes that rather than drawing from timeless animosity, "recent Orma-Pokomo conflict stems from the expansion of riverine farms that block herders’ access to the river," a development which took place in the early 2000s. 

The full East African article can be accessed here. 

OPDP Seeking Interns in Kenya

Via www.ogiekpeoples.org

Natural Justice partner the Ogiek Peoples' Development Program (OPDP) is seeking two interns to support their work in their Nakuru, Kenya office. OPDP seeks to "provide a springboard from which Ogiek community," a marginalised indigenous community in western Kenya, "can take a lead role in articulating and advancing their developments, aspirations, priorities and social needs." The positions, one focused on human rights and the other on website design and development, will be for a minimum of eight weeks. The positions are currently unfunded but OPDP can work with prospective interns to source funding support. Accommodation will be provided by OPDP. 

Read more about the positions below. 

Ogiek Peoples’ Development Program (OPDP) - Nakuru, Kenya

Internship Position Opening (2 persons) – 

(i) Human Rights

(ii) Website Designer and developer

The Ogiek Peoples’ Development Program is currently accepting applications for the position of Human Rights Intern and Website designer & Developer. This position is available to Kenyan and non-Kenyan undergraduate or Postgraduate students who have demonstrated experience in human rights or in the field of Information systems or website designing and development. This is an unfunded positions but OPDP will work with prospective interns to assist them to apply for funding support.

About OPDP:

The Ogiek Peoples’ Development Program (OPDP) was founded in 1999, and registered as a Non-Governmental Organization (NGO) in 2001 by the Kenyan government. OPDP is dedicated to serving the interests of the Ogiek people of Kenya, who are the indigenous inhabitants of Kenya’s last remaining rain forest, the Mau Forest and Mt.Elgon Forest. Key issues that the Ogiek face include marginalization amongst ethnic communities in Kenya, loss of culture and group identity, forced evictions, violence against women, land grabbing, environmental degradation, and ongoing economic, social and cultural violations. The Ogiek currently are litigating their rights at the African Court of Human and Peoples Rights, only the second case to be referred from the African Commission to the African Court. OPDP works with networks of indigenous advocates and human rights defenders across Kenya, Africa, and the globe to raise awareness of Ogiek issues and to bring real benefits to the Ogiek people. You can learn more about the Ogiek at www.ogiek.org and www.ogiekpeoples.org.

Intern Duties

1. Human Rights and Indigenous Peoples

• Assist with human rights monitoring and documentation projects related to the rights of indigenous peoples
• Writing and editing human rights reports, advocacy briefs, and other publications
• International human rights research
• Research on Kenyan and African regional human rights standards
• Develop on-line content
• Participate in other projects as assigned by the Executive Director  or  Programmes Officer

2. Website  designer and  developer

• Assist in reviewing our current website
• Work closely with our administrator in uploading documents to the website
• Develop an E-newsletter
• Develop a portal for OPDP by working closely with OPDP  administrator to ensure future continuity
• Participate in other projects as assigned by the Executive Director  or  Programmes Officer

Note

An intern who has both the experience will have an added advantage. OPDP will provide accommodation for the period of internship, which does not include food. We will also provide transport when going to the field as per OPDP policies.

Duration:

Interns must commit to a minimum of eight weeks commitment to work with OPDP.

Application:

Send a cover letter and resume or CV to OPDP, via opdp2001@yahoo.com or opdp@ogiekpeoples.org. Please describe why you are interested in working with an indigenous peoples’ organization in Africa, your experience in human rights work, how you will fund your expenses during the internship period, as well as any other relevant information to help us evaluate your application. 

Siu Community Petition on Lamu Land

The Siu community in Lamu, Kenya, have taken the step of developing and signing a petition, presented to the Kenyan National Assembly on 21 June 2012, on the irregular allocation of land in Lamu. 

The petition, signed by 294 members of the Lamu community states: 

"We, the undersigned citizens of Kenya who are residents of Siu Town in Lamu and squatters, draw the attention of the House to the following: 

That aware that a committee with a membership of seven people was established in Lamu; whereas the committee was created to facilitate land re-settlement of all landless people in the area, on the contrary, the committee has allocated most of the land to members themselves, their family members, relatives and friends as well as foreigners at the expense of more than 300 residents who are landless; 

whereas the committee was to facilitate the landless to be resettled, there has emerged an agency operating for rich people from Lamu and other areas willing to buy land from the region at some fee;

whereas the land from Kwang’ombe Area which is within Siu Location was allocated to Rasini residents of Faza Locations and such complaints were made to the office concerned, but nothing has been done to date. 

Therefore, your humble petitioners pray that Parliament and the Committee concerned, investigates the matter with a view to establishing genuine squatters and issuance of title deeds in an equitable manner to the residents and cancellation of all title deeds which have been irregularly issued and your petitioners will ever pray." 

Submission of the petition encouraged discussion within the Assembly, with recognition by members that the people of Lamu need protection from land speculators.

Save Lamu Holds Stakeholder Meetings

On 25 and 27 April 2012, Natural Justice partner Save Lamu held two stakeholder meetings for Lamu County’s two districts: Lamu West and Lamu East. The meetings were designed to facilitate dialogue among community members, civil servants, and other organizations and individuals involved in and affected by the Lamu Area Port South Sudan-Ethiopia Transit corridor (LAPSSET) project. Over thirty stakeholders attended the 25 April meeting for Lamu West, including the District Commissioner and local chiefs. They listened to the community’s concerns and heard their demands, which included sharing of information by the government, preparation of an environmental and social impact statement, and investigating and addressing land rights violations. As the Chairman of the Lamu Council of Elders stated, the community “is informed, but never consulted.” Importantly, the District Commissioner acknowledged that an environmental impact assessment needs to be prepared for the entire LAPSSET project (as opposed to different phases of the project in piecemeal fashion) and that land rights are an important issue that needs to be dealt with. He committed to engaging with the community as plans for the port develop. 

The 27 April meeting for Lamu East took place in Faza, on Pate Island, and was attended by over fifty stakeholders, including community members, chiefs and religious leaders. Members of Save Lamu provided information on Save Lamu’s activities and goals. They shared assessments of positive and negative impacts of the port that had been prepared by community members during meetings held the previous month. Additionally, the Faza meeting allowed community members from Lamu East to learn about Save Lamu’s objectives, express their concerns regarding the port, and to raise issues with chiefs in attendance. With the 25 and 27 April meetings, Save Lamu took further steps toward ensuring that the community’s voice is heard in the development of the LAPSSET project. 

Save Lamu is a member of the African BCP Initiative, coordinated jointly by Natural Justice, CIKOD, Compas ED and the ABS Capacity Development Initiative for Africa.

Save Lamu Hosts Community Meeting to Discuss BCP

For three days beginning 20 March 2012, at a meeting facilitated by Save Lamu, community members representing stakeholders from around the Lamu region gathered in Lamu Town on Kenya’s coast to continue developing the community’s biocultural community protocol (BCP). Dividing into six groups based on Lamu’s major nature-based livelihoods—fisherfolk, farmers, hunter-gatherers, mangrove cutters, pastoralists, and other-nature-based livelihoods—participants mapped the location and identity of the natural resources used by those livelihoods. Participants provided information regarding their use and conservation of Lamu’s natural resources, discussed the positive and negative impacts of the planned port, and proposed mitigating measures to address potential impacts. 

Other issues addressed included improving communication among community members and dealing with the misconception that Save Lamu is against the port when in fact its major concern is the lack of community participation in the planning of the port. Additionally, participants developed a vision statement encapsulating the community’s goals and aspirations, which will help to guide the development of Lamu’s BCP going forward.

Presenting BCPs in the Mau Forest

With a long history of exclusion from their traditional homes and increasing pressures on land tenure from politically connected outsiders, the Ogiek community is engaging in domestic and international legal action to protect their rights. The Ogiek Peoples' Development Program (OPDP), a key organisation in this process, suggested that Natural Justice could assist in supporting the Ogiek to establish their rights over their lands and resources. OPDP and Natural Justice agreed that one mechanism to help consolidate community sentiment around land and conservation and supplement the pending court cases could be a Biocultural Community Protocol (BCP).

On 2nd December, Natural Justice travelled to meet with over 50 elders and other representatives of the Ogiek community of the Mau Forest, near Nakuru, Kenya, to explain the principles of BCPs and ascertain if the community was interested in pursuing a BCP. At the meeting Natural Justice presented on the process of developing a BCP, focusing on the importance of engaging the broadest possible section of the community through all stages of the BCP development.

After this presentation community members asked questions about the practical steps needed to establish a BCP. They offered suggestions on how to ensure full participation. The attendees unanimously endorsed OPDP's suggestion that a BCP process should be initiated.