NAKURU, Kenya (PAMACC News) – Many Counties in North Eastern Kenya, Eastern and Coastal region are currently staring at starvation right in the face, as residents drop dead due to famine caused by the ongoing dry spell.
The country is already going through power rationing due to the reduced amount of water used for geothermal power generation, as the sun burns with vengeance across the entire country.
It is for such reasons that Egerton University, one of the major training institutions in Africa has convened am international conference, and climate change and variations are to be among the main topics to be discussed.
The conference that will run from 29th-31st March 2017 at the university’s main campus in Njoro-Nakuru County will also discuss natural resources as well as health and environment under a main theme “Knowledge and Innovation for Social and Economic Development.”
The chair of the conference committee who is also the university’s Deputy Director in charge of Research and Extension says the above subthemes have been inspired by the need to address climate change as “a developmental threat that will affect agriculture and the economy.”
While looking forward to presentations on climate change adaptation and mitigation during the conference, among others, Bockline Bebe, a Professor of Livestock Production says as that Kenya should lead the way in providing solutions to climate change, given that it hosts the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP).
This is not the first time that the University, known for agriculture, is including the above subthemes that directly touch on climate change in the conference. However, Dr. Gilbert Obwoyere the Dean Faculty of Environment and Natural Resource Development (FERD), enough attention has not been given to the phenomenon that has caused havoc in many parts of the world.
Dr Obwoyere says, however, there is need to also focus on the positive attributes of climate change apart from just looking at it from a negative perspective.
“For instance areas that had too much rainfall will receive little (or perhaps, manageable) rainfall,” he points out while citing out “food security, infrastructure and growing economies” and their relation to climate change as three of the most urgent areas that need to be researched on.
Like Dr. Obwoyere, Peter Macharia a Nakuru based Consultant on environmental issues agrees that there exists a gap on climate change research.
For him there is need to research on the relationship between economics and demographics on matters that influence climate change, among other issues.
“What pushes people to subdivide land for example when it has a direct impact on climate change,” he points out.
There has been an intensified debate at the international level on matters of climate change in the recent past. While Kenya has always been part of this debate it has gone ahead to even pass a specific law on climate change.
The law, Climate Change Act (2016) “provides for a regulatoryframework for enhanced response to climatechange; to provide for mechanism and measures toachieve low carbon climate development.” It aims at integrating climate change response mechanisms at both the national and county government level.
Macharia says for climate change policy to succeed there is need to have a bottom-up approach in both the formulation and the implementation of the same.
The deadline for the submission of abstracts for the Egerton University conference is 20th January, 2017.
PAMACC News - Partners of the Congo Basin Forest, which holds the second-largest bank of rainforest on the planet after the Amazon in South America are seeking to make conservation activities generate income that will help protect forests, fight against climate change and poverty in the region amidst increasing threats.
Experts say the use of conservation to create environment friendly investments that generate profit and ensure economic sustainability will help keep extractive industries and large scale palm oil plantations that threatens the Congo Basin Forest at bay.
“If we want to protect the Congo Basin Forest, we must make conservation pay and generate the necessary income to put food on the table for our survival and for the future of our children,” says Praven Moman,founder and CEO of Volcanoes Safari, Rwanda.
He said investing in tourism with conservation travel products, safari and ecotourism including hospiltality, accommodation, guiding and logistics activities around the Congo Basin Forest will keep the forest resources and ecosystem intact, fight against climate change while at the same time generating income through employment of the local forest communities.
He cited the case of Gorilla Park of Virungas in Kahuzi Biega in DRC, Wester Forest Park and Gorrilas in Gabon, the Republic of Congo, Central Africa and Cameroon, the Forest elephants in Cameroon and the Ba’ka pygmies in the forest communities of Cameroon as concrete examples of tourist attractions beckoning for investors to sustain the economy of the Congo Basin region and protect the forest from destruction.
According to the Congo Basin Forest Partnership, CBFP, only about 13 percent of the about 300 million hectares of the forest is protected leaving large spans of the rich forest vulnerable and threatened by invading agro-industries and mining investors.
The partners also emphasized on the need to invest in the education of forest communities on the importance of conservation.
The local forest communities are key drivers to protection of natural resources and thus the need to be empowered in readiness to conservation challenges says Manfred Epanda, AWF Coordinator in Cameroon.
The forest expert say investment in educating the local communities on the importance of conservation was also key to drive the sustainable forest management agenda.
In a paper presented at a side event at the Congo Basin Forest Partnership meeting in Kigali November 22, 2016, Epanda emphasised on the need to adequately sensitize and educate the local population on the importance of conservation to their wellbeing.
“Studies by the AWF has shown the direct relationship between the level of education of the population and attitudes towards conservation and the fight against climate change,” he said.
One of the major outcome of the Kigali Congo Basin Forest Partnership was the reinforcement of public/private partnerships to attract private investors into the conservation projects in the region.
Government officials from Congo Basin countries who attended the high-level pannel and the CBFP council meeting admitted that working with the private sector to promote investments in the tourism sector with National Parks and wildlife conservation areas will give a big push to conservation efforts both at national and regional levels.
"Promoting tourism in the forest sector will permit for added value in economic driven investments, social and cultural boost, all essential to the welbeing of the local and indigenous populations," said Joseph Roland Matta former secretary of state in charge of forestry in Cameroon and now senator who attended the meeting.
Statistics from the Central African Forest Commission,COMIFAC says over 60 million people living inside and within the vicinity of the forest rely on its resources for subsistence.
Joseph Roland Matta pointed out that expanding Cameroon's tourism to the forestry sector is contained in the policy programmes defined by countries of the CEMAC zones of 2025 for DRC and 2035 for Cameroon.
"The example of successful tourism projects in some national parks presented at the meeting will serve as case study from which other countries will draw inspiration," he said.
According to the studies, the involvement of the local people in the conservation process will enhance protection of the ecosytem by some 11.40 percent, pointing out much resources including forest, wildlife and money can be saved by improving the attitude and knowledge of local people towards conservation.
Experts agree there is a direct relationship between the natural resource potential of a region and the socio-economic wellbeing of the population who rely on these resources for cash and subsistence income.
The local populations directly rely on their natural resources for survival, but the exploitation of these resources must be done sustainably says Richard Eba’a Atyi of CIFOR.
“Africans can rely on the Congo Basin forests, which acts as the world’s “second lung” after the Amazon”
Kaddu K. Sebunya, President, African Wildlife Foundation (AWF)
Members of Parties of the Congo Basin Forest Partnership gathered in Kigali to discuss the problems facing Africa’s rich ecosystem and seed pathways to help solve them. One of these partners was the African Wildlife Foundation (AWF), Africa’s largest conservation organization initiating and engaging in wildlife and wild lands projects across the continent for 55 years.
According to the AWF President, Mr. Kaddu Sebunya, protecting the Congo Basin Forest, the biggest and diverse on the planet after Amazon is no easy task because the forest is increasingly threatened as development needs of member countries swells. In an interview with PAMACC News on the sidelines of the CBFP meeting, he says development and the protection of our ecosystems need not be mutually exclusive. While striving for growth, Africa must make better choices to minimize its consequences and the net impact on nature’s ecosystem
Q We understand the African Wildlife Foundation is one of the international NGO’s that has been fronting activities to protect wildlife and the ecosystem in the Congo Basin region. Can you give an over view of the activities AWF has been carrying out in the field?
Let me start by saying that AWF works together with the people of Africa to ensure the wildlife and the wild lands of Africa will endure forever, and we articulate and promote a uniquely African conservation vision and voice for the whole continent. We envision Central Africa’s governments and people as champions for the conservation of the Congo Basin Forest for current and future generations.
Our programs in the Congo Basin include supporting the Congolese Institute for Nature Conservation (ICCN) in implementing adequate protection and participative management in a portion of the Bili-Uele complex. AWF has been working in the Maringa-Lopori-Wamba landscape in DRC since 2003. We are working with a diverse group of partners on a holistic program to: conserve the MLW landscape through land use planning and protected area management; protect wildlife, including the bonobo and forest elephant; combat climate change through forest protection and REDD+ initiatives; stem the bushmeat trade by strengthening the scout networks on the ground; and enhance the lives of the forest dependent communities through improved agriculture and other enterprises. AWF successfully established two protected areas, the Lomako–Yokokala Faunal Reserve and the Iyondji Community Bonobo Reserve, and is working to establish a third. This program is in partnership with CARPE/USAID.
In Cameroon, we are working closely with the National Conservation Service in Dja (NCSD) to improve the overall management of the Dja Faunal Reserve (DFR). We signed an MOU with the Ministry of Forest and Fauna (MINFOF) for the conservation reserve we have a full-time technical advisor based in DFR. We are also working with the Service de Conservation to train and equip the rangers with Cyber Tracker to improve anti-poaching and ecological monitoring. All training is followed by technical support either on-site or remotely.
Of what significance is the Congo Basin Forest to Africa today?
The Congo Basin Forest is cardinal to Africa’s survival; it is the water tower in Africa. Congo Basin forests provide critical water catchment services to Africa. A third of the 100 largest cities in the world, Kinshasa, Libreville, and Kigali, included, depend on protected forest areas for their water supply. The Congo Basin Forest provides food and supports the livelihood of local communities who practice subsistence agriculture in the area. As we witness other continents suffering air quality issues from rapid development, Africans can rely on the Congo Basin forests, which acts as the world’s “second lung” after the Amazon.
A forest is an extraordinary reservoir of carbon and biodiversity, and this explains while the Congo Basin Forest has become a center of attraction in the global challenge of climate change and conservation. Over 340 million dollars is spent in conservation efforts in the Congo Basin Forest today because of its importance to not only our natural ecosystems and the fight against climate but also in its role in the socio-cultural well being of the forest communities. Millions of people in the Congo Basin Forest and its immediate vicinity rely on the forest for subsistence, and this is crucial.
But conservationists say the forest today is facing big challenges?
Yes, and the big problem is our development drive. Africa’s youthful population is growing, and urbanization swell is real. Because of changes are driven by business and trade in Africa today, we need to define precisely the role of Wildlife and Wetland in our economic aspirations. If we do not do that, we are going to face the same problems faced by China, Asia, and other countries today in allocating land use.
However, development and the protection of our ecosystems need not be mutually exclusive. Without stopping the pace of development, we must make better choices to minimize the consequences and the net impact on nature’s ecosystems. Fortunately, we have the knowledge and the technology to identify and determine, for example, sustainable infrastructure development, community’s livelihood and wildlife conservation.
The exploitation of timber, oil, natural gas and rain forests is intensifying, and that means new infrastructure - roads and rail lines are opening up areas that were once difficult to traverse and putting increasing pressure on animal and plant populations.
This is a critical time for the people of the Congo Basin. Although, there are new and significant opportunities for economic growth and the quest for improved standard of living, the importance of preserving the basin's natural resources for future generation is also critical. Food and water security are ultimately impacted by how we manage our forests, combat climate change and cultivate our lands. The health of our bodies is tied to the health of the air we breathe, the soil in which we grow our food, and the water we consume.
So how do you think these challenges can be addressed?
AWF has been addressing issues supporting conservation efforts in Cameroon, Democratic Republic of Congo and entire francophone Africa. We are addressing various issues from technology to economic growth with their different challenges. However, we have to continue being innovative and tactical, factoring in new elements to better and improve how we manage our natural resources.
In the last 40 years, Africa has lost more than half of its land and animal, from Rhino, elephant, chimps and other species, Lake Chad is dwindling bringing hardship to the population that has continued to migrate in search of greener pastures. That is why as Africans, we have to look in the mirror and choose what we want to do. If we fail, others will define our priorities for us.
As conservationists, we have to change our mindset and talk with each other, work with other stakeholders to find lasting solutions. AWF has been working towards this, and that is why we do not limit our actions only with the forest. We intervene in other socio-economic sectors like schools, agriculture, etc.
Why your passion for conservation?
My passion for conservation is a passion for Africa if I did not have the passion for Africa, I do not think I would have a passion for conservation! I don’t think I would be passionate, as I would be doing conservation outside Africa.
Africa is the best continent on this planet. When you see the mistakes we make on this continent, I cannot sit back and do nothing because of where I started from, how could I explain this to my grandchildren? That I did not do anything when I had the knowledge, the experience, I knew what was wrong and what might happen, and I did nothing!
Africa is one of the most beautiful places on the planet earth, and we cannot sit and try to think that we should change Africa to what Europe, or Beijing, or New York is, rather make the right choice for Africa.
Interview by Elias Ngalame and Steven Nsamaza
Abidjan (PAMACC News) - After almost one year of dry spell in Kenya’s Makueni County, rains have finally come down. Now, everything looks green, very green. But residents know, for sure, that this is a very short-lived spectacle, because two days after the downpour subsides, all seasonal rivers will dry up, and in two months, the sun will be burning with vengeance, upon perched thirsty sandy soils.
That’s why they have invested in sand-dams, as their magic bullet for harvesting the rain water, and using it for another set of months after every rainy season.
The dam is simply a reinforced concrete wall built across a seasonal riverbed. When it rains, the concrete wall gathers sand, which becomes a reservoir for water.
As residents in the entire semi arid Eastern Kenya rush to propagate their seeds following the pounding rainfall, women in Songeni village are completely relaxed. One thing they are sure of is that their sand-dam constructed across Tawa River has already captured millions of litres of water, which the entire village will use for domestic purposes and irrigation for the next one year – if it doesn’t rain again.
“It is the most appropriate way of harvesting water from seasonal rivers in dryland areas,” Simon Middrell, the founder of Excellent Development, a nonprofit organisation that supports rural, dryland communities to work their way out of poverty told delegates at the 2016 Rural Water Supply Network (RWSN) forum in Abidjan.
Since February, when it last rained in Makueni, villagers of Songeni have been farming French beans for export, and other crops for domestic consumption using water from their sand-dam.
And now, Middrell, whose organisation supported the construction of the sand-dam used by Songeni villagers through a local NGO known as Africa Sand Dam Foundation (ASDF) wants the ‘gospel’ of sand-dam construction in dryland areas spread all over the world, especially in developing countries.
However, said Middrell, it cannot be a copy and paste technique. “Sand-dams do not work everywhere. If the place has a lot of clay soil, then the dams are likely going to be silted, and as a result, they will not help the residents,” he warned.
It therefore calls for a feasibility study, so as to be sure that the dam will be able to amass sufficient sand, which acts as a cover for water underneath to protect it from evaporation. It also calls for appropriate technicians to construct it, because the intensity of rainfall in dryland areas is likely to break poorly constructed dams.
“The sand-dams have numerous advantages,” said Middrell. “They form the best bridges in dryland areas because culverts always break during floods. They recharge ground water, water from the dams is safe for drinking, can be used for domestic purposes and by animals both domestic and wild,” he added.
However, Middrell cautioned that without involvement of community members, sand-dam projects are bound to fail because they will lack ownership. “You need to involve the surrounding community, and have them own the project. That way, they will protect it as their property, hence, they will maintain it sustainably,” he told the water form.
So far, Excellent Development has supported construction of over 900 sand-dams in nine countries in Africa, supporting over one million households.
ABIDJAN (PAMACC News) - African governments will be forced to come up with rural based water and sanitation projects with clear infrastructure for management and maintenance, if they have to benefit from the African Development Dervelopment Bank’s kitty for rural water supply.
Speaking at the Rural Water Supply Network (RWSN) forum in Abidjan, Sering Jallow of the African Development Bank expressed concerns that many leaders in African countries usually prioritise projects that are politically beneficial, thus, ignoring important projects that would benefit people on the ground.
“Countries always come with proposals for urban water and sanitation projects because such projects are more visible, hence, politically rewarding,” he told the water and sanitation forum.
The bank runs a project known as Rural Water Supply and Sanitation Initiative (RWSSI), which supports rural water and sanitation projects and programs with funding for investment operations, strengthening of sector processes and systems, as well as through advocacy and knowledge building.
According to the latest report, the Bank among other development partners disbursed a total of 35.5 million Euros through RWSSI to support water and sanitation projects in Uganda, Sudan, Guinea, Liberia and Sierra Leon by 2015.
However, the bank now insists on projects that can be sustained for a longer period.
“There is need for policies, but also, there is need for adequate capacity for implementation and management with involvement of rural communities and the private sector,” said Jallow.
He pointed out that poor management of water and water resources especially in rural areas often leads to fragility. And such fragilities, he said, are always an impediment to development. “There is clear evidence that countries that had conflicts did not achieve the millennium development goals,” he told the water and sanitation forum.
Alexander Bakalian, World Bank Sector Manager for Urban Development and Services in the Africa Region pointed out that there was need to professionalise water access services in rural communities.
He observed that many governments prefer investing in urban areas where there are many engineers, but are reluctant to take similar investments to rural areas fearing lack of expertise.
“We need to understand that poor people live in rural areas. So if we have to address poverty, we must focus on rural communities,” he said.
The RWSN forum brings together over 500 people from different sectors to share ideas, learn from each other’s experiences so as to make water available to all, at least by 2030.
KIGALI, Rwanda (PAMACC News) - The involvement of local communities in forest conservation actions at all levels is key to the success of conservation and sustainable use of wildlife resources in the Central African region, experts say.
According to African Wildlife Foundation (AWF), engaging local communities in natural resource management enhances conservation activities including the fight against poaching and wildlife trafficking.
“The local forest communities are key drivers to the fight against illegal and wildlife trafficking and thus the need to empower them in readiness to conservation challenges,” says Manfred Epanda, AWF Coordinator in Cameroon.
In a paper presented at a side event at the Congo Basin Forest Partnership meeting in Kigali November 22, 2016, Epanda emphasised on the need to adequately sensitise and educate the local population on the importance of conservation to their wellbeing.
“Studies by the AWF has shown the direct relationship between the level of education of the population and attitudes towards conservation,” he said.
According to the studies, the involvement of the local people in the conservation process will enhance conservation by some 11.40 percent, pointing out much resources including wildlife and money can be saved by improving the attitude and knowledge of local people towards conservation.
Experts agree there is a direct relationship between the natural resource potential of a region and the socio-economic wellbeing of the population who rely on these resources for cash and subsistence income.
“The local populations directly rely on their natural resources for survival, but the exploitation of these resources must be done sustainably,” says Richard Eba’a Atyi of CIFOR.
“We do not discourage hunting by the local population as a source of food. The law is against hunting in protected areas and hunting for commercial purposes. This is what the AWF and other partners are against,” says Jef Dupain, Regional Director West Africa, AWF.
Conservation experts also called for reinforcement of wildlife trafficking laws in the Congo Basin forest region to curb increasing illegal poaching activities, especially in protected areas.
Manfred Epanda cited the case of the Dja Faunal Reserve in Cameroon known to be ivory trafficking hotspots, necessitating the reinforcement of the wildlife law and continuous education and involvement of the local population in the protection process.
“ The co-management of protected areas with the local people permit for mastery of the local reality like culture, language, people and provide the opportunity for the population to identify with the project,” he said.
The Dja Faunal Reserve he explained is a UNESCO world heritage site that is facing significant challenges although numerous conservation initiatives are presently ongoing in and around the reserve.
Unfortunately, it attracts the attention of traffickers because it is one of the last remaining refuges for wild apes and many other endangered species in the region, Epanda explained.
Chimpanzees are totally protected wildlife species by the 1994 wildlife law, which stipulates that anyone found in possession of parts of a protected wildlife species, is considered to have killed the animal experts said. The aim is to protect animals like the chimpanzee that are facing serious threats from poaching.
In Cameroon for example according to statistic, some 32 chimpanzee skulls have been seized since the beginning of 2016 during operations carried out under the framework of the wildlife law enforcement initiative started by the Ministry of Forestry and Wildlife (MINFOF) in 2003 to effectively enforce the laws.
MINFOF has since been working hard to ensure that those involved with the slaughter and sale of chimpanzee parts are prosecuted because their acts infringe the wildlife law, experts said.
