By Mary Mwendwa
Kenya is struggling to achieve many of its Sustainable Development Goals , ensuring environment sustainability still remains a challenge.
Many of its environment policies , especially one on the wetlands has never been fully implemented.One of its greatest forest complex, Mau, has been on the spot light for some time.People have encroached in the forest destroying tree cover at a very high rate.This has lead to a reduction in water levels of the many lakes that benefit from the water tower.Some of the great lakes that benefit from it are Lake, Naivasha, Nakuru, Baringo and victoria.River,Ewaso Nyiro, Sondu ,Mara and Njoro.All these ecosystems benefiting close to 30,000 million kenyans out of the 40 million population.
On a recent tour , to check on the state of one of the lakes, Lake Victoria joins some of the lakes on the edge.Its facing serious environmental challenges , that if not addressed urgently, the water body many be no more.Fish has also reduced in the lake making it a very expensive delicacy in the region.
A trans-boundary lake shared by Kenya, Tanzania, and Uganda , also a fresh water lake that supplies fish, its water levels are receding at an alarming rate.The lake also has an invasive species of plant – water hyacinth which is a menace .Boat men cannot navigate through the waters well because of this.
Moses Owour, a program officer at Osienala(an acronym of friends of lake Victoria in Dholuo language) tells me , “The biggest threat to this lake is pollution, the waters of the lake are very dirty, people no longer care anymore”.Osienala promotes environmental consciousness through education and other activities that are environmental related.Moses further adds , inorganic farming practices from catchment areas from Kericho tea zones, Kisii highlands and western regions of kenya , have contributed to the worrying state of the lake.However, population pressure on the lake is also another challenge.The kisumu water treatment plant that is discharging raw sewer through River Kisat is also another menace to the waters of Lake victoria.
Charles owaka, a fisher man , says he has been seeing fish population reduce day by day.He depends on the fishing business to feed his family.Rose Anyango, a mother of six complains of the water borne diseases that her family suffers from frequently.A clear indicator that the water is highly polluted.
Peoples livelihoods, entirely depend on their resources , if waters which are a basic need to people are ailing , how will the economic arena improve ?its a high time things took a different turn of Kenya’s wetlands!
