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Wetlands Conservation
Background
The Republic of Kenya lies on the eastern side
of the African continent between latitudes 500 40’
north and 40 and 4’ south and between longitudes
330 50’ and 410 45’ east, with the equator
running approximately in the middle of the country.
It covers a total area of 582,646 km2. Topographically,
the country can be divided into four regions: the north-eastern
plain which is arid; south-eastern region which is fertile
along the Tana River; the coastal strip and Taita hills;
the north-western region which is low lying and includes
Lake Turkana and the south-western region – a
plateau which includes Mts. Kenya, Elgon, Aberdares
the Great Rift Valley and Lake Victoria.
Administratively, the country is divided
into eight provinces including Nairobi, the capital
and two other cities Kisumu and Mombasa.
Kenya has five major drainage basins:
Lake Victoria, the Rift Valley, Athi and the coastal
areas south of Sabaki, Tana River and the Ewaso Ngiro.
The pattern of drainage is influenced by topography.
Although, the country has numerous rivers, a small number
is permanent, e.g. Tana, Athi, Yala, Sondu, and Nzoia.
Major lakes include parts of Lake Victoria, and the
lakes of the Rift Valley, most of which are small and
slightly saline.
Wetlands in Kenya cover between 2%
and 3% of the country’s surface area and harbour
a substantial proportion of the country’s water
resources. Some of the country’s major wetlands
are: the shallow lakes of the Great Rift Valley, the
edges of Lake Victoria and mangrove forests of the Coast.
There are also hundreds of small wetlands such as swamps,
small lakes, soaks and riverine floodplains, distributed
throughout the wetter parts of the country as well as
smaller wetlands occurring in the drier parts of the
country.
Importance of Wetlands
Wetlands are rich ecosystems, which perform critical
ecological functions and provide essential livelihood
products and services. Critical wetlands functions include
groundwater recharge and discharge, flood control, erosion
control, sediment/toxicant retention (purification),
nutrient retention, microclimate stabilisation, water
transport and recreation. Products derived from wetlands
include forest products, wildlife resources, and fisheries.
Wetlands are habitats for biological resources and serve
as feeding, spawning and refuge sites for a number of
migratory birds. In some places they serve unique cultural
functions.
However, their importance and attributes
not directly related to human use are often not appreciated
until they are destroyed, modified or restoration of
the wetlands to provide those services proves too expensive.
Kenya’s wetlands are diverse in type and distribution,
but no national inventory on the type, status and location
currently exists. Like most wetlands world-wide, Kenya’s
wetlands are faced with numerous threats, among them:
pollution and other forms of degradation, conversion
to other uses especially for agriculture and settlement
and over-exploitation of their resources. Currently,
the management of wetlands is under various institutions
whose activities and mandates are uncoordinated, sometimes
over-lapping and ineffective. Integrated and innovative
management and conservation approaches are therefore
required based on the multiple uses of the wetlands.
EAWLS Involvement in Wetlands
Conservation in Kenya
In line with its stated mission, the Society has undertaken
a number of initiatives to protect and promote the conservation
and sustainable use of these vital ecosystems. Indeed,
wetlands is one of the thematic conservation areas of
the Society.
The Kenya Wetlands Forum
is the driving force behind the wetlands conservation
activities at the Society. Detailed information is available
on request. Email: info@eawildlife.org
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