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However, due to a lack of effective management mechanisms and proper appreciation of their true worth, wetlands are often depicted as “wastelands” and have continued to be degraded through unplanned and unsustainable exploitation of their resources, encroachments, pollution, and inappropriate landuse activities in their catchments.
Over the past twenty years, attention has been increasingly focused on wetlands particularly with the coming into force of the Convention on Wetlands (Ramsar, 1971). Studies on wetland values and functions have revealed the need to take greater care with their management.
The EAWLS Wetlands Programme Portfolio
Like other like-minded institutions, the EAWLS recognizes the importance of wetlands as ecosystems and source of livelihoods. For this reason, the Society has been in wetlands conservation activities for a long time and is a strong supporter of the effective implementation of the Ramsar conservation not only in the country but also in the region as a whole.
The EAWLS Wetlands Programme aims at mitigating against the issues affecting wetlands through a number of approaches but mainly to;
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Champion for the creation and establishment of an enabling policy and legislative environment
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Increase the level of understanding among wetland resource users and managers through awareness raising exercises, information generation and dissemination
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Identify and promote of sustainable alternative options for wetland utilization
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Support and enhance local level institutions for effective involvement and participation of local stakeholders in wetland management.
NC-IUCN Supported wetlands project
The conservation and sustainable management of wetlands in Kenya project was developed in recognition of the urgent need to take action to address issues that are facing Kenyan wetlands. Running for an initial period of 20 months between January 2005 and August 2006, the project has three key result areas;
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Improving and strengthening the legal and policy instruments to safeguard the sustainable future Of Kenyan wetlands
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Creating an enabling environment for the participation and involvement of all relevant stakeholders in actions and discussions geared towards improving the status of Kenyan wetlands
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Empowering local communities and other disadvantaged groups to take charge in decision making as regards wetland management, conservation and use.
To achieve the results, the project operates on three broad objectives. These are;
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To provide technical expertise and assistance to the government for the development of a national wetland policy for conservation and sustainable use of Kenyan wetlands and wetland resources
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To provide assistance and support to the government to develop and implement a national wetland conservation and management programme.
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To provide support to capacity building and empowerment of stakeholders on both national and international wetland conservation issues for sustainable wetland management and wise use techniques.
Progress
and achievements in the key result areas
1. National wetlands policy
Kenya as a country has made significant progress in her efforts to promote
the conservation, management and sustainable use of her wetlands and
wetland resources in line with the provisions and obligations of the
Ramsar Convention. One of these is the formulation of a national wetland
policy. The national wetlands policy formulation process, though not
completed yet, has undergone very important and critical consultative
and consensus building stages among the various stakeholders and interest
groups covering the whole geographical spectrum of the country. This
process began in 1997 and in the intervening period, several drafts
have been produced. These have been discussed, revised and up dated
to conform to realities and expectations of the various stakeholders.
But to date, the policy is yet to be in place.
In the recognition of the importance of the wetlands policy and the impacts its absence is having on wetland conservation and management, it became imperative that the issue be addressed. With the support of the project, a number of milestones have been made towards achievement of the national wetlands policy;
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Together with the National Environment Management Authority (NEMA), EAWLS convened a technical session of experts from select institutions in May 2005 to fine-tune the draft policy document. This was necessitated by the fact the last draft dated 2002 needed to be updated and transformed to reflect the prevailing realities. As a result, a revised final wetlands policy document has been produced. This final document has since been forwarded to the relevant authorities for consideration for enactment.
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The policy formulation process has definitely generated interest and information very important for the future generations and use. It provided opportunity for a number of lessons to be learnt and experiences to be shared among the various stakeholders. With the support of the project, the experiences and lessons learnt during the formulation process has been documented and available for sharing and storage for future reference.
2.
The Kenya wetlands Forum
Like in most, if not all countries, the conclusion of the Rio Earth Summit
in 1992 triggered a number of processes in Kenya aimed at addressing the
agreements reached. One such was the development of national environment
action plans and many institutions/organizations sprouted to take advantage
of the created niches. One such institution was the Kenya Wetlands Working
Group (KWWG) created to look at and gather information on wetland biodiversity.
It was made up of individuals and institutions (mostly those who participated
in the Rio process) and housed at the National Museums of Kenya (NMK).
One important omission, and which was to have a long-term impact and subsequent
dissolution of the group, was the lack of an operationalization strategy
for the group and its secretariat. There was no documented TOR and the
group ended up operating on an ad hoc basis. This omission also led to
several conflicts with the membership (both institutional and individual),
especially the KWS – the official wetlands custodian. There emerged
cases of mistrust, lack of accountability and eventually the group fizzled
out. A long lull passed by without any formidable forum for wetland discussions
to the detriment of Kenyan wetlands, which continued to be lost and degraded
at an alarming rate. Later, KWS commissioned a study to look at the viability
of model forum for Kenyan wetlands.
On the insistence of the Society (due to its concern for status of the wetlands), KWS together with IUCN-EARO convened a meeting of wetland stakeholders in February 2002. This meeting recognized the existence of many groups dealing with wetlands but no national focus in operations. Thus the Kenya Wetlands Forum was created out need. KWS and IUCN-EARO hosted the first meeting of the forum in 2003, one full year after its formation. With the fear of the tempo dying out, the Society was approached to revitalize and coordinate the Forum until such a time it will be in a position to operate on its own.
To date, the Kenya Wetlands Forum and is emerging as the dependable voice of wetland conservation in Kenya. An initiative of the Society together with IUCN-EARO and KWS, the KWF is providing a unique platform for discussions on wetland conservation and management issues.
In brief;
- The Kenya Wetlands Forum is a multi-institutional stakeholder consortium that works to promote the conservation and wise use of wetlands in Kenya. KWF brings together institutions – government, non-government, national and international, organizations, private sector and individuals.
- KWF’s vision is that Kenya’s wetlands are conserved and managed within the Ramsar principles of wise use for posterity.
- Its stated mission is to “be an independent and rational platform for discussion and sharing of ideas for the conservation and sustainable use of wetland resources in Kenya”
- KWF has formulated an initial strategic document to guide it in operations. This document, development consultative with the current membership will be reviewed with time to reflect realities as they prevail.
To realize this vision, KWF has formulated 3 Strategic objectives to guide its mission. These are;
- To promote dialogue, network and linkages among wetland stakeholders in Kenya as well as in the regional and the international scenes.
- To promote the conservation and wise use of wetland resources by initiating and implementing interventions on critical and emerging issues
Important
updates
Since January 05, the KWF has made the following strides;
- Provided a platform for discussions on issues affecting wetlands by meeting on a monthly basis at the EAWLS. This usually takes place on the last Thursday of every month.
- Provided valuable input into the wetlands policy formulation by way technical contribution to its finalization
- Providing direction and leadership on issues affecting such wetland areas as Lake Jipe, Lake Ol bolo ssat, Kingwal among others
- Provided a coordinated response towards development crises in the Tana delta wetlands where there are plans to convert a huge chunk of the wetlands into a sugarcane plantation. On this issue, KWF has prepared a special technical paper to support its position on the need to evaluate the potential impacts of the project before implementation and organized a series of local awareness and advocacy meetings the area to shore up community support and resolve to protect the wetlands from destruction.
- Providing coordination at the national level for preparations for the upcoming Ramsar COP9 in Uganda in November 05.
3. Support to local community wetland conservation initiatives
Success of wetland conservation efforts depends to a large extent on quality participation of the local community living adjacent to these areas. It is on this basis that, through the project, EAWLS is offering technical assistance to members of riparian communities to take the lead in the conservation and use of their wetlands. So far, this support is being given in the following areas;
- The Tana delta wetlands in Coast province
- Lake Ol bolo ssat wetlands in Central province
- Dunga
swamp wetlands on the fringes of Lake Victoria
