Green Podium

The first thing that would come to the mind of most Kenyans when the name Guinness is mentioned would be beer. Well, I wont be talking about alcohol here for now but this relates to the Guinness World Records. Most of us probably have totally no idea of any Kenyan or events relating to Kenya that feature in the Guinness World Record Books. Personally the last one i can recall is Kimani Maruge as the oldest pupil. That aside, here is a chance to be part of a world record breaking fete on 11th November 2016 by taking part in the Tree Challenge, an event organized by the Kenya Red Cross Society (KRCS) under the Sustainable Environment Restoration Programme ( SERP ) initiative whose main aim is to acheive a sustainable natural environment in Kenya. The Tree Challenge 2016 is a tree planting marathon whose goal is to plant 5 million trees in one hour in various locations  by engaging people in planting ecologically suitable tree species in an event that will run concurrently at the...

environment inadeserve respect tuipatie attention juu for long imeface neglect if not tuko bound kufall kama trao buggy yenye imevaliwa bila belt tuconserve forests kwa kupanda miti politicians wanadestroy Mau Forest sijui wanafikiria nini plastic bags zinalitter kila corner ya jiji careless dumping itaendelea mpaka lini reduce, reuse, recycle, recover, refuse, regift, repair zitasaidia kuprotect ozone layer ka sivyo, wrath ya mother nature haitatuspare therefore lets take action now tusicompromise ability ya future generations kumeet needs zao hiyo ndio principle ya sustainable development climate change imekuwa evident factories carbon dioxide kwa atmosphere zinarelease temperature za globe zinaincrease glacier zinamelt, sea level inarise itabidi industries zipunguze pollution juu hakuna otherwise sote tunahitaji kurealise si story ya kutake chances kama game ya kuroll dice drought imeleta conflicts, kuna disaster pastoralists wanafight juu hakuna enough water...

Recently we saw the Kenyan govenrment take a bold step and announce it was planning to close the Daadab refugee camp and relocate the refugees back to their country. This move has both been hailed and condemned in equal measures. Personally, i won't enter into that debate but i would rather address a different side of the whole issue of the existence of refugees in our country especially in the camps. It is worth noting that when there is a high concentration of refugees occurring rapidly a number of environmental problems are experienced. In the absence of mitigating measures, physical deterioration of the surrounding environment soon takes place thus generating a number of impacts on both the refugees and the local population. Some of the environmental problems associated with refugees include: Natural resource deterioration. Degradation of renewable resources such as forests, soils, water etc dominates the environmental problems associated with refugees for example contami...

80% of Kenya's landmass is covered by Arid and Semi Arid lands (ASALs) which is about 467,200 square kilometers. These are the areas where land degradation is quite evident due to the hot and dry weather coupled with low and unreliable rainfall. UNEP reports show that approximately 30% of Kenya is affected by land degradation. Some of the contributing factors to this include improper farming methods, loss of soil productivity, livestock overstocking, high population growth and increasing demand for fuelwood, charcoal and timber. To curb this problem there is need for sustainable land management practices which include environmental conservation as well as promoting sustainable livelihoods. To achieve this it is important to develop ways of livelihood diversification, promoting knowledge based land use management and supporting policies and regulations relevant to sustainable land management. The national celebrations for this year's World Day to Combat Desertification will...

This year's World Environment Day is being marked today and this year's theme is "fight against illegal trade in wildlife". This is aimed at pointing out issues on how wildlife can be protected by eliminating trade in wildlife trophies which has placed various animals such as elephants, rhinos, lions and turtles at the risk of extinction. Everyone has a role to play in the conservation of our endangered species and this the call by UNEP to have all participate in activities that will promote wildlife protection as the world marks this day so as to help preserve our heritage for the benefit of our generation and future generations as well. In Kenya, the national celebrations are being held at the Central Park in Nanyuki Town, Laikipia County. All other counties will also have an event to be coordinated by the County Directors of Environment. The Kenyan government took a bold step a few months ago to show the world its commitment to zero tolerance on trade in...

I have seen more and more people coming out now more than ever before to speak out against the illegal ivory trade as the country sets out to destroy its stockpile of ivory. On 30th April 2016 Kenya will be the focus of conservationists as 105 tonnes of ivory get set on fire. This includes ivory recovered from the traffickers over the years and also elephants that have died from natural causes and from human-wildlife conflicts. Another 1.35 tonnes of rhino horn will also be burned. Poaching is a big threat to tourism and the economy in general. Much of this ivory seized is usually destined to China and the surrounding Asian countries and is used to make jewellery, and decorative items such as trinkets and bracelets. One question that I have heard many ask is whether the destruction of ivory will really help in elephant and rhino conservation.  I believe it will have an impact but not a major one because it only works to reduce supply rather than demand. However, this helps send ou...

COP21 (21st Conference of Parties) held in Paris, France, comes 6 years after the previous climate conference in Copenhagen that ended in failure and acrimony. Most leaders and delegates at the beginning of this conference admitted that it would not be a walk in park to get countries to fulfil the pledge of giving priority to issues of combating climate change. However, the Paris deal seems to have rebuilt much of the trust that is required for a concerted global effort that would aid combat climate change. US president Barrack Obama stated that “this should not just be an agreement to reverse the pollution filling our skies, but it should be an agreement that would help lift people out of poverty without condemning the next generation to a planet that is beyond the capacity to repair”. After 2 weeks of intense negotiations (from 30th November to 11th December 2015) at COP21, the Paris deal has been hailed as the world’s first true global climate deal. The accord comm...