Green Podium

Today we celebrate another World Wetlands Day

Kenya has an estimated coastline of about 1420 km and with such a huge coastline, a number of challenges do present themselves as well, when it comes to matters of environmental conservation. Among these challenges is the menace of solid waste management which leads to an eyesore and has an effect in our oceans especially from plastic pollution. On the 28th of August 2017, the ban on plastic carrier bags came into effect. This move was hailed from far and wide across the world as a positive one due to the obnoxious nature of the single use plastic bags to the environment. Kenya has now become a case study in matter relating to plastic bags ban. However, there has been lapses in effecting this ban as some unscrupulous businessmen have been smuggling into the country these bags aided by corrupt border point officials. Much of the plastic bags currently being illegally used are coming in from neighbouring countries especially Uganda. We are also witnessing a situation where the use of

The Mau Forest is Kenya's largest remaining indigenous forest. It is also the largest of our five water catchment areas with the other four being Cherangani Hills, Mt Elgon, Mt Kenya and Aberdares Range. Mau Forest is a catchment area for Lake Victoria and the White Nile river. It covers a number of counties in the country including Nakuru, Bomet, Kericho and Narok. Th destruction of the Mau has affected the country in several ways. We have witnessed the flow of rivers being affected resulting in poor transmission of water for irrigation purposes, erratic weather patterns, and flash floods with towns such as Narok bearing the brunt of it. The Mau forest issue has been shrouded in alot of politics with one section of the community claiming to have been issued with title deeds to settle in parts of the forest while others oppose their occupation of the forest land and support their eviction. Mau forest is a critical ecosystem not only for this country but also several other n

Thousands of people along the Kenyan coast rely on fishing activities for their livelihood, an activity which also generates a huge amount of revenue for the country. However, fishermen face a number of challenges during their day to day activities in the waters and among these is the effect of climate change on development of coral reefs. Coral reefs usually form an integral part of the marine ecosystem due to the fact that they are a breeding zone for fish and other marine organisms. Corals are among the highly endangered ecosystems in the world. One of the factors leading to this is climate change. Climate change has resulted in rise of sea temperatures which has led to coral bleaching, an occurance that is quite destructive to the coral reefs. Bleached corals                   source:  Genetic Literacy Project The increase of global temperatures makes the corals to lose the symbiotic algae know as zooxanthellae that exists in their tissues. This algae is the one that is r

This year the focus of the world environment day celebrations will be on beating plastic pollution. Plastic wastes have become a menace around the world due to their non degradable nature. These affect both land and water, since when carelessly disposed they become an eyesore and also end up being blown into water resources such as lakes, rivers and oceans. Single use plastics such as plastic bottles, plastic straws, plastic bags etc are the worst since they become obsolete to most people after using them. Statistics show that if current trends continue then by the year 2050 the oceans will have more plastics than fish. The national celebration in Kenya will be held in Ukunda, Kwale County. This year’s theme has come in timely especially for Kenya given that we have already effected a ban on plastic bags and we are working on banning of single use plastic bottles. This is a move that has been hailed from far and wide. As we mark this day, the objectives include reducing single us

Lake Ol Bolosat is the only natural lake that can be found in the central part of Kenya. It is home to various types of fish like the catfish, hippos and a number of migratory bird species which attract numerous tourists. It is also the source of River Ewaso Nyiro which is important for the livelihoods of many people, livestock and wildlife that are found downstream. Despite all these, the existence of this lake is threatened by activities such as pollution, quarrying, overgrazing, encroachment, increased population growth and various other human activities. For example, poor farming methods have caused siltation of the lake which has resulted in reduced water level s in the lake. It is believed that if we don’t act now, the lake will no longer be in existence in the next 15 years. It is in light of this that this year’s World Wetlands Day celebrations in Kenya will be commemorated at this endangered lake in Nyandarua County. This will be held on February 2 nd 2018. The theme of