This blog has featured some long-running stories; one in particular, has stood out for me in terms of the threat to a hugely important wildlife site, the response and now the solution. Sarah Sanders, our Head of Partner Development in Africa and Asia, adds the latest, and very welcome chapter in the story of Kenya’s Tana River Delta. You can read an earlier post and you can follow the links there back to the start of the story on this blog.
The RSPB’s partner development team support BirdLife partners across the world to grow into strong, self-sustaining organisations delivering high quality conservation impact on the ground. We have been partnering with our BirdLife partner in Kenya, Nature Kenya, for nearly 20 years.
In 2009, when I took on my current role, the Tana River Delta was under huge threat from large-scale agricultural development for biofuels. It was unthinkable that a 225,000 hectare globally important wetland, home to thousands of birds and other endangered wildlife, and, on which over 100,000 local people depend for water, farming and fisheries, was about to be destroyed.
After considering all the various ways we could respond which included fighting each development on a case by case basis, Dr Paul Matiku, the Director of Nature Kenya, came up with the visionary idea to bring together key stakeholders at the local, county and national level to agree a multi-sectoral land-use plan to secure the long-term sustainable management of the Delta. A land-use plan that would look towards 2050 and balance the needs of conservation with development. After securing funds from UKAid and the Dutch Government, in 2011 a high level meeting was held in Malindi to agree a road map for developing the plan.
Little did we know at the time that we would get so far as we have, a launch in Nairobi involving the Permanent Secretary of the Ministry of Environment and Natural Resources, Dr Richard Lesiyampe, the Tana River Governor, His Excellency Mr Hussein Dado and the Lamu Deputy Governor, Mr Eric Mugo. There were many highlights including some very excellent presentations from the Government Core Tana Delta planning team but probably the best highlight for me was seeing the plan being officially handed over by the Permanent Secretary to the Governors.
The Permanent Secretary of the Ministery of Environment and Natural Resources shaking hands with the deputy governor of Lamu, with the governor of Tana. Photo credit John Mwacharo.
It has been a long process to get this far and so many things have happened along the way which could have very easily derailed the plan. The violence in 2013 which displaced some communities from the Delta and the change of government to a devolved county structure are just two examples. We have, however, adapted and kept going. There are three points that I have taken away with me.
Firstly, we often talk about capacity building in projects but in this case the project has really built capacity at local community, county and national levels. Looking back, I am pleased that Peter Odhengo, the Team Leader of the Delta’s Secretariat, tasked us to go away and to think again at the start of the project when we proposed to use consultants to develop the plan. Instead we have worked with a core team from government (Lands, agriculture, environment, planning, water, livestock) co-ordinated by Serah Munguti, the Nature Kenya advocacy manager. Under the excellent technical guidance of Peter Nelson and Helen Byron, this was the first time that an innovative combined Strategic Environment Assessment/LandUse Plan approach has been used in Kenya and the core team are now using the expertise that they have built in Tana to support an Strategic Environmental Assessment/Land Use Plan process in the Yala Delta, Western Kenya. The process is also informing the development of the draft national land use planning bill that is currently going through parliament. At the local level 38 community based organisations have come together to form one umbrella group, the Tana Delta Conservation Network. They have now successfully negotiated with the County Government to be allocated land to construct their office and a honey processing centre.
Secondly, this year is an important year for climate change. Countries from all around the world will be gathering in Paris at the end of the year to agree legally binding targets for carbon emissions. The Delta is under threat from sea level rise and we are already beginning to see salt levels rise (salination) in areas that are currently farmed. Furthermore, the research that we have undertaken in Tana has shown that the wetland is important for carbon storage and if the land is converted then it will lose this function as well as its vital role in water management in the area. The approach presented in the land-use plan will help communities in the Tana both mitigate and adapt to climate change.
Finally, the official endorsement of the plan is only the first step and the hard work is only just beginning. We all need to take responsibility to ensure that the plan is implemented so we very much welcomed the announcement from the Permanent Secretary that US$2.54 million from the Global Environment Facility 6 allocation to Kenya has been allocated to support future work in the Tana. More funds, however, potentially from the private sector, are going to be needed to realise the vision for development. The Delta, for example, produces some of the tastiest mangoes in Kenya but there is no processing infrastructure to transform the perishable fruit into marketable products that have a longer shelf life. A lot of fruit currently just goes to waste. The County Governments also need support to develop safeguards for investment and the capacity to implement them to ensure that future development goes in a sustainable direction.
The Tana River Delta
So it was a historic day in so many ways. I went away believing visions can become reality. I was honoured to be there on behalf of the RSPB, the UK BirdLife partner, and we look forward to supporting Nature Kenya facilitate the delivery of the plan.
We'll, no doubt, return to the Tana River Delta in future posts.
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