How does that old saying go? A man’s home is his castle – it’s his sanctuary, the place where he eats, sleeps and raises his family. Now imagine if yours was under threat. If the only way of life you and the generations before you have ever known was on the verge of disappearing. If the water you drank, the food you ate and the way in which you provided for yourself and your family was in danger. Not a nice thought is it? Hopefully you’re not in that position, but that was the reality faced by around 90,000 people (not to mention more than 350 species of birds, as well as hippos, lions, elephants and primates) when the Tana River Delta was threatened with development for biofuel production.
Environmental threat is nothing new to this area of Kenya’s north coast. However, the most recent case was by far the worst. After being highlighted by Kenya’s national development plan as an area for expansion of large-scale irrigated agriculture, the local people and wildlife faced the possibility of their home being turned into farmland for food and biofuel production. Gone would have been their way of life, their livelihoods and the amazing wildlife that calls the area home in one foul swoop. And even worse? The crops grown in that once natural wonderland could have ended up in the European market and fuelling our cars. I don’t know about you, but I wouldn’t have wanted to have been in any part responsible for such a loss.
With our partner, Nature Kenya, we’ve been fighting to protect the Tana Delta from these irrevocably damaging developments and have managed to fight off imminent proposals...for now. But these proposals could come back and other such places may not be so lucky thanks to the current well-intentioned but ill-designed EU policy that’s aimed at reducing our greenhouse gas emissions by using more biofuels. The good news is we have the opportunity to take action to protect these places for the people and wildlife that call them home and it’s as simple as writing a letter. To find out more about how you can help, check out our post from earlier in the week.