TIGblogs TIG | TIGblogs GROUP TIGBLOGS LOGIN SIGNUP
daateku's Blog
daateku's Blog
« previous 5


Tainting Kenya's Wetland Wilderness
Related to country: Kenya

Translations available in: English (original) | French | Spanish | Italian | German | Portuguese | Swedish | Russian | Dutch | Arabic

The Sour Side of Sugar


The Tana River Delta, one of Kenya’s last coastal wildernesses, is the floodplain ecosystem of the mighty Tana, a river born on the slopes of Mt Kenya that finishes its 1014km journey in East Africa’s Indian Ocean. Its complex wetlands comprise a mixture of salt, fresh and brackish lakes and tributaries; riverine forest, woodland and bushland; mangroves (including Kenya’s only population of Heritiera littoralis and the threatened Xylocarpus granatum and Bruguiera gymnorrhiza); and extensive grasslands. This great diversity of intact habitats combined with its vast expanse has made the Delta an internationally important site for bird conservation (22 species of international importance have been recorded and it is a critical foraging and breeding ground for thousands of resident and migratory water birds – earlier this year 15000 water birds of 69 species were counted on one day alone); a vital breeding, spawning and nursery ground for fish; and the home for a significant number of wildlife (including the rare East African coastal subspecies of Topi, Damaliscus lunatus topi, elephant, crocodile and hippo).

Although few other places on earth can claim to have elephants swim across mangrove channels and witness lions roaming the beaches it has received no formal protection and the Delta is currently facing destruction by a major (not-so sweet) sugarcane project, which is threatening over 33 000 ha of wetland. The environmental and social implications are significant, as the plantations will stretch into the heart of the wetlands transforming the Delta’s diversity into an ecological desert. According to Colin Jackson, the director of A Rocha Kenya, a conservation organization committed to the sustainable use and conservation of endangered habitats and species, major questions still need to be addressed concerning effluent pollution released from the sugar factory and the containment of sewage and rubbish generated by the large influx of workers from outside the area. The local Orma pastoralists, who have used these wetlands as grazing areas for their livestock for generations, are opposed to the project and elsewhere in Kenya sugarcane has proven to bring far more poverty than relief.


July 2, 2008 | 5:52 AM Comments  0 comments

Tags:


Lake Naivasha, Kenya
Related to country: Kenya

Translations available in: English (original) | French | Spanish | Italian | German | Portuguese | Swedish | Russian | Dutch | Arabic

Outside the ground is frozen, quite possibly covered in snow and ice, and yet, stroll through a supermarket in North America or Europe in February, and you’ll be confronted with large displays of roses. We expect flowers in winter, and equatorial countries meet those expectations. A quarter of the cut flowers sold in Europe are grown in Kenya. Straddling the equator, Kenya gets steady sunlight dealt out in days that vary little in length. It’s the perfect climate for flowers year-round. The center of Kenya’s flower industry is Lake Naivasha, shown here.

The Advanced Spaceborne Thermal Emission and Reflection Radiometer (ASTER) flying on NASA’s Terra satellite captured this image of Lake Naivasha on February 2, 2008. Bright white squares mix with fields of green, tan, and purple along the shores of the lake. Sunlight glints off the long rows of glass greenhouses, turning them silvery blue and white in this view from space. Fallow fields are tan and pink, while growing plants turn the ground bright green. Roses, lilies, and carnations are the most common flowers grown in the greenhouses and fields scattered around the lake. The large-scale industry shown here extends into small-scale rural farms elsewhere in Kenya, where smaller filler flowers are grown.

The flowers provide an important source of income to Kenya, but the industry comes with a price. Flowers are not held to the same standards for chemical residues as food products, which are tightly regulated. Strong chemical pesticides can be used on the flowers to produce the perfect, pest-free bloom, and this could pose a health risk to workers and local wildlife, including hippos, environmental groups told the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations in 2002. The chemicals may also have threatened the water quality of Lake Naivasha, one of Kenya’s few freshwater lakes. The Kenya Flower Council instituted a code of conduct establishing guidelines for pesticide that phases out the use of one of the most toxic pesticides.

Courtesy the Earth Observatory

March 26, 2008 | 2:28 AM Comments  1 comments

Tags:


Fire Damages Kenya's Lake Nakuru National Park
Related to country: Kenya

Translations available in: English (original) | French | Spanish | Italian | German | Portuguese | Swedish | Russian | Dutch | Arabic

In late February 2008, Kenya’s Lake Nakuru National Park suffered a major blow when an accidental fire scorched a large section of the relatively small (188-square- kilometer) park. Located in central Kenya, the park is most famous for the flocks of flamingoes that congregate to graze on the cyanobacteria that thrive in the shallow, alkaline lake. But the surrounding marshes, woodlands, and savanna also provide habitat for some of Africa’s famous large mammals, including white and black rhinoceroses, leopards, giraffes and lions.
The loss of such a large area of vegetation, which provides both food and shelter, is bound to pose problems for the park’s wildlife
Article Courtesy the Earth Observatory

March 12, 2008 | 1:52 AM Comments  0 comments

Tags:


‘An open letter to a Kenyan, my valentine’
Related to country: Kenya

Translations available in: English (original) | French | Spanish | Italian | German | Portuguese | Swedish | Russian | Dutch | Arabic

Dear Beloved,
It is with utter urgency, deep sorrow and fleeting hope that I write to you this letter. What happened to us my love? We used to be happy you and I. They all envied us: our friends, our neighbors, the foreign forces….

My love, do you remember all those holidays we treasured so? How we hypnotized them into opportunities ,opportunities to celebrate each other, to renew our vows, to remind the world of our bond, our union, our love, be it madaraka day, labor day,jamuhuri day, Kenyatta day,moi day; we painted the towns red, white, black , green the sacred colors of our rainbow.

Look at us now my love; how did we get here? Can you help me understand how, with no mercy, you have roughened me up! Cutting me onto pieces; I am soaking in blood; I am chocking in smoke; smoke from all these fires, these fires you’ve lit! Fires of hate, fires of greed, fires of hypocrisy, tribalism, revenge; fires of death!

Every fire now ranging with lessons; lessons of lose, lessons of love, lessons for life, lessons we must take. Anything else that is flirting with bitterness, befriending indifference, tolerating intolerance, all these we must forget; promising, preaching ,praying,” Never Again”.

On this note my love, I need to conclude this letter, reminding you of that song, that love song you composed for me that day, the day we consummated our love,45 years ago.

“Oh God of all creation, bless this our land and nation,” You know the words my love, a prayer indeed. Each line, a kiss to my hope; each stanza, a hug to my spirit. When will you sing this song to me again my love? When will you say this prayer for me again my love?

Beloved, I have to leave now, but with a prayer of my own, my dear Kenyan please, make light your heart; give us another chance, for who else do you have but me?

Yours in waiting,
Kenya, Your country
Your valentine.

By Affiah Odhiambo

February 18, 2008 | 1:54 AM Comments  1 comments

Tags:


EARTH QUAKE DISASTERS PREPAREDNESS
Related to country: Kenya


The recurrent tremors have become a cause for real concern .

Familiarize yourself with these terms to help identify an earthquake hazard:

Earthquake
A sudden slipping or movement of a portion of the earth’s crust, accompanied and followed by a series of vibrations.

Aftershock
An earthquake of similar or lesser intensity that follows the main earthquake.

Seismic Waves
Vibrations that travel outward from the earthquake fault at speeds of several miles per second. Although fault slippage directly under a structure can cause considerable damage, the vibrations of seismic waves cause most of the destruction during earthquakes.

Take Protective Measures.

Before an Earthquake,
The following are things you can do to protect yourself, your family, and your property in the event of an earthquake (please note this is applicable both at home and in the office)

• Repair defective electrical wiring, leaky gas lines, and inflexible utility connections to avoid shot circuits and gas leaks during the shaking.

• Bolt down and secure to the wall studs your water heater, refrigerator, furnace, and gas appliances. If recommended by your gas company, have an automatic gas shut-off valve installed that is triggered by strong vibrations.

• Place large or heavy objects on lower shelves or just on the floor. Fasten shelves, mirrors, and large picture frames to walls.

• Store bottled foods, glass, china, and other breakables on low shelves or in cabinets that are tightly shut

• Tighten overhead lighting and chandeliers fixtures.

• Be sure the residence is firmly anchored to its foundation.

• Install flexible pipe fittings to avoid gas or water leaks. Flexible fittings are more resistant to breakage during shaking.

• Have a whistle on you just in case you are trapped and want to alert rescuers

• Locate safe spots in each room under a sturdy table or against an inside wall. Reinforce this information by moving to these places during each drill.

• Hold earthquake drills with your family members: Drop, cover, and hold on! Ensure the place you have identified fits the whole family comfortably


During an Earthquake
If indoors

• Minimize your movements during an earthquake to a few steps to a nearby safe place. Stay indoors until the shaking has stopped and you are sure exiting is safe

• Take cover under a sturdy desk, table, or bench or against an inside wall, and hold on. If there isn’t a table or desk near you, cover your face and head with your arms and crouch in an inside corner of the building

• Stay away from glass, windows, outside doors and walls, and anything that could fall, such as lighting fixtures or furniture.

• Stay in bed - if you are there when the earthquake strikes - hold on and protect your head with a pillow, unless you are under a heavy light fixture that could fall. In that case, move to the nearest safe place.

• Use a doorway for shelter only if it is in close proximity to you and if you know it is a strongly supported, load bearing doorway.

• Stay inside until shaking stops and it is safe to go outside. Most injuries during earthquakes occur when people are hit by falling objects when entering into or exiting from buildings

• Be aware that the electricity may go out or the sprinkler systems or fire alarms may turn on.

• DO NOT use the elevators.

If outdoors - stay there

• Move away from buildings, streetlights, and utility wires. Fall or duck down, hold your head with both arms and just wait till you fill the shaking has stopped.
If in a moving vehicle

• In a moving vehicle stop as quickly as safety permits and stay in the vehicle. Avoid stopping near or under buildings, trees, overpasses, and utility wires. Proceed cautiously once the earthquake has stopped, watching for road and bridge damage.
If trapped under debris:

• Do not light a match. Do not move about or kick up dust


• Tap on a pipe or wall so rescuers c