Bosom of the Nile

The drying up rivers in once forested areas of the River Nile Basin

The River Nile is a source of livelihood for over 160 million people; a population projected to peak at 300 million by 2020.  According to the Woodrow Wilson International Centre for Scholars, Journal of 2007, the Nile Basin’s three million square kilometers covers about 10 percent of the African continent and about 650 million people live within the River’s 11 Basin countries.

Whereas there are several initiatives to advance the environmental and water conservation agenda in the River Nile Basin, there is an increasing need to advance these efforts from below as envisaged in the Nile Basin Environmental Conservation Initiative, a fledgling amalgamation of various community environmental conservation groups, individuals and professionals with a passion for conserving and restoring the ecosystem of the Nile River Basin in the larger Western part of Kenya that consists of 15 counties; Uasin Gishu, Trans Nzoia, Nandi, Kakamega, Bungoma, Busia, Kisumu, Homabay, Migori, Nyamira, Kisii, Siaya, Bomet, Kericho and Vihiga. All this in the realisation that if nothing is done, the world’s largest fresh water lake, Lake Victoria and the world’s longest river, the Nile; are under serious threat of significant depreciation of their water reserves as is currently being witnessed. The world’s largest tropical lake and reservoir of the Nile River waters, is shrinking. As the lake waters subside and water crisis  become imminent, the nascent sources of water that feed it on the other hand are already experiencing pronounced water shortages. 

 

Evidence of diminishing water resources in the Nile Basin, Water springs reduced to a trickle, triggering a crisis.

Evidence of diminishing water resources in the Nile Basin, Water springs reduced to a trickle, triggering a crisis.

The populations that depend on Lake Victoria, the Nile River and their sources for livelihood are  suffering the most as the marked fall in water volumes as a result of environmental degradation and climate change. Those who bear the brunt the most are the youth living in the Nile River catchment who will be here far longer after the adults have exited the stage.

In a recent research by Valdez, R., et al. in 2017 whose findings were published by Cambridge University Press, in the Environmental Conservation journal (How communication with teachers, family and friends contributes to predicting climate change behaviour among adolescents); they established that engaging the youth is critical to encouraging future climate change adaptation and mitigation behaviours. They reiterated that the youth are typically more receptive to climate change messages than adults.

The youth comprise 78 percent of the population in the project focus area and therefore serve as the best stewards and ambassadors of the environmental conservation message as part of their contribution towards the UN Sustainable Development Goal number 13, Climate Action. https://bossomofthenile.wordpress.com/environmental-conservation-give-the-youth-a-genuine-chance/

As a former teacher, I appreciate that after behind the scenes lobbying and heightening of awareness; the message to mainstream the youth in the environmental conservation agenda ignited a consciousness that has birthed the ongoing Climate Strike worldwide.

It is our intention to continue encouraging the mainstreaming of the youth into the core environmental conservation efforts and in this way heighten awareness about the importance of environmental conservation among communities living in the Nile Basin of western Kenya, the home of the diminishing remnant of the Congo Eastern Equatorial Rainforest. The region feeds one of the Nile’s major tributaries, the River Yala which eventually pours into the Yala Swamp; Kenya’s largest freshwater wetland habitat. https://bossomofthenile.wordpress.com/wetlands-need-more-protection/ 

The Yala wetland covers 200 square kilometers along the North Eastern shore of Lake Victoria. The swamp serves a natural filter for waters that flow into Lake Victoria and eventually the Nile. The Yala Swamp is considered as the source of the River Nile (Wikipedia).  It is therefore the goal of the United Nations SDGs Youth Empowerment and Environmental Conservation Education Initiative to address the back-end of the Nile source; micro-tributaries that feed the Yala River and the adjacent basin by carrying out those activities that will mitigate further environmental degradation such as planting indigenous Prunus africana trees.

Endangered Singidia Tilapia

Endangered Papyrus Yellow Warbler found in the Yala Swamp

The Yala swamp is home of endangered fish species like the Singidia Tilapia, Sitatunga antelope and various endangered and migratory bird species like the Great Snipe and Papyrus Yellow Warbler in what is considered one of the important bird areas in Kenya.

Sitatunga Antelope

Great Snipe: a Palaearctic migrant that is found in the Yala Swamp, the lungs of the River Nile

In the recent years, we have seen some of these nascent tributaries of the Nile Sources dry up, as the riparian areas are cultivated and the indigenous Equatorial trees felled for firewood and replaced by high water consumption eucalyptus trees on the river banks and in the swampy areas, all this against the advice of the Kenya Forestry Service.

Bare crown of the Maragoli Hills, what was previously the Maragoli Forest in the Nile River Basin.

The forest cover and wetlands that comprise the back-end of this important ecosystem, are fast shrinking as a result of population growth that puts pressure on land for settlement, agriculture and wood fuel. The targeted project area of Vihiga in Western Kenya; had 469 Ha or 1,158 Acres of forest cleared without reforestation. The area remains a bare crown, over 30 years after the clear felling.

We are convinced that nurturing and promoting these grassroots environmental conservation initiatives in the Nile Basin will make a tangible and significant contribution towards mitigating a further degradation of the expansive Nile Basin as envisaged within the ambit of the UN SDGs number 13, 14 and 15, Climate Action, Life Under Water and Life on Land.

Land degradation in the River Nile Basin, Western Kenya after clear forest tree felling.

References:

Mumbo, M. (2010)
Nile River Basin: Climate Change Adaptation Capacities in the Nile River Basin
United Nations Environmental Programme (UNEP)

Valdez, R., Peterson, M., & Stevenson, K. (2018)
How communication with teachers, family and friends contributes to predicting climate change behaviour among adolescents. Environmental Conservation, 45(2), 183-191.

Williams, M.A.J.,(2009)
Human Impact on the Nile Basin: Past, Present, Future
University of Adelaide, Australia.