The western part of Kenya is an important backbone of Lake Victoria and the River Nile Basin. The continued degradation of this vital ecosystem is not only negative to the sources of water for the River Nile but the ornithological paradise as well.
There are 410 bird species of which 36 are found nowhere else in Kenya, 120 tree species, 60 orchids, 487 butterfly species out of Kenya’s 900, and 40 snake species. The environmental conservation activities in this region have a far reaching effect beyond ensuring the maintenance of adequate water levels for those who live around Lake Victoria as well as the over 200 million people who depend on the Nile.
We can still enjoy a reasonable degree of this ornithological paradise, but the young people today may not enjoy the same in a decade or two to come if measures are not taken to mitigate further degradation of this important ecosystem. According to Nick Tims, who has written about the region, this is the last remnant of the Guineo-Congolian forest in Kenya. This is an island ecosystem of species not found elsewhere in East Africa thanks to the Congo basin reaching in to Kenya and bringing with it all sorts of creatures that you’d otherwise have to go far to the west of Africa to find. Its almost mythical status in our minds was partly due to its birdlife, partly due to being the biggest area of rainforest in the country
It is in light of this glaring environmental adversity that the Youth Empowerment and Participatory Environmental Conservation Initiative seeks to raise awareness and stir action towards those activities that will conserve and where need be restore the fast fading glory of this Nile Basin ecosystem. The Initiative appreciates the fact that 78 percent of the populations in this Nile Basin are youth; who should rightfully be the stewards and custodians of the environmental conservation initiative under the mentorship of the more mature members of the community and experts.
Fish Eagle on Rusinga Island watching over Lake Victoria
Bosom of the Nile 
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