Posted on April, 05 2001

Nairobi, Kenya - From deep within the forests that shroud the Eastern Mau Escarpment arise 3 rivers, Njoro, Makalia and Enderit, that drain into Lake Nakuru. These rivers sustain more than 500,000 people, their livestock and other forms of life.

Twenty years ago, the crystal clear waters of these rivers flowed all year round, year in year out.

Today, the situation has changed dramatically. The rivers flow for less than 4 months of the year, and their waters are laden with silt, fertiliser and pesticide residues leached from surrounding farms.

The Lake Nakuru Catchment, where WWF, the conservation organization, has been undertaking conservation activities for 12 years, is rapidly becoming water-stressed.

Lake Nakuru, into which the three rivers drain their waters, has itself dried up more than 5 times in the last 7 years.

Bore-holes drilled in the 1950s dried up in the early 1970's. New ones have to be drilled much deeper in order to strike productive aquifers.

This scenario repeats itself countrywide. In Nairobi, gone are the days when one could open a tap to quench their thirst without a thought.

Today, bottled water is no longer regarded as fashionable, but as a necessity.

Removal of forests has stripped ground cover that stabilises soil and enables water to seep into underground streams.

The impending cuts in the Mau Complex forests are a sure death knell for Lake Nakuru, renowned as the "World's greatest ornithological spectacle".

Already, there are indications that the diversity and abundance of bird life in the lake is on the decline.

Clearing the forests for settlements will kill a major tourist destination and generator of foreign exchange by depriving the Lake of life-giving water.

In the last 5 years of working in the Lake Nakuru Catchment, WWF has noted growing awareness among local communities on the importance of protecting watersheds and ground cover.

Farmers are now planting trees in their farms, along river banks and in gullies to safeguard water sources.

The country's natural resource managers must recognise the inextricable interdependence of forest ecosystems, water and land, and make the linkage in the national resource management plans.

An eminent ecologist once remarked "If there is magic on earth, it is water". As we destroy our watersheds and pollute our streams we are slowly but inexorably wringing the magic out of our lives.

For further information:

Catherine Mgendi. East Africa Programme Office, e-mail: cmgendi@wwfeafrica.org