By Chemtai Kirui
On February 2nd, World Wetlands Day was celebrated with the theme “It’s Time for Wetlands Restoration.” This year’s theme highlights the importance of restoring wetlands, which play a crucial role in combating climate change and preserving biodiversity. In Kenya, the significance of wetlands was acknowledged with a cleanup event along the Sosiani River. The Uasin Gishu County, in collaboration with the National Environmental Management Authority and other partners, showed the importance of conserving and protecting these habitats, which are disappearing due to human activities.
The UN has made a call to action, urging the investment of financial, human, and political capital to save the world’s wetlands from disappearing altogether and to restore those areas that have already been lost.
The county administration has put laws and policies in place to protect the environment and even established a task force to clean and reduce human activities in wetlands across the county. Sally Kibos, the Uasin Gishu County NEMA Director of Environment, emphasized the role of wetlands in promoting a sustainable economy, by providing services such as storing and cleaning water, purifying air, and moderating climate change.
Wetlands are protected under the Environmental Management and Coordination Act 1999 in Kenya, which recognizes their value and ensures their protection for future generations. According to the United Nations, wetlands serve many crucial purposes, such as being top carbon stores, providing food and habitats for a variety of plants and animals, offering flood protection, improving water quality, controlling erosion, and acting as water reservoirs.
The Executive Secretary of the United Nations Convention to Combat Desertification (UNCCD), Ibrahim Thiaw, called for wetland restoration and regeneration on World Wetlands Day. In his statement, Thiaw said that “wetlands are critical for the planet’s health, livelihoods, and heritage” adding that there is need for a concerted effort from governments, civil society, and the private sector to invest in science, technology, and financial mechanisms to restore wetlands while considering the needs of local communities and Indigenous peoples.
In Kenya, wetlands occupy between 3-4 percent of the country’s land area and provide essential services to rural communities. However, wetlands in Kenya are facing threats, such as the destruction of Lake Ol-Bolossat, the only natural lake in Mt. Kenya, by illegal herders, and the possible degradation and conversion of Yala Swamp into a commercial farming project. Wetlands play a crucial role in regulating the Earth’s ecosystem and are recognized as top carbon stores by the UN Environment Programme (UNEP), but they are facing a rapidly disappearing future.
Leaders and the UN are urging for increased efforts to preserve these precious ecosystems, and in Kenya, the government has launched a program to plant 15 billion trees by 2032, with a call to individuals to play their part by planting 300 trees each in the next ten years. Chairman of the Kenya Forest Service (KFS) Board, Job Chirchir, led a tree planting initiative in the North Rift Conservation area, where 606 seedlings were planted at Kibirong wetlands in Nandi County.
President William Ruto launched the Tree Planting program, in late 2022, with the aim of combating the impacts of climate change, such as droughts, floods, erratic rainfall, and disease and pest outbreaks.”
“To a considerable extent, these adversities are the direct and indirect consequences of human failure to observe its ecological imperative. Instead of preserving the integrity of the planet’s vital systems to enhance the earth’s livability for all of creation, we have embarked on thoughtless exploitation and the insidious pursuit of prosperity in ways that do not take environmental costs into account,” he said, adding that “If we were to plant 15 billion trees potted in plastic bags, it would mean 15 billion pieces of plastics in our environment, a nightmare of huge proportions. I, therefore, urge the Cabinet Secretary for Environment and Forestry to oversee a process, through NEMA, towards a plastic potting tubing-free environment and give way to biodegradable materials.”
The president’s call to action in the country, coincides with that of the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) which states that urgent actions need to be taken to save this ecosystem, which is disappearing three times faster than forests and are considered the most threatened ecosystems on Earth.
In addition to providing important services, wetlands are also habitats and centers of key biodiversity and socio-economic significance. They offer vital flood control and prevent soil erosion, purifying water and retaining nutrients and toxic substances. Wetlands also play a role in mitigating climate change and are essential to maintaining biodiversity in Kenya.
World Wetlands Day serves as an important reminder of the vital role that wetlands play in our world and the need for continued protection and conservation efforts.
As we celebrate this day, experts are calling for us to recommit ourselves to the protection of these unique and essential ecosystems in Kenya and around the world.