Flourishing wetland sacrificed for sugar and biofuels

25 June 2008

Tana Delta Statement by Paul Matiku - given during a press conference on 25th June 2008

The National Environment Management Authority (NEMA) has approved a controversial plan to grow sugarcane for sugar and biofuels on an internationally important coastal wetland—the Tana River Delta. More than 20,000 ha of the Tana River Delta will be destroyed and replaced with sugarcane for biofuel. This decision by NEMA will lead to a national environmental and social and economic disaster. The Tana’s ecology will be destroyed yet the economic gains are negative. It will seriously damage Kenya’s priceless national asset and will put the livelihoods of the people living in the Delta in jeopardy.

The 14 approval conditions given by the National Environment Management Authority are weak and ignore the environmental impacts on people, wildlife and livestock threatening the future survival of local pastoralist communities who use the delta as the only dry season refuge and grazing insurance and ticket for continued survival in the area.

The environmental assessment for the project was poor, legally flawed and failed to respect the views of the stakeholders. The decision disregards biodiversity and also overlooks an ongoing dispute over compensation for farmers and fishermen who would lose their land and fishing rights.

This decision is a very serious blow to Kenyan wildlife and to wildlife worldwide since many migrating species use the Tana Delta in internationally important numbers. Until now, Kenya’s support for global agreements to protect wildlife has been excellent but this development has severely damaged Kenya’s reputation for caring for its environment.

We refuse to accept that this decision is final. The development must be stopped at all costs, for the benefit of present and future generations. We urge the government to halt the process and pave way for a transparent mutually agreed conservation and development agenda that guarantees sustainable living.

We request the government to revoke the approval of this biofuels project on sound environmental and socio-economic grounds.

We welcome efforts by the Kenya Government to bring development to all parts of the country. However, we think that the Tana Delta Integrated Sugar Project as currently designed and proposed is ill-advised, will destroy 20,000 hectares of a key biodiversity area, damage priceless environmental assets, and may lead to communal conflicts. The current Environmental Impact Assessment was hurriedly produced and lacks vital information. Our main objections to the proposed project are as follows:

1. Current values and benefits of biophysical resources are higher than the exaggerated sugarcane benefits:

A report commissioned by Nature Kenya and the RSPB in May found that the developer’s plans overestimated profits, ignored fees for water use and pollution from the sugarcane plant, and disregarded the loss of income from wildlife tourists. The cost-benefit study by experts says that the current and future environmental and social benefits stand at Ksh 3.7 billion compared to Ksh1.2 billion that Mumias Sugar Company promises to generate. The National Environment Management Authority and the Mumias Sugar Company have defied basic business principles. Ksh 2.5 Billion will be lost. If the cost of destroyed ecological functions, goods and services is added then loss will reach unprecedented levels.

2. The Tana Delta is a Key Biodiversity Area:

The Tana Delta is a global hotspot and large assemblages of water birds qualify the Tana Delta as an Important Bird Area (IBA) and for listing under the Ramsar Convention. The delta is home to over 350 bird species, many unique plants and diverse wildlife including globally threatened taxa: nine birds; eight plants; five fish; two amphibians; and two reptiles. The amphibians and reptiles are to be found no where else in the world—endemic to Tana Delta. Much more is not known to science.

3. Tana Delta ecology is unique and habitats are not in protected areas network:

The special importance of the Tana Delta for biodiversity conservation includes: Habitats such as Palm savannah on flooded grassland, which is not included in any protected area; coastal palm woodland, protected only in a few Forest Reserves such as Witu Forest; fragments of coastal and riverine forests with many rare and endemic plants; seasonally flooded acacia woodland providing nesting sites for waterbirds from all over Kenya; sand dunes along the coastline with their specialized vegetation; mudflats and sandbanks where migratory birds feed and rest; and mangrove forests with eight mangrove species.

4. The Tana River Delta is a special place:

The Tana Delta inhabitants, wildlife and people have adapted their lives to the extremes of drought and flood. Intangible environmental services provided by this vast wetland system include: regulating the hydrological cycle, including catchment, storage and release of rainwater; moderating the climate, including reducing the severity of droughts and floods; protecting the soil from erosion, stabilizing the shoreline and reducing the impact of storm surges; slowing global warming by the absorption of carbon dioxide and release of oxygen; and providing a range of habitats for terrestrial, aquatic and marine biodiversity.

5. The Tana Delta is an economic asset to the local people in the area:

The Tana Delta is the only dry season grazing refuge for the pastoralist local communities. Economic use of the Tana Delta by traditional economic systems includes: Dry season and drought refuge grazing for enormous herds of cattle from Tana River, Lamu, Ijaara, Malindi and other districts; 335,000 cattle; 260,000 sheep; 360,000 goats; 57,000 camels; 19,000 donkeys; and 105,000 chicken among others. The delta is a major fisheries for the local and export market; and local people grow subsistence crops, cash crops and fruit trees for their survival. New economic uses include tourism, with lodges, boat rides and a wildlife conservancy all currently under development.

6. There is no enough water to support the project:

Even if the project was ecologically viable, there is a technicality due to the water imbalance. Mumias propose to use one-third of the Tana River’s water. There is no data to show that the balance is enough to support all other uses by people, wildlife, small scale subsistence farming and fisheries dilution and quality. This is a major technicality that will not only render the project unviable but will also affect the river ecology down stream.

Conclusions

Biodiversity underpins all ecosystem processes and is the foundation of Tana Delta’s rich natural heritage.  There are strong contrasts between biodiversity conservation options with the Mumias development scenario. There are strong grounds for believing that future demand for environmental amenities in Kenya will grow rapidly over time, as Kenya becomes increasingly materially better off. However, anticipated technological advancement itself will not augment supplies of these environmental amenities that are under threat by Mumias. The benefits derived from nature’s systems (ecosystem services) provided for by the various ecosystems in the Tana Delta are irreplaceable by technology. As welfare of Kenyans improve and demand for the amenities provided by environmental assets grow over time, the relative value of these amenities will rise. This contrasts with the likely falling value of material outputs from Mumias.

Since the Tana Delta is a biodiversity hotspot with at least four endemic species, the economic value of the area will appreciate with time from eco-tourism. Scientific value for the area will also increase as currently there is only limited work undertaken to describe and understand various taxa.

It is the dynamic complex of plant, animal (including human), and microorganism communities interacting with their physical environment (including soil, water, climate, and atmosphere) as a functional unit that provide benefits derived from nature’s systems. The Tana Delta in balance between natural state and human use has provided to people’s livelihoods. Its importance as a natural resource for Kenya’s economy is yet to be fully exploited and need to be sustainable. We therefore request the government to give the Tana Delta, the local communities and the biodiversity and their interactions a chance.

Recommendations

1. Given the strategic importance of Tana Delta for biodiversity conservation and use by the local communities the proposed project will undermine the ecological and socio-economic functions of the delta. Therefore, the proposed project should be suspended. Instead, the ecologically friendly functions of the Delta should be harnessed, especially livestock, tourism, small-scale farming, fishing, honey, timber harvesting and medicinal products.

2. We urge NEMA to take the lead, in collaboration with other government agencies, in defining and gazetting a conservation area and consider listing the Tana River Delta under the Ramsar Convention on Wetlands of International Importance, for which it unquestionably qualifies. At least 130,000 ha of the most critical parts of the Tana River floodplain and Tana River Delta should be designated as national community conservation areas. This will set the stage for any permitted developments in the remaining area of the Delta, which will need to be designed to ensure the integrity of the community conserved areas.

3. A Conservation and Development Master Plan for the Tana Delta should be developed prior to any development. This plan should be drawn up in consultation with other Government agencies and stakeholders. The plan should include a detailed economic assessment of the local, national and global environmental values of the Tana Delta.

4. The TARDA and Mumias Sugar Company together with NEMA and other stakeholders should take this brilliant opportunity to create a truly “Green” development by supporting the gazettement and management of large parts of the Delta as conservation areas, and tailoring development activities to small schemes that will directly benefit the local people, and maintain the hydrological and ecological integrity of one of Kenya’s most important natural assets.

End