Media publicity
Tana Delta Must Be Conserved At All Costs
1 March 2010
The delta of the Tana River provides immense environmental services to our nation collecting storing and releasing rainwater, protecting the shoreline from storm surges, supporting traditional livelihood and sheltering the young fish and shellfish of Ungwana Bay and many thousands of migratory waterfowl.
Developments that do not take the special circumstances of the delta into consideration may lead to the collapse of these services.
Related link: The Star
Trouble simmers in Tana Delta
26 February 2010
Thousands of local communities set to be evicted vow not to move an inch as their land is leased out to foreign companies.
Related link: The Star
Kenya's Tana River Delta under siege
21 December 2009
The Tana River Delta in Kenya's north coast is under unprecedented threat as corporations and foreign agencies scramble to exploit its riches for export crops, biofuels and minerals. NatureKenya (BirdLife Partner) – with support of RSPB (BirdLife in UK), Schweizer Vogelschutz SVS/BirdLife Schweiz (BirdLife in Switzerland) and DOF (BirdLife in Denmark) – are working with local communities to try and stop the proposed poorly planned developments which would result in tens of thousands of people losing their livelihoods.
Related link: BirdLife International
Qatar land deal not unique to Kenya
6 January 2009
The reported land deal between Kenya and Qatar is not unique.
Global trends point to resource-hungry nations snapping up huge tracts of agricultural land, mostly in poor Asian and African nations in what activists say is a ‘land grab’ that will worsen poverty levels.
Related link: The Standard
Why Qatar-Tana River land deal requires further discussion
2 January 2009
The current dispute over the alienation of more than 100,000 acres of prime land in the River Tana delta is just one example of the presidential opaqueness that continues to cost Kenya dearly.
The issue here is not legal, but economic, political and moral.
Related link: Daily Nation
There’s more to this land-for-port building deal than meets the eye
23 December 2008
The Government wishes to lease approximately 100,000 acres of land, part of which falls within the Tana River Delta, to Qatar, in return for the funding of a Sh2.4 billion port on Lamu island to act as Kenya’s second port.
Related link: Daily Nation
Leaders give verdict on Qatar deal
21 December 2008
Key politicians and religious leaders from the Coast Province have supported the Government’s decision to lease out 40,000 hectares of land that Qatar is seeking to grow food in the Tana Delta.
Related link: Daily Nation
President defends land lease
21 December 2008
President Mwai Kibaki on Saturday defended the government’s plan to lease 100,000 acres of the Tana Delta to Qatar, saying Kenya stands to benefit immensely from the possible Sh180 billion ($2.4 billion) deal.
Related link: Daily Nation
Lamu port deal: Kenya to sell Tana Delta land
20 December 2008
Proposals to sell off around 16,200 hectares of land in the Tana River delta to Qatar to grow vegetables and fruit in return for a new port in Lamu have again raised concerns for the future of the environmentally important area.
Related link: The East African
Qatar looks to grow food in Kenya
2 December 2008
Qatar has asked Kenya to lease it 40,000 hectares of land to grow crops as part of a proposed package that would also see the Gulf state fund a new £2.4bn port on the popular tourist island of Lamu off the east African country.
The deal is the latest example of wealthy countries and companies trying to secure food supplies from the developing world.
Related link: The Guardian (UK)
Thousands affected as a river runs through it no more
22 September 2008
The riparian livelihoods of more than 40,000 people in southeast Kenya are under threat because of the sudden change of course of the Tana River, the longest in the country.
Related link: YubaNet.com
Judiciary mix-up stalls Sh24bn sugar project
15 September 2008
Misinterpretation of Chief Justice Evan Gicheru’s controversial edict on the hearing of constitutional cases and judicial reviews has stalled work on Kenya’s largest sugar project, adding to the negative impact the Judiciary is perceived to exert on the country’s business environment.
Related link: Business Daily
The Tana River Delta - Kenya's sweet secret that could go sour...
12 September 2008
Not the usual destination on a typical safari. In fact, very few people have heard of the Delta. And maybe that's good because some things should be hidden, but not anymore. We need to know. The Delta is paradise packed with tremendous potential for ecotourism, and its unique environment is home for many endangered species of birdlife and wildlife. But now they are about to be evicted.
Related link: American Chronicle
Shock as River Tana changes course
9 September 2008
More than 35,000 people in Tana Delta who depend on Tana River for their domestic use and for their livestock got a rude shock after the river changed its course at Kibusu, seven kilometres from Garsen town.
Related link: Daily Nation
Hue and cry over Tana sugar project
20 August 2008
Controversy continues to dog Mumias Sugar even after the State’s environment watchdog gave it the licence to embark on a multi-billion shilling project in the Tana Delta.
Related link: Daily Nation
Kenyan courts consider terminating biofuel plans
5 August 2008
The Kenyan courts are considering halting the first stage of a US$370 million biofuel project that aims to replace up to 20,000 hectares of coastal grassland with irrigated fields of sugarcane.
Related link: Science and Development Network
Kenya Biofuel Project Causes Dissension
21 July 2008
The Kenyan government’s new plans to plant cane on 20,000 hectares of the vast Tana River Delta on the Indian Ocean... have been met with an enormous amount of controversy among critics who say the plan will crush local ways of life and harm one of Kenya's most pristine and bio-diverse wetlands.
Related link: redOrbit
Kenya sued over biofuel project
18 July 2008
Environmental and community groups have taken Kenya's government to court over a controversial project to grow sugar in the River Tana Delta.
Related link: BBC News
Tana gets temporary reprieve
17 July 2008
The Tana River Delta in Kenya has received temporary reprieve after the High Court stopped a controversial $370 million sugar and biofuels project.
Related link: BirdLife International
Tana River sugar project meanders into trouble
16 July 2008
When Dr Evans Kidero, the man who turned around Mumias Sugar Company decided that growing sugar in Tana River District... was viable, he was as excited as a golfer about to achieve a “hole in a one” shot. But sudden strong winds, in the name of environmental and community rights activists, appear determined to push the golf ball away from the hole.
Related link: Business Daily
Negotiate Tana River sugar project
14 July 2008
Conscious consumers may reject ethanol produced under acrimonious circumstances.
Related link: Business Daily
Nobel laureate Maathai warns Kenya over biofuel
13 July 2008
Kenya will regret its failure to protect the environment, Nobel Peace Laureate Wangari Maathai said on Sunday, as environmentalists battled to halt a government backed biofuels project.
Related link: France 24
Kenya court halts $370m sugar, biofuels project
13 July 2008
It says it will also generate 34 megawatts of electricity and create some 20,000 direct and indirect jobs, partly through the construction of an 8,000-tonne a day sugar mill.
Related link: Reuters
No end in sight for TARDA project
10 July 2008
WHILE the Government has declared that work on the proposed multi-billion- sugar project at the Coast will not be stopped, the move has elicited emotions from lobbyists who feel a public watch dog that okayed the project ignored certain environmental concerns revolving the project.
Related link: The People Daily
Tana sugar project to begin in six months
10 July 2008
The construction of a Sh24 billion sugar factory in Tana Delta by Mumias Sugar will start in six months, the company’s managing director Dr Evans Kidero has said.
Related link: The East African Standard
Environmentalists fault Kenya Government move on Tana delta say it endangers birds, biodiversity and livelihoods
7 July 2008
Paul Matiku, Executive Director of Nature Kenya (BirdLife in Kenya) has faulted Kenya government's move to approve a sugar company's decision that would turn 20,000 hectares of the pristine Tana Delta into irrigated sugarcane plantations.
Related link: Africa Science News Service
Annul Tana delta sugarcane project
4 July 2008
The Tana River sugarcane project must be stopped at all costs.
The National Environment Management Authority (Nema) has approved a controversial plan to grow sugarcane on an important coastal wetland — the Tana River Delta.
Related link: Business Daily Africa
BirdLife position statement on Tana
4 July 2008
BirdLife International Africa Partnership Secretariat supports the stoppage of the Tana Delta Sugar Project
BirdLife International supports environmental institutions from East Africa (including Nature Kenya, BirdLife in Kenya) and the rest of the world that are calling for a reversal of the approval by National Environmental Management Authority (NEMA) of the Tana Delta Integrated Sugar Project.
Related link: BirdLife International
Kenya okays sugar for power project
3 July 2008
Kenya has given the green light to a project where sugar will be grown to generate power in coastal wetlands, despite objections by environmentalists . The R2.96 billion Tana Integrated Sugar Project will mill 8000 tons of sugar cane daily, generate 34 megawatts of electricity and produce 23 million litres of ethanol a year.
Related link: BioEnergy
Anger at Kenya biofuel approval
2 July 2008
Kenyan environmentalists have told the BBC that the government should revoke a decision to allow a controversial biofuels project to go ahead.
Related link: BBC News
Kenya says $368.9 mln sugar project to go ahead
1 July 2008
Kenya will start a 24 billion shilling ($368.9 million) sugar cane and electricity co-generation project in a coastal wetland, despite opposition from environmental groups, the government said on Tuesday.
Related link: Reuters
Major Kenyan wetlands to be sacrificed for biofuels
30 June 2008
The Kenyan government has approved a controversial plan to grow biofuel crops on an internationally important coastal wetland.
Related link: WildlifeExtra.com
Slippery when wet
30 June 2008
Kenya plants sugarcane; America uproots it
LAST week Charlie Crist, the governor of Florida, announced the purchase of almost 300 square miles of land in the middle of the Everglades from a sugar producer. Rather than building on it, Florida will allow the land to revert into its natural state.
On the other side of the world, the government of Kenya said it plans to do exactly the opposite...
Related link: Economist.com
Tana sugar project not economically viable
30 June 2008
Barely a month after it was approved by the National Environmental Management Authority, the Tana Integrated Sugar Project at Kenya’s Coast has come under fresh attack by environmentalists and local leaders, who say its environmental and social costs at $59 million far outweigh its projected benefits of $19 million.
Related link: The East African
Nema clarifies on Mumias project in Tana
27 June 2008
Only a fraction of the Sh24 billion sugar project along Tana River that has attracted opposition from the community has been given the go ahead. The National Environmental Management Authority (Nema) clarified yesterday that the scope of the portion it licensed last week does not pose any hazards to the community.
Related link: Business Daily Africa
Sugar for Biofuel to Displace Kenya's Tana Delta Wildlife
26 June 2008
Kenya's Tana River Delta, inhabited by 350 species of birds, lions, elephants, rare sharks and reptiles, is about to be converted to sugar cane production over the objections of conservationists and local communities.
Related link: Environment News Service
Shocking decision of Kenya to convert precious wetlands
25 June 2008
Wetlands International is shocked by the decision of the Kenyan government to convert large tracts of the Tana wetlands in Kenya into sugarcane for ethanol plantations. This dramatic development confirms the NGO's recent outlook 'Biofuels in Africa', which shows that biofuel production in Africa will lead to loss of wetlands and rainforest.
Related link: Wetlands International
Wildlife and livelihoods at risk in Kenyan wetlands biofuel project
24 June 2008
Kenya has approved a controversial biofuel project that environmentalists say could destroy some of the country's most pristine wetlands.
Related link: Guardian (UK)
Tana's wildlife in Kenya at risk
24 June 2008
Kenyan National Environment Management Authority (NEMA)'s decision to turn 20,000 hectares of the pristine Tana Delta into irrigated sugarcane plantations has not bode well with conservationists and residents, who argue the move is detrimental to wildlife in the area.
Related link: afrol News
Conservation groups aghast at Kenyan fuel-crop project
24 June 2008
OUTRAGED conservationists have protested against Kenyan plans to grow biofuel crops on a coastal wetland, warning the project will ruin an environment that is home to 350 species, including endangered ones.
Related link: WA Today
Les projets de biocarburants du Kenya menacent son environnement
24/06/2008
La décision qu'a pris le Kenya de consacrer un grand nombre de ses cultures aux biocarburants serait désastreuse pour son environnement s'il l'appliquait et de nombreux experts demandent au gouvernement de revenir sur cette décision.
En lien avec : Actualités et News de l'environnement
Kenya: les biocarburants dangereux?
24/06/2008
Les critiques contre les biocarburants se multiplient. Deux organisations écologistes ont tiré la sonnette d'alarme lundi au Kenya, estimant que les cultures de canne à sucre destinée à la production de biocarburant risquent de nuire à la faune d'une importante zone marécageuse.
En lien avec : Auto News
Biofuel blight threatens spectacular Kenyan wetland
18 February 2008
A flourishing wetland on Kenya’s northern coast is under serious threat from plans to grow vast amounts of sugarcane, partly for biofuel production.
Related link: RSPB
Kenya Plans for Huge Sugar Factory Spark Bitter Dispute
24 September 2007
Plans for a 50,000-acre (20,000-hectare) sugar production plant in Kenya's Tana River Delta have ignited a bitter dispute between conservation groups and economic-minded officials.
Related link: National Geographic News
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