Lake Naivasha in peril - Is the shrinking lake being poisoned?

02/03/2010 23:28:05 Courtesy of Wildlife Direct
March 2010. In recent weeks, thousands of fish have been dying in Lake Naivasha, a world renowned rift valley lake famous for its diversity of birds. Although it is a Ramsar site and should be protected by national legislation for its global importance, concerns raised by conservationists and local communities about the impacts of developments around the lake have gone unheeded for years, and, as a consequence, the lake has become a a shrinking stinking cesspool.

Flower farming
Now the Mars group have joined the fray and the media have put the pressure on flowerfarmers. Kenyan farmers cant feed the nation but yet the country is one of the worlds largest producers of cut flowers. In fact cut flowers generate the greatest revenue of all horticutltural exports raking in $405.5 million from export of 87,042 metric tonnes of cut flowers. Witnessesclaim that flower farmers extract water from the lake and dump pesticide laden wastes into the lake which contribute to the receeding shore lines and progressively polluted waters.

The Member of Parliament for Naivasha, Mr. John Muththo has been fighting this issue for many years but to no avail. Now fishing has been banned and water quality tests are being conducted.

It is believed that some 40 flower farms now occupy the shores of the lake, and most draw water from the lake as well as piping their waste into the lake. Additionally a further 20 farms are situated a little way from the lake.

Responding to threats that the flower farms will be closed, local growers under the Kenya Flower Council and the Lake Naivasha Growers Group, have urged the government to prove the cause of fish deaths. They deny that pesticides could be the cause as they claim to practice responsible methods through a voluntary social and environmental codes of practice.

It is a sad day for Kenya when it takes thousands of fish to die in Lake Naivasha to wake up the relevant ministries and agencies to investigate the impact of unregulated pesticide use and water abstraction.