The entire Lake Turkana belt, Turkwel and Kerio Rivers basins and the Lotikipi swamps have been identified as key wetlands in the county, supporting economic and livelihood activities related water provision, fishing and tourism value chains.
Turkana Governor Jeremiah Lomorukai in a speech read on his behalf by the County Executive for Tourism, Culture, Natural Resources and Climate Change, Audan Leah Lokala reiterated the need to boost conservation efforts by all stakeholders, urging the residents to support them.
Lomorukai spoke during celebrations to the World Wetlands Day at Ondiri Wetlands in the area, where the county government reiterated its zero tolerance towards encroachment of wetlands.
The day is a UN annual calendar event to commemorate the Ramsar convention of 1971 on conservation and sustainable use of wetland resources.
This year’s event was commemorated under the theme, ‘Protecting wetlands for our common future.’
On her part, Lokala advised the residents to continuously seek guidance from environmental experts so as to maximize benefits from the wetlands.
“As a Government, we are aware of the threat posed by human activities and the invasive prosopis juliflora to our wetlands. We have put robust measures in place including climate smart technologies to mitigate against the degradation,” she said.
The Assistant County Commissioner for Turkana Central, Andrew Mutuma, added that national government entities would work closely with the county and partners to boost conservation efforts.
The event was also attended and addressed by Phoebe Ekali (Director for Environment), Pauline Pusiye (Ag Director for Natural resources) MCA Kanamkemer ward, James Ikeny and representatives of partners.
Boma Project and Kenya Red Cross Society also emphasized the need to safeguard wetlands from further encroachment and degradation.
By Peter Gitonga
