Conserving the wetlands of Tana Delta with the Kenya Wetlands Forum

I work with ethnic minority groups like Tana Delta Coast Province Kenya namely, Watta, Sanya, Malakote, Boni, Bajuni and Wakone respectively in a programme titled protecting the rights of minority groups,conserving the wetlands of Tana Delta with the Kenya Wetlands Forum with its secretariat housed in East Africa wildlife Society.

For the period I have been with them,one thing i love most is the way they have maintained and practice their rich culture despite sometimes their voices are not recognized by the state. But we are trying our level best to work hand in hand to have sustainable wetlands resources in Tana Delta.

For the period, I have been with the ethnic minority groups in the Delta, we have observed the climate changes especially in Matomba village Minjila Division Tana Delta where we find the ethnic minority groups namely; Malakote, it happens that the Tana river pass through the village and the river changed it's cause in this particular village due to siltation, majority downstream have been left without water for domestic use, their livelihood has been tampered with especially fishing, the environment and economic damage have been caused to the recipient communities. Water availability has been affected as changes affect frequency, intensity and predictability of precipitation that ultimately affect water availability and leads to decreased agricultural production and potentially widespread food shortages.

The affected communities have been forcefully removed form their homesteads, thereby denying them livelihood. It has tampered with the livelihoods of communities living around River Tana in Tana Delta, as they cannot easily access fishing when the water level of the river have fallen.

The climate change has threatened the ecosystem such as the Tana Delta Wetlands which has considerable impact on Africa which as different species of birds currently 350 species for this reason, climate change has the potential to later migratory routes (timings) of species that use both seasonal wetlands e.g. migratory, savannah and tropical forests plants such as doum palm.

Food security is particularly affected and there is decline on long cycle crops and decrease in rainfall. Already the El Nino has produced abnormally high amounts of precipitation in parts of equatorial East Africa, resulting to low agricultural yields.

There is rising temperature which is affecting fishing grounds leading to reduced catch and loss of livelihood by fisher folks.

The community members health is not spared either, the climate change has intensified disease outbreak. For instance high temperatures usually correlated to the number diseases but not limited to air pollution, heat stress, asthma, vector borne diseases (malaria, schistosomiasis), tick borne disease and water borne diseases and food borne diseases such as diarrhoeal diseases.

Majority of ethnic minority groups in Tana Delta are embracing themselves for drying conditions by planting drought resistance crops e.g. Cassava.

With regards
Joan Auma Otengo
Kenya Wetlands Forum Secretariat
Website:www.eawildlife.org