Naivasha Communities: Cheap Valentine Roses will not Kill our Freshwater Lake

Lake Naivasha: A beautiful freshwater lake, fringed by thick papyrus. Afternoon winds and storms can cause the Lake to become suddenly rough and produce high waves. For this reason, the local Maasai people christened the lake Nai’posha meaning ”rough water”, which the British later misspelt as Naivasha. Much of the lake is surrounded by forests of the yellow barked Acacia Xanthophlea, known as the yellow fever tree. These forests abound with bird life, making Lake Naivasha a known world class birding destination. The waters of the lake draw a great range of game to these shores. Giraffes wander among the acacia, Buffalo wallow in the swamps and Colobus monkeys call from the treetops while the Lakes large hippo population sleeps the day out in the shallows.

That was the captivating story of Lake Naivasha in yester-years. Today, it’s the complete reverse. The thick papyrus plantations have since been replaced with large flower farms in the area – horticulture at the expense of the once magnificent lake. The water levels have been dipping and the lake shrinking. The decline has been blamed on extensive irrigation activities along the lake by the large flower plantations that export their produce to the lucrative European markets. Electric pumps at the flower farms are used to draw thousands of litres of water per-hour from the Lake to irrigate the massive farms.

Besides, the extensive irrigation, various other factors are slowly threatening the lake’s existence. Scientists like Professor Elijah Biamah (Environmental and Water Systems Engineer) of the University of Nairobi and Ecology and conservation biologist at the University of Leicester, Dr David Harper blame the death of Hippos, Fish and Birds in recent times at the lake on poisonous runoff from the surrounding flower farms. “Naivasha is definitely poisoned by the chemicals from the flower industry there,” said Prof. Biamah who is also concerned that the poisonous chemicals might be leaking into the ground water supplies and underground aquifers posing a larger environmental disaster. Dr Harper said: “Roses that come cheap are grown by companies that have no concern for the environment, who cut corners and avoid legislation, who sell their flowers into the auction in Amsterdam so that all the buyer knows is the flowers come from Holland”.

The worse scenario is that even the wildlife, communities, and their domestic animals have limited access to the ‘poisoned’ lake. The flower farmers have fenced their tracts of land with high perimeter stone walls and electric fences, barring access to the lake. Naivasha town’s population soured with the establishment of the flower industry and the rapid development overstretched the town’s facilities such as the sewer system and solid waste disposal. Most of this waste is trickling into the lake.

It would appear as if the flower industry is the epicenter of Lake Naivasha’s woes. Communities in the catchment are equally to blame for their destructive activities such as cutting down forests for charcoal burning, firewood and land clearance for farming. Poor farming practices have seen a lot of silt flowing downstream into the lake while the rivers that flow into the lake dry up. While both the communities and flower industry have negatively contributed to the current situation, the difference among them is huge. The communities are suffering the most and have realized that they need to do something while the affluent flower farmers persist on their destructive activities driven by greed for profits.
Following several meetings with opinion leaders around Lake Naivasha, Africa Network for Animal Welfare is facilitating them to work together in initiating proactive measures crucial to saving the lake, their only freshwater source. The communities have organized themselves under the auspices of Lake Naivasha Ecosystem Stakeholders Coalition (LANESCO), bringing together farmers in the catchment, pastoralists, fisher folk, religious organizations, human rights organizations and the municipal council. With facilitation and technical support from ANAW, the Naivasha community wants to develop a management strategy as long term measure to conserving the lake which is already recognized as a protected site by the RAMSAR Convention which Kenya is a signatory.

In the meantime, ANAW and LANESCO call on your support to pressure the flower industry in Kenya to stop releasing effluent into the lake by petitioning the Kenya Government, Lake Naivasha Growers Group and the Flower Council of Kenya. You can also contribute to the protection of Lake Naivasha by lobbying UK shoppers to buy Fair Trade roses, produced by companies that are conscientious to environment and have a transparent supply chain. Flowers from Kenya certainly don’t meet these criteria and should be boycotted immediately!