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By Pius Sawa
River Yala, Kenya: After destroying the wetlands, cutting the papyrus grasses, grazing livestock, tilling the land to plant vegetables, and cutting down trees in the forests, the birds disappeared, the wild animals migrated. The results; erratic rains, floods, crop distraction, soil erosion, food insecurity and increased hospital visits due to illness related to dirty water.
About nine years ago, the community embarked on a restoration program with the help of the local authorities, women groups and NGOs. The area chiefs banned cutting of trees, charcoal burning, grazing around the wetland, and farming within the riparian area.
The youth were engaged in digging trenches to channel rain water from upper hills down to the streams, while women made seedlings for indigenous tree species. Bamboo sticks were planted around the buffer zones, while Napier grass was planted along the streams as well to hold the soil and prevent erosion.
The Napier grass could be used to feed the cows, while the wetland was fenced off to prevent human and animal destruction. Water pans were constructed for bathing and animal drinking, and spring wells were constructed to provide clean drinking water for families.
For a living, the community got bee hives placed around the wetland, while vegetable gardens were encouraged away from the riparian area, and others started up poultry farming.
River Yala travels 219 kilometers through Nandi, Kericho, Kakamega, Vihiga and Siaya Counties, into Lake Victoria, with around 1.7 million people depending on for livelihood say agriculture, fishing, sand harvesting, gold mining and charcoal burning destructively. But the restoration efforts for King’wal Wetland, which covers 3,200 hectares, has managed to return the Crested crane birds, the Sitatungas and other wild animals. The forest is back to life and the air is fresh with the water levels back to normal.
Pius Sawa visited the Kapsisiywa community to witness the successes of the restoration efforts. One of the partner organizations, Women in Water and Natural Resource Management, together with River Yala water fund, Nature Conservancy and Women groups have managed to plant over 200,000 indigenous trees, targeting to reach 1 million by 2026.
Another target to construct up to 400 water pans to harvest over 40 million liters of water per year. Up to 31,915 hectares of the River Yala catchment is targeted for restoration while 525 kilometers of the river’s riparian and 3,200 hectares of other buffer zones to be rehabilitated.
In this video documentary, Dr. Stella Wanjala starts by pointing out the role of women in conservation and why Nature based Solutions should be the magic bullet to conservation initiatives in the Nile Basin.
