Download Climate witness: Joseph Kones

Climate witness from
the Mara River Basin, Kenya:
Mr. Joseph Kones
18th September 2007
Oslo, Norway
Poverty levels are high in the Mara River Basin
Erratic change of rain patterns
• Affected planting season and creating
scarcity of food.
• People start to rely on relief food from
Government or donors.
Droughts
• More severe droughts, last year caused
pastoralists’ livestock to die in large
numbers.
• Masaais sent their animals to the forest
reserves of Mau Forest for greener
pastures for the first time.
• Drying springs and rivers draining into
Mara River: Isei River dried for 1st time
since I was born.
Fighting over water resource
• Communities are fighting over scarce
water.
• People from downstream go upstream
with spears and arrows to seek for water
they believe upstream people divert.
Floods
• Heavy rains created floods after the
drought.
• Top soil washed away and heavy erosion
occurs as vegetation was gone.
• Normally forest, wetlands and soils soak
up rain water. Now heavy rains create
destructive flash floods.
Diseases
• Malaria is increasing in the area and
becoming a leading disease.
• Temperature change seems to be suitable
for breeding of the mosquitoes that carry
malaria.
• Waterborne diseases have increased
because people have to use the little
stagnant water that is there.
Pollution
• More erosion reduce water quality.
• Small towns and human activities pollute
the river.
• Agriculture creates pollution.
• Less dilution of pollution due to less water.
Masai Mara
• Mara River is the lifeline of Masai Mara
National Reserve (Kenya), Serengeti National
Park (Tanzania) and the big Migration.
• Climate change effects combined with forest
destruction threaten Mara River flow.
• Wildlife in Masai Mara have nowhere to
escape and end up dying like last year’s
drought.
• ‘No Mara River – No Masai Mara and
Serengeti’, large environmental and
economic impacts (tourists, employment)
Responsibility
• Developed countries are responsible for
the majority of the green house gases
pollution and should carry a burden equal
to this responsibility.
• Developing countries should invest in
emission reduction and carbon sinks.
• Developing countries should pay for
adaptation activities in poor countries.
Conclusion – World War Three
The war on global warming and its effects –
the climate change – has started and I urge
the World Community including Norway and
developing agencies to join me as allies in
fighting the enemy by participating,
contributing by all means whether in kind,
technical or through financial assistance to
fight the phenomenon and the earth will
revert to its original God’s creation.
Thank you for your attention!