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Dear all, I invited readers and friends to contribute their thoughts on Climate change in the run up to Copenhagen from 6th – 8th December – only 52 days away. It may not surprise many of you that our first guest blogger is Sheryl who writes  her own fantastic blog Not Honey: Please don’t tap on the glass.

Climate change decision must include commitment to slow and stop population growth

No one likes to talk about human overpopulation as the number one
crisis facing our planet. Most environmentalists and wildlife
protectors don’t like to talk about it. There’s the idea that having
as many kids as you want is a God-given right and mentioning that
“right” as a cause for climate change and planetary destruction irks
many people.

That silence is deadly. Here the world waits for the U.S. to take the
lead on climate change and the best we can do is a useless
cap-and-trade bill that has no chance of actually limiting greenhouse
gas emissions. There are too many loopholes, including the
“offsets” that industry insists they must have, and no clear plan for just how
many credits for emissions the big polluters can buy. Not included at
all in this bill are greenhouse gases from farms, which emit
35-40 percent of all methane emissions, “(which have 23 times the
global warming potential of carbon dioxide), 65 percent of nitrous
oxide (which is 320 times as warming as carbon dioxide) and 64 percent
of ammonia, which contributes to acid rain” according to the 2006 UN
report “Livestock’s Long Shadow.”

Food production for an exploding human population is a major source of
global warming pollution. There is talk now among wildlife protectors
about designating more wildlife parks and reserves for agriculture and
animal farming. Dr. Richard Leakey, noted anthropologist, wildlife
protector, and head of WildlifeDirect, in an interview for
“Kenya Imagine” said the following:

“Population growth is, as far as I am concerned, is
probably the single most worrying factor for the planet. We can look
at a farm, we can look at a national park – we can say the carrying
capacity of that area is “x.” If we look at the planet, the carrying
capacity for our planet has been exceeded. This planet has too many
people on it. How we address this I don’t know. But I am certain if we
don’t address it, many of the good efforts being made to cut carbon
dioxide emissions and to find alternative sources of energy won’t have
the desired effect. It has got to be linked and conceptualised in a
way that stabilises the human population and ultimately brings the
numbers down.”

Iregi Mwenja, a researcher on WildlifeDirect, has posted more than once about
the threat to wildlife from a growing human population. Recently, he
posted:

“With the population of the world at 9 billion in
2050, we may have 370 million people facing famine
worldwide. FAO says more land is needed to increase food production by
70 percent in 2050. In a country like Kenya where land is scarce now
and famine is the order of the day, the situation will be grave
serious in 40 years time when human population will have grown to over
60 million people. We may be forced to sacrifice some land in our
protected areas to feed this overblown human population! If you don’t
want to contribute to this catastrophe, let us limit the number of
kids per couple to 2. Please read the BBC NEWS
article below for more details on the FAO report.”

Read that again: Food production must increase 70 percent over
the next 40 years to feed the growing human population. What
does that mean?

More factory farms and far more greenhouse gas emissions promoting
global climate change than can be regulated or capped-and-traded. The
BBC story states that “Climate change, involving floods and droughts,
will affect food production.” Climate change is already having a
devastating affect on food production and vice versa.
Thousands of farmers in India have committed suicide because of crop failures
due to drought. Deforestation in the Amazon to make room for
cattle farms and soybean farms to FEED THE CATTLE has caused the loss
of more than 150,000 square kilometers of rainforest in Brazil between 2000-2008.
Loss of forests in the Democratic Republic of Congo is putting
gorillas at risk of extinction, which will put humans at risk of
extinction, too.

How’s that? How can the loss of a fellow Great Ape species have
anything to do with human survival? Turns
out that gorilla dung is a major component in forest growth. We
need rainforests to turn carbon dioxide into clean air and to deter
the greenhouse effect. Gorillas, according to Ian Redmond, the UN
ambassador for the Year of the Gorilla, “are herbivores, feeding on
fruit and plants. The digested food, as it passes through their
systems, helps seeds to germinate. … The full extent of the
gorillas’ role in propagation is unclear. But Redmond said a number of
plant species could not flourish without them, or wild elephants, the
other large mammal crucial in germination.” The gorillas “caught up in
the region’s civil wars, preyed on by poachers, and crowded out of
their homes by mining and logging industries – are already endangered
across Africa. …But Redmond’s argument could help give the animals a
new level of protection.” Economists have suggested spending $15
billion on reforestation as a “cheap” way of cutting greenhouse gas
emissions.

“Redmond said gorillas were crucial in maintaining the lifecycle of
the rainforests in the Congo basin. The forests themselves suck up
more than 1bn tonnes of carbon every year.”

“This is what the species are for. They are not ornaments. They are
not just interesting things to study. They are part of an ecosystem,”
he said.”

We are the only species of Great Apes on this planet who seem not to
know their place in an ecosystem. If we continue to allow human
populations to grow and crowd out all the wildlife until they’re all
extinct, and use up all the forests until they’re gone … what will
we have left? A planet full of nothing but humans and a ruined
environment that can no longer support life.

“It is only if you bring numbers down that we will be able to find a
way for resource utilisation per capita to increase. It is the only
way you are going to deal with poverty and unless you deal with
poverty, the situation can only spiral downwards. This is a massive
problem and the solutions are not simply condoms versus draconian
measures such as one child per family. It has to be looked at in
different countries in different ways. I think there has to be a
commitment everywhere to slow and stop population growth. I do believe
that we have been set back a long way by the opposition to family
planning that is being shown by some of the religious groups and by
some of the more conservative governments such as the current US
administration.” – Richard Leakey, in an interview published during
the Bush Administration

–
 NotHoney at gmail.com
http://nothoney.com
“… a vegan driving a Hummer contributes less to greenhouse gas
emissions than a meat-eater riding a bicycle.”–Capt. Watson

Thank you Sheryl!

Please leave Sheryl a comment here and if you would like to contribute your thoughts on a blog just write to me  paula at wildlifedirect.org.

With the drought biting hard KWS has been aggresively chasing cattle out of the parks and the government of Kenya has been trying to solve the humanitarian crisis by buying huge numbers of cattle. It is not going very well and nature is taking it’s course – cattle are dying all over the country in droves.

The degradation due to over grazing outside of parks has predictably led to wildlife returning to the parks for the only grazing available. Nairobi Park  in particular  now looks like the Serengetti in full migration!

The influx of wildlife has led to the appearance of big cats. Lion, leopard and cheetah sightings are now quite common.

Stalker!

After half an hour of great tension the lion had crept right up to this zebra and seemed about to launch herself onto the stripes when I heard the sound of other cars approaching. Sadly the hunt did not conclude in breakfast for the lioness, my wild gesticulations asking them to slow down and stop, seemed to attract the vehicle even more. The tour van revved up beside me for tourists to get a good shot – which of course flopped because the zebra got spooked and walked off. The lion lay down in the grass and turned to us glaring angrily.

Just seeing this today made me feel proud of what we are doing at WildlifeDirect – saving endangered species so that we can continue to enjoy rare and  precious moments like these.

Thank you all  for reading our blogs and supporting all of our the amazing projects.

Paula

In a previous story about cattle dying in the Nairobi Park We have been going purple in the face trying to raise awareness about the public health, ecological and economic threat facing Kenya as a consequence of uncontrolled movements of cattle during the current drought.

This is Dauti Kahura  story published in today’s East African Standard

A week ago, a man died of anthrax in Nyeri after eating infected cow meat. A week earlier, although not reported, two rhinos from Nairobi National Park died of anthrax. The Kenya Wildlife Service (KWS) confirmed the cause of deaths.

The death of the man should raise the red flag. There is great fear that some of the meat being sold in and around Kitengela and Ongata Rongai butcheries could be contaminated with anthrax, foot and mouth and east coast fever. Investigations by The Standard on Saturday revealed that sick and dying cattle are slaughtered on the roadsides and expose nearby communities to outbreaks.

Temporary bomas

Last week, five kilometres into Masai Lodge Road in Ongata Rongai where herders have set up temporary bomas, The Standard on Saturday team found sickly cattle being slaughtered for distribution to neighbouring butcheries.

Mr Rolf Schmid, a restaurateur who has lived in the area for almost two decades, raised the alarm.

“My first instinct was to contact the Ministry of Health and veterinary officials to come and witness the slaughter of dying cattle,” he said.

The Ministry of Public Health officers and vets from Kajiado concur that some of the cattle appeared sickly although not all were emaciated. The Government health officials, who sought anonymity because they are not authorised to be quoted, confirmed that the animals pose danger.

Due to drought, Maasai herders drive the cattle up to the city and many of them are kept in bomas along Mombasa Road. Tens of thousands of cattle that have been migrating from Loitokitok, Tsavo West, Kibwezi, Sultan Hamud and Kajiado are also being held in bomas on the northern and southern sides of the Nairobi National Park.

By day, these cattle are hosted on the local ranches around the park and by night driven inside it for grazing. Early this week, The Standard on Saturday observed hundreds of cattle being driven into the park on the southern end from the Masai Lodge Road. Tired and exhausted, they walked in a profile, with some not completing the journey.

herding in parks

According to a KWS senior warden, herders have been cutting the fence to allow large numbers of cattle into the park. KWS impounded 1,000 cattle and when the herders came for them the next day, they said some of the animals belong to “well connected Kenyans”.

Due to severe drought and exhaustion of grazing fields, Nairobi National Park is the only location in city with ample grazing field.

But now it is also massively threatened with decimation. More worrying is the fact that the wild animals are also at great risk of being infected with diseases. KWS officials say some antelopes have been infected with foot and mouth.

In a meeting this weekend with the warden of Nairobi National Park, Mr. Michael Wanjau of KWS and some other government officials as well as residents of the area, it was revealed that tens of thousands of cattle are grazing in the Nairobi National Park as a result of the ongoing devastating drought.

Mr Wanjau admitted that the numbers of cattle in the park has reached record levels. So weak from walking hundreds of kilometers in search of grazing, many do not make it.

Some herders are cutting the fence of the park to let cattle in. Some are being herded across rivers.

The southern part of Nairobi park is littered with cattle carcasses and vultures, hyenas and lions have eaten their fill.

Out on the staging grounds in Kitengela adjacent to the park where cattle are gathering, hundreds are dying and nobody is removing carcasses. The Kenya Meat Commission tried to buy up the herds for Ksh 8,000 per cow (about 100$) but herders have refused to sell, they say they are hoping for rain.

Some dead and dying cattle are being butchred on the roadsides which poses a horrific public health situation. The Ministry of Health is being informed as I write this blog post.

Many cows affected by foot and mouth disease simply cannot walk anymore like this calf. She lay down by one of the entrances to KWS and just died right there. It broke my heart that no one would touch her or put her out of her misery for fear of whatever disease she was suffering from.

The meeting on Saturday felt that the situation is a crisis and are demanding that the governmetn conduct compulsoray purchase of cattle to avert a public health and environmental disaster. But it is being whispered that these cattle are owned by rich and powerful Kenyans, a challenge that few Kenyans are willing to take head on.

Technorati : Nairobi National Park, cattle, disease, drought, wildlife, wildlifedirect, zoonosis

The drought situation in Kenya has reached critical levels far worse than I reported earlier. The government has finally admitted that livestock have invaded the national parks. Kenya has always had droughts but rarely this serious.

“This drought may be at least as bad as the drought of 1964 when 90% of Kenya’s livestock perished”. Richard Leakey

In Nairobi Park the herders are increasingly brazen – a sure sign that enforcement is failing. I’ve watched herds of cattle entering the park in broad daylight and within sight of the KWS rangers and gates. Reports are ignored and it often feels like patrols are sent in the other direction.

The herders don’t bother hiding what they are doing and cattle are no longer kept to out of sight valleys, but are being taken right across the plains reducing habitat for wildlife and forcing herds of zebra, wildebeest, eland and buffalo to move further west close to the KWS main gate and very close to the bustling city.

In my experience, KWS are not keen to answer tough questions so I stopped to talk to the Masai herdsmen in Kitengela as they cooked a pot of tea on a 3 stone fire, beside their makeshift plastic tarp tent. They had over 300 cows in an area 30m x 30 m. The cows had been brought here from Kajado, near the Tanzania border. They are held in tiny fenced plots to sleep on top of their own dung, then herded out to graze and get water. There is no regard for land ownership – most trails lead to the park.

I asked if they were allowed in the park to which they said No, we get chased but we have no choice.

The cattle have devastated the land outside the park and are dying on the road side. A few have even been slaughted for sale to local residents before succumbing to natural death.

These herders know it’s illegal to use the park and they claim that KWS are arresting them. This we’re told leads to a night or two in cells before being released. It’s not a nice experience and the cattle suffer in their absence. To avoid getting arrested the herders are now sending women and children into the park with the cattle. It’s impossible to arrest a child, and women claim that they are starving themselves and can’t control the cattle.

The Kenyan government is meeting today to discuss this urgent issue. But as one person on twitter commented ‘the cows need water and hay, not more cabinet meetings’.

The current situation is bad in Nairobi, but it’s a picnic compared to what’s happening in Samburu.

We have been told by authoritative sources that Shaba National Park in Samburu is not only full of livestock and people, but that they are actually settling there. I suspect that this is happening because the government has been promising to compensate all the settlers in the Mau and other Forest. While it might sound compassionate, this will lead to perverse incentives.  I predict that in coming weeks and months, we will the aggressive invasion of  our national forests and parks and reserves. Those now settled in Shaba National Reserve are unlikely to move, even after the drought ends, unless they get a hefty compensation. Where the money will come from is any ones guess, tourism revenue here is probably a shadow of it’s former potential, and no normal tourist will agree to spend 40$ to see starving and dead cattle in a degraded overgrazed park.

The problem is not unique to Kenya but is also affecting Tanzania and Ethiopia where over 200,000 Kenyan cattle have migrated from northern Kenya into southern Ethiopia, the largest migration in over 10 years.

Today as I left home I shook my head again at the sight of hundreds of cattle in Nairobi National Park. A few weeks ago I asked a senior officer about cattle in the park and I was laughed off and told “Of course we do not tolerate cattle in the park”

But they are in the park – I watch them every day, and a friend reports it every single day and still yet nobody does anything about it. The cattle are brought in a few hundred meters from a major gate into the park.  It seems strange that the park authorities are not acting on information  so I called my friend at KWS who said in a very tired voice

“Yes we are aware of the cattle in the park, there are actually over 20,000 and we are overwhelmed and don’t have the resources to stop them”

and that was it.

I wanted to be angry but how can you be angry with a warden who is underfunded, understaffed, and under equipped? How can he possibly make a difference.  And the people and cattle are suffering. Plus, while grazing cattle the herders sometimes get up to other opportunistic activities like poaching.

Why is this happening? The cattle are in the park because there is no grass outside. Why is there no grass?  Because of overgrazing outside the park…..soooo now the park is getting overgrazed and as a result wildlife will suffer, and tourists will not come to see starving cattle in the park.

While it might seem like a humane short term response, I think that by letting people into the park to graze cattle we are slowly strangling the golden goose.

What do you think?