Please, Help us save our lake!!by | 25-07-2015 05:32 |
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I am sure that if any of you knows about this lake, you learnt about it in your history classes. This is the region where skulls of hominids more than 3.5 million years old were found. It's part of why Africa is called the cradle of life. This report, however, is about the impending loss of the lake. The same lake that is believed to have drawn the early hominids to that region. Gibe III dam began construction on Omo river in our neighboring country Ethiopia in 2008. This is the river that feeds our lake. However, the Environment Impact Assessments and Social Impact Assessments carried out before construction were shabbily done and flawed. It created a lot of controversy because of the lack of transparency and the understated effects the setting up of the dam would have. Since the Omo is the only inlet to the lake, water levels will drop drastically once the dam begins to function. This will have adverse effects on the aquatic ecosystems in the lake and the terrestrial ecosystems around the lake that depend on it. The Turkana region is also a very arid region which means that the people who need the lake to survive will also be at a disadvantage. It may result to loss of many lives. During the biodiversity month in creation of the biodiversity map, I wrote about the Turkana Mud Turtle which is listed currently under vulnerable. The setting up of the dam would make the conditions more harsh which may result in the loss of this species. this may move it up the ranks on the IUCN red list to endangered, critically endangered and may even drive it and many other vulnerable species to extinction. A lot has been done to try save the lake. An organization called the Friends of Lake Turkana went to court to petition the building of the dam due to unsatisfactory EIAs but that was denied. Earlier this month, a petition to the UN World Heritage Committee was created, requesting that they claim our lake a World Heritage site due to all the history, ecology and lives it sustains. That also did not go through. Currently there is a new petition to put pressure on the President of the US, who is visiting our country, to help us save our lake. This is where you, my fellow Ambassadors, come in. My request is that you lend us your voices as we ask him to help us save our lake here . Also, you can sign this other petition to the UN World Heritage Committee here . Despite the fact that the application was already denied, perhaps persistence may save the day. Kindly share and help us save our lake!!!
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