Wildlife wonder threatened with vanishing off the face of the Earth
National Geographic / Getty Lake Turkana has been added to the list of Endangered World Heritage Sites
UNESCO – the United Nations’ scientific agency – is so concerned about the threats to Kenya’s Lake Turkana that it has placed the natural wonder on the list of endangered World Heritage Sites. Lake Turkana was only given the iconic status 20 years ago, with its vital role as a stopover for huge numbers of migratory birds, including vast flocks of pink flamingos, as well as breeding grounds for hippopotamus and Nile crocodiles. Yet an Ethiopian dam and irrigated sugar estates are already having “disruptive effects” by reducing the water flow into the lake, and plans to build a further two hydroelectric dams now threaten to dry up the natural marvel, warn conservationists. Conflict over water resources has been long suggested as a potential cause of civil unrest and even full-scale wars as the impacts of climate change are felt across arid countries.
National Geographic / GETTY The Kenyan authorities are being pressured to be more proactive about conservation
Future dam construction along the Omo River, the largest Ethiopian river system outside the Nile basin and which flows into the lake, threatens to hit the people and wildlife dependent on its green-hued waters. Guy Debonnet, a conservation expert with UNESCO, warned today: “We are concerned that these projects will have implication on the local communities who depend on the lake for fishing and for their livelihood. Ethiopia is planning two new dams on the Omo river which will only make the situation worse.” Lobby group International Rivers claim Ethiopa’s Gibe III dam and irrigation for sugar plantations have reduced flow into the lake, but warn of worse to come. Its African director Rudo Sanyanga says the lake is likely to shrink slowly, reducing the breeding grounds for fish and also becoming too toxic for people and animals to drink.
National Geographic / Getty Images Ethiopian dam and irrigated sugar estates are having a disruptive effect on the lake
She also warns of the dangers of triggering potential conflict. She said: “Ethiopia should cancel the plans that it has to construct two more dams, Gibe IV and Gibe V, on the Omo River – these projects will only exacerbate the risk for drying up of the lake." In the the Ethiopian capital of Addis Ababa, the authorities dismiss the claims, saying its studies show the river’s flow will be regulated by damming and so stabilising water levels in the flood-hit region. At the influential International Union for Conservation of Nature – UNESCO’s advisors on wildlife issues and custodians of the Red List of Threatened Species – there are calls for more protection for the site. Peter Shadie, IUCN expert on World Heritage, warns: “Kenya’s Lake Turkana World Heritage site is in grave danger of losing its exceptional values if action is not immediately taken to reduce the impacts of the Gibe III dam and stop all other detrimental development.
National Geographic / GETTY The lake is likely to shrink slowly, reducing breeding grounds for fish