By: Jane Okoth, Media and Communications Officer at Wildlife Works
Written for Reclaim the Climate Narrative Campaign It took time in my career as a journalist to know how much of a threat global warming is. Growing up in Nairobi, I didn’t see the environmental changes affect my city life much apart from the floods that would cause severe damage to roads. Even when I was working on climate change-related stories, I just didn’t consider it to be a huge threat. I once did a story exposing how the once-flourishing Nairobi River is now choking on human, medical and industrial filth. That to me was an environmental concern, but from a very limited perspective. Years later, I would find myself in Tsavo, an area in the south-eastern part of Kenya, which teems with a rich array of wildlife including the infamous man-eating lions of Tsavo and the famous red elephants. The lions of Tsavo are said to have feasted on over 100 railway workers in the 1900s when the British colonial rule was building this mammoth network across this iconic landscape. The elephants, so-called, red, are actually not red but appear so due to dust-bathing on the area’s red soil. You’ll not find others like them anywhere in the world. Indeed, Tsavo boasts of hosting one of the largest national parks in Kenya. In fact, it’s so large that it is divided into two, Tsavo East and Tsavo West National Parks. Below the surface of this incredibly rich and beautiful national resource, lurks a deep and growing challenge. Here, rural communities are directly affected by the devastating effects of climate change when it comes to all components of their livelihoods. With little or no rainfall, failed farming, lack of water, and flooding, the only economic activities people have been able to resort to are unsustainable practices such as the charcoal trade. Human wildlife conflict is also rife because these communities are “unfortunate” enough to live close to wildlife, at least that is how many view it. So extensively has climate change affected the rural community that it has completely shifted and changed gender roles for some. Within the pastoralist community of the Maasai in the region, for example, some have been forced to change tact to survive. Sinyati Kiringoli, a Maasai woman in her thirties tells me that changes in weather patterns have completely changed the roles of women in their community. Back in the day, women were not allowed to go out and look for food because it was believed to be a man’s responsibility. The Maasai people’s love for cows is unmatched. Their herds are a source of wealth, food, and even used to determine a man’s position in society. The changing weather patterns have made it impossible to rear and keep cattle, as there is no source of water or pasture to sustain them. Now, women have been forced to do odd jobs and make traditional jewellery for sale, while the men stay home and look after the families. This is a classic example of how climate change has directly affected the way of life of local communities and shifted gender roles. When it comes to providing solutions to these challenges, we must understand that they lie with the communities themselves. And these are the voices that you tend to see missing from the global conversation when it comes to creating and implementing solutions. Time and again, there is a lack of community involvement when implementing donor-funded projects. Rural people should be involved in development planning and policymaking, and in implementing change themselves. Not boardroom-only solutions or online meetings overseas by people who know nothing about the struggle to get food because of failed rainfall. While the Global North are in their board rooms dreaming up solutions in their silos and making up all their rules, global temperatures are rising. The reality is that we are running out of time and forests are being destroyed at a higher rate than ever before, and the livelihoods and homes of those on the frontline are increasingly being threatened. Strangely, climate change most severely impacts those who contribute the least to causing it. According to a United Nations Environment Program (UNEP) report in 2019, the United States of America is one of the top greenhouse gas emitters in the world. Despite being one of the top countries in the world responsible for carbon emissions, the U.S had pulled out of the Paris agreement and it took a new administration to reinstate it. Even with the right intentions, some NGOs and donors can do more harm than good. The local community have expressed concerns after witnessing numerous donor aid programs gone wrong because of a lack of community collaboration. For instance, when mosquito nets to combat malaria are used as fishing nets in some African regions, it has led to the depletion of fish stocks in water bodies in their distribution areas, leading to food security issues. In some cases, water supplies are provided to a community that doesn’t have water problems! Another example is the Lake Turkana fish processing plant in Kenya, which cost a whopping $22 million dollars. In an attempt to change the lives of the local community in the poverty-stricken region of Turkana in Kenya, the Norwegian government saw an opportunity for an unused lake to provide jobs through fishing and fish processing for export. One thing they did not consider is that the Turkana community are nomads with no history of fishing. The plant was completed and operated for a few days, but was quickly shut down as the cost to operate it and the demand for clean water in the arid region was too high. Critics have blamed the “white elephant” project on poor consultation with communities, lack of monitoring progress among others. Now more than 30 years later, we can only hope that valuable lessons have been learned. On the other hand, Wildlife Works, a conservation organization based in Tsavo, Kenya is doing things differently. The organization has been engaging communities for more than 20 years and understands the power of listening to local voices. Engaging communities before implementing projects increases the visibility and understanding of issues affecting them while at the same time empowering them to have a say in decisions that impact their lives. We are putting so much energy into thinking that we are the ones with solutions, all the while excluding the local people in the decision making process. I would like to think that nature-based climate solutions must be our first line of defense because embedded in them are creating sustainable economic alternatives to communities who live at the edge and feel the pressures of climate change effects. As well as reducing the speed at which climate change is occurring, battling climate change is all about protecting people from its effects. So from a climate justice perspective, climate solutions must address this population first. The local community. Engage them.
Jane Okoth, by Filip Agoo Headline photo by Filip Agoo
