Big win for conservation as Lamu to gazette 44 wetlands
By KNA, February 10, 2023The Lamu county government is set to allocate a fifth of its annual development budget to conservation and protection of local wetlands.
Speaking in Lamu’s Lake Kenyatta area yesterday, deputy governor Raphael Munyua also revealed that the department of Lands, Roads and Water Resources had allocated funds for mapping out of the county’s water catchment areas that are under threat from encroachment.
“The reason wetlands such as Lake Kenyatta are drying up is encroachment on riparian land,” Munyua said, revealing that the lake has about six metres of silt caused mainly by farming in its tributaries. He revealed that the county would need Sh800 million to desilt the lake, which is Lamu’s main fresh water aquifer. “Gazettment is the first step to reclaiming our wetlands and landing sites,” he said.
The CEC in charge of Lands, Roads, Urban, Physical Planning and Water Resources, Tashrifa Mohammed, said they had so far processed 15 title deeds out of the 44 wetland areas. Others at the site included Agriculture CEC James Gichu and Lamu County’s NEMA coordinator James Jamula.