Biofuel threat to Kenya's last wilderness

KENYA: The developed world's insatiable thirst for fuel is threatening one of Kenya's last wilderness regions, according to conservationists, writes Rob Crilly .

Developers want to turn 50,000 acres of the spectacular Tana River Delta into a vast sugar plantation.

Much of the sugar will be used to produce biofuel.

Paul Matiku, executive director of Nature Kenya, said: "This development would be a national disaster, wreaking havoc with the area's ecosystem and spelling the end for wildlife across much of the delta.

"Large areas would become ecological deserts. The delta is a wildlife refuge with cattle herders depending on it for centuries as well.

"There is no commitment to mitigation for the damage that will be done and no evidence that local incomes will be in any way improved. The sugarcane scheme cannot be allowed to go ahead."

The Tana River Delta project is the latest to cast the search for renewable energy as an environmental ogre.

Last year conservationists fought off similar plans in Uganda.

And there are concerns that other important ecosystems across Africa are already being lost as governments sell off forests for plantations.

The Tana River Delta lies on the Kenyan coast, about 120 miles north of Mombasa.

It is largely untouched by development and is home to 345 species of birds. They include 22 threatened species, such as the Basra reed warbler, Tana River cisticola and golden-breasted starling.

Hippos, elephants and lions also survive amid the patchwork of forests, mangrove swamps and savannah.

Farmers grow crops around the flood plains and lake edges, while nomads bring cattle to graze from the Somali and Ethiopian borders.

The sugarcane scheme, submitted by Mumias Sugar Company and Tana and Athi River Development Authority, would see 50,000 acres of irrigated sugarcane and other crops for ethanol being planted.

The Royal Society for the Protection of Birds believes an environmental assessment fails to properly assess the impact of the plans.

Paul Buckley, an Africa specialist with the society, said: "These impacts would be extremely severe with at least one third of the Tana's waters being diverted.

"There would be soil erosion, sedimentation and pollution, leaving people and wildlife competing for the clean water and productive land that remained." Campaigners want the most critical parts of the delta and its floodplain made into a national protected area to limit any future developments.

At the same time as conservationists are warning of the impact of biofuels on Africa, economists are also concerned that food crops are being diverted into ethanol production. The United Nations' two leading food agencies issued warnings last week that demand for biofuels was leaving the poor hungry.

Its Food and Agriculture Organisation estimates that 100 million tons of cereals are being bought up for biofuel production each year.

Josette Sheeran, executive director of the World Food Programme, said: "We're seeing many people being priced out of the food markets for the first time. For the world's most vulnerable, it's extremely urgent."

She added that production would eventually catch up with demand but that there would be a lag period when prices would escalate.

© 2008 The Irish Times

This article appears in the print edition of the Irish Times