NATIONAL ENVIRONMENT MANAGEMENT AUTHORITY Kenya State of the Environment Report 2014 Theme: Environmental Management and Devolution: Harnessing Opportunities i A Publication of the National Environment Management Authority (NEMA), Kenya © National Environment Management Authority, 2014 First Published 2017 ISBN: 978-9966-1987-9-2 This document should be cited as follows: Government of Kenya (2014), State of the Environment Report, National Environment Management Authority, NEMA - Nairobi All correspondence should be addressed to: The Director General National Environment Management Authority P. O. Box 67839 -00200 Nairobi Tel. (020) 2183718, (020) 2103696, (020) 2307281, (020) 2101370, (020) 2198643 Fax +245 (0)20 6008997 Email: [email protected] Website: www.nema.go.ke ii FOREWORD State of the Environment Report (SoE) is a globally accepted process of environmental assessment, documentation and reporting. Kenya has been involved in this process since 2003. The process has been domesticated through a legal provision in the Environmental Management and Coordination Act (EMCA 1999).Section 9(2)(p) of the Act mandates the National Environment Management Authority (NEMA) to prepare annual state of the Environment report for submission to the National Assembly for adoption. Kenya is endowed with enormous natural resources which provide both ecological goods and services to the National as well as County economies. The Country has through time depended on these ecological goods and services as the Natural Capital. The Water towers for example provide important recharge for rivers draining several water basins and providing water for domestic use, agriculture and wildlife. They also maintain the hydrological cycle; that regulates the atmospheric temperature and neutrality. The cycle is important to the life of many organisms. In addition water provides habitat to a myriad of species. From the foregoing it is imperative that the growth of the National Economy is directly linked to the integrity of the Environment. In pursuit of development the environment has become more vulnerable due to both natural and human induced factors like climate change, floods, droughts, fires and many others resulting into negative impact on the environment. The rivers that form major water sources in Kenya are increasingly becoming polluted and the quantity of water is becoming less and less. It is therefore important to constantly keep a watch on such trends and raise alarm at the opportune time for managing environmental changes. State of the Environment Reporting (SoE) is a process that attempts to address this need through monitoring, assessment and reporting. Kenya government has achieved major milestonnes in its quest to protect and conserve its natural resources. The Kenya Constitution of 2010 has provided for very clear direction on Natural Resources use and management. It elevates environmental integrity into a human right, thus making environment assessment, monitoring and reporting a critical aspect of national as well as county governance, and thus the State of the Environment Report contributes to this important national goal. The constitution has changed the manner in which the environment is managed by delegating responsibility at individual, collectively, national and county governments. For effective governance (including environmental governance), the constitution has provided for public participation iii in the development planning process and this enhances accountability and transparency. It is on this basis that this report, shall provide an invaluable input and comprehensively inform policy and planning in Kenya, and therefore contribute to the environment sustainability for human wellbeing. Prof. Judi Wakhungu Cabinet Secretary, Ministry of Environment, Natural Resources and Regional Development Authorities iv PREFACE The Ministry of Environment and Natural Resources is mandated with the function of ensuring that the Country attains sustainable development. The Ministry is the focal point of a number of Multilateral Environment Agreements (MEAs) and has ensured Kenya’s active participation in international environmental diplomacy and also in the domestication of environmental conventions, protocols and treaties. This has been done through development of policies, strategies, legal and institutional frameworks to address environmental matters. After the Rio conference in 1992, member States moved to implement the requirement (under Agenda 21) of regular environment assessment, monitoring and reporting. This was done with the enactment of the Environment Management and Coordination Act in 1999, which made State of the Environment (SOE) reporting mandatory. The SOE for 2014 will be the last prepared annually since the amended EMCA (2015) requires that SOE is produced every 2 years. Since then, the Country has been involved in preparing the State of the Environment Reports, from the pioneering report produced in 2003. Other reports cover the period for the years 2004, 2005, 2006/2007, 2008, 2009, 2010, 2012 and 2013. The need for regular environmental assessment and reporting has even become more important with issues of Climate Change taking the centre stage. Kenya provides due attention to the environment, and has integrated environmental considerations into its development blue print, the Vision 2030. The Country has also developed a National Climate Change Response Strategy and Action plan and many other policy documents to guide environmental management. Environmental assessments and reporting is therefore a key instrument in assessing the performance of these strategies, and policies against the environment integrity of the nation. The objectives of SoE are: (i) Assessment and consolidation of environmental data from diverse sources using known environmental indicators, (ii) Analyzing data to determine trends (iii) Indicating clearly whether environmental quality is improving, getting worse or staying the same (iv) Assessing whether policies, laws programmes and other actions are having the desired effect. All these objectives are aimed at informing policy at all levels. The methodologies applied in the preparation process are the Driver-Pressure- State-Impact-Response (DPSIR) and Opportunity framework approaches and use of Environmental Indicators to interrogate various aspects of environment. This analysis has brought out some pressing environmental issues which include: the declining state of wetlands as a result of human encroachment, deforestation and de-vegetation of important ecosystems, pollution of rivers, lakes and the sea, degradation of critical production areas, to name just a few. This worrying trend v brings to our attention these critical environmental challenges for discussion and decision making at the highest level of governance (both national and county). I want to emphasize the central role that the lead agencies as per EMCA 1999 play in this process. I call upon the departments involved in data collection and monitoring frameworks to strengthen their capacity in order to be able to undertake regular monitoring and reporting of environmental change. They should also be ready to avail and share the data whenever called upon to do so as a requirement under the Constitution of Kenya 2010. Finally, I want to take this opportunity to thank those who were involved in the process of preparation of SOE 2014, and urge them to continue beyond the completion of the 2014 report, with the same spirit for future assessment and SOE reports. Charles Sunkuli Principal Secretary, State Department of Environment vi ACKNOWLEDGEMENT The State of the Environment 2014 report was prepared by a team of NEMA officers with most of the data and information coming from the lead agencies representing various Ministries, Departments and Agencies (MDAs). The teams were organized into thematic groups to address and prepare the chapters and sections of the report. These institutions played a crucial role in the data collection, analysis, compilation and validation. The data was collected using National Environmental Indicators (NEIs) which enabled trends analysis and bringing out major environmental issues. I wish to express my gratitude to the representatives of the lead agencies and stakeholders who played a critical role throughout this process. Specifically, the Ministry of Environment and Natural Resources is appreciated for giving policy direction for the process. I also wish to thank the Danish government for financial support to the SOE making process. My appreciation also goes to the NEMA Board of Management, who provided the resources and an enabling environment that made the completion of this report possible. Equally, the NEMA team especially staff from the Department of Environmental Planning and Research Coordination are commended for working tirelessly to compile and edit the data and information provided in the final document for publication. It is interesting to note that the report unlike the previous ones has captured strongly the issue of devolution and how this affects environmental governance at county level. Devolution as a new concept in this country has contributed toward changing peoples’ attitude towards environmental responsibility and enhanced compliance. Finally, this report is considered to contain baseline data for future forecasts of the environmental situation for the country. Such forecast will provide early warning and signals that provoke national debate and well-timed planning for appropriate management,