EcoBuzz: Monkey Business

It’s good to have groups like the Colobus Trust. These are passionate individuals who keep an eye on matters related to their cause whilst the rest of us carry on with our day to day lives. With really important issues such as delivering on poverty reduction, energy access, education and infrastructure rightly at the top of Government’s agenda, it’s important to have people watching out for the interests of those who cannot speak for themselves. Four colobus monkeys and one little baboon were electrocuted last week near a small stretch of Kaya forest in Diani. Why should we care amidst all the problems that face us? Well first, there is a simple and easy solution, and second, our wildlife and natural resources are valuable national assets that require our protection. What happened in Diani is not just monkey business. It’s a disgrace. http://colobus.wildlifedirect.org/2009/01/09/conserving-diani-thinking-triggered-by-the-electrocution-of-a-young-baboon/

Ecobuzz: Climate Change

This year it’s all about climate change. Towards the end of the year in Copenhagen, the world convenes to re-negotiate the rights and responsibilities of countries in dealing with this global threat. Actually, these end up being your rights and responsibilities as an individual, an employee, a company, an association, an MP.....and it would be appropriate in all these capacities, to tell our Government climate negotiators what we expect. Consider this: starving cattle, destroyed livelihoods, dying wildlife and yet the continued extraction of water for supply to a lodge swimming pool - all in the same ecosystem. What’s the response? For tourists to chose not to travel? For cattle insurance schemes for the pastoralists? Developing better water infrastructure to cope with drought extremes? Kenyans need to think for ourselves on these types of scenarios in all spheres, because no one else is going to do it for us. http://moreintelligentlife.com/story/going-green-making-global-warming-hot

Don't Eat Babies

While buying my supply of sea fish over the weekend, I noticed the prevalence of babies on the shelves: baby squid, baby lobster, baby Malindi Sole. Catching baby fish is an indicator of the poor health of our fish stocks - depleting without proper replenishment. When eating babies, they don't get a chance to grow into adults or spawn new babies. In addition, future fishing livelihoods are at stake - whether the artisanal fisherman or the fishing industry as a whole: in Canada, as many as 30,000 jobs were lost when the once plentiful supplies of cod collapsed in 1992. As consumers - whether as families, restaurants or hotels - we are a major part of the problem and we have the power and choice to be the solution too. Don't eat babies.

For more information visit http://eng.msc.org/

Greening your Sex Life

Today, 5th June 2008 is World Environment Day. The purpose of this week's EcoBuzz is to demonstrate how every aspect of our lives has some impact on the environment. It may seem as if environmental protection can sometimes be the preserve of "green nutter" environmentalists in western countries who may even go so far as suggesting measures we can take to mitigate the negative environmental impacts of our love lives. But this would be trivialising a far deeper and more penetrating issue. Here in Kenya we heavily depend on the environment, the land, and our natural resources for our well being and our wealth. Inappropriate disposal of condoms, for example, clog up sewerage systems, have to be removed manually, and reduce effectiveness at treating waste water. It is the most vulnerable people in our society who suffer the consequences of our environmental abuse. If we are aware about the really negative environmental impacts of our lives, then we have a responsibility to take action, even when cuddling our beloveds. More information on greening your sex life.

EcoBuzz: The Green Directory

All this talk of going green, but where can you actually buy eco-friendly products or get some good advice about environmental management for your company? The first edition of the Kenya Green Directory, published by Ecotourism Kenya is hot off the press! There are listings of products in the following categories: natural and recycled products; alternative energy; water solutions; accredited environmental laboratories; and certified tourist accommodation providers. There are also listings of consultants and service providers for everything ranging from rain water harvesting and waste water recycling systems through to conservation area planning, industrial energy efficiency and renewable energy system design. If you are looking to purchase eco-friendly products or services, this is an invaluable resource. If you are a reputable supplier of such products and services and you aren't already listed, this is an annually produced directory, so you'd better get in there for the next edition!

EcoBuzz: Sustainable Tourism in Kenya

Sustainable tourism is not just a “buzz” word. There are increasing numbers of hotels, lodges, campsites and community based tourism products that are trying to turn a profit whilst also taking care on the environmental and social impacts of their operations. The next time you decide to take a holiday, why not choose from places that have been eco-rated? Ecotourism Kenya operates an eco-rating scheme that has certified approximately 50 tourism businesses around the country. Look out for these bronze, silver and gold rated properties and support companies that take their environmental and social responsibilities seriously, visit www.ecotourismkenya.org for more information.

The Green Traveller: Climate Change and Tourism

Climate change is without doubt the hottest issue on the global environmental agenda. Whilst a decade ago media coverage and debate centred upon whether the science of climate change was reliable, now the facts of climate change are no longer under dispute: global warming is a reality. What is at stake, however, is how the world should respond to the threats posed by global warming. Whatever complex terms the international negotiating community may use, the key cards upon the political negotiating tables are actually about changes in lifestyles and livelihoods.

It is increasingly becoming clearer that action will be required at the international, national, local and, importantly, personal levels. To illustrate this point, personal choices about “green travel”, “responsible travel” or “off-setting” air travel emissions are becoming more prominent in a tourist’s decisions about where and how to travel on holidays. Mintel, the international market research agency, estimates the current size of the green travel market in the UK, Kenya’s key source market, at over a million responsible holidays taken in 2006 worth a total £409 million pounds. Mintel predicts a 25% growth in this market year on year. The UK’s Carbon Trust rekons the market for voluntary offsets for carbon emissions incurred by air travel is growing by 60% a year in Britain. Whilst green travel or carbon off-setts are by no means mainstreamed within the overall travel and tourism industry, the rapid growth trends cannot be ignored.

In the first of a series of articles exploring tourism and climate change, Anjali Saini introduces the key issues affecting the industry. The second article in the series will investigate how global responses to climate change are being formed and how these may affect the tourism industry locally. This includes a discussion on voluntary off-setting flight emissions, what the carbon finance markets are all about and how they can potentially be tapped into. The final article in the series will further explore the increasing importance of the “responsible travel” markets.

The two-way relationship

The World Tourism Organisation asks that the tourism industry recognises a two-way relationship between tourism and climate change. “On the one hand, tourism has an obligation to minimise its adverse impact on the environment and thus on the emission of greenhouse gases which in turn contribute to climate change. On the other hand, it is recognised that changes to the world's climate will have a direct impact on many tourism destinations which could have far-reaching implications, not just for the tourism industry, but for other economic sectors. The tourism industry needs to be made aware of these consequences and set in train planning processes which will enable it to adapt and adjust its activities accordingly.”

The impacts of climate change on tourism

Already seen in Kenya as a result of drought conditions: emergency encroachment of cattle herds into protected areas, increased levels of poaching for food in marginal lands, and deaths of wildlife unable to cope with extreme conditions. Although drought used to be a natural or cyclical phenomenon, climate change has seen, amongst others, increased incidences of drought over the last ten years, a gradual rise in sea levels and extreme weather events at coastlines. Planning has never been a particular strength in Kenya, yet advance planning that seeks to take into account, adapt and mitigate against increasing incidences of severe drought in wildlife areas or erosion and weird weather patterns at the coast will ultimately protect billions of dollars worth of our tourism assets. And even if we can’t see it now, the insurance industry already does: insurance products and prices in the most vulnerable states in the USA correlate neatly with graphs showing temperature rise as a result of global warming. Over there, the insurance industry has for some years been building climate change impacts into increased premiums, and complex forecasting models have been developed by the industry to try and hedge against “climate risk”.

Tourism as a contributor to climate change

Growth is good and Kenya aspires to a million tourists a year. The potential benefits to the economy are immense. But whilst tourism is at the frontlines of feeling the impacts of climate change, it also contributes to its causes. To receive a million visitors a year means a million flight journeys have been taken. Although air travel only contributes to a relatively small percentage of global emissions currently, it is the fastest growing source of greenhouse gas emissions. The impacts of air travel are more pronounced because at cruise levels, emissions are made directly into the upper stratosphere. Whether we like it or not, it is likely that in as a direct response to this there will in the future be increased levels of direct and indirect taxes and levys in the air transport sector – in fact carbon offsets are already a form of voluntary tax. In the media we have seen that there are trends by the European consumer to avoid horticultural produce that has been flown in and has associated high levels of carbon dioxide emissions. Will this extend to the consumer of long-haul tourism? What position should the Kenyan tourism industry take on this issue?

Air travel and other forms of transportation are by far the most significant contribution by tourism to climate change. However it is also important to note that tourists exert a high per capita consumption of water, energy and other scarce local resources, which exert considerable stress upon the local environment. These stresses, in addition to increasing the carbon footprint of a tourism operation, may well exacerbate the adverse effects that climate change is already having on local ecology: consider the situation of starving cattle, destroyed livelihoods, dying wildlife and yet the continued extraction of water for supply to a lodge swimming pool - all located in the same ecosystem. As the WTO states, “in all such incidences, the destination's sustainability remains a prime concern.”

Resource and energy efficiency, including the use of renewable energies in hotels and resorts, are response mechanisms that need to be encouraged. Ecotourism Kenya’s Ecorating Scheme is an important voluntary response to supporting sustainable operations by the tourism industry but the challenge is to achieve wider uptake by the industry. Growth is good, but sustainable growth is survival.

Anjali Saini is a founder member of Ecotourism Kenya and continues to be a voluntary environmental adviser to the society. She works as an environmental consultant specialising in environmental management, energy efficiency and sustainable tourism.