What would it take for you to leave your comfortable car at home and jump on a bicycle to get to work, school, or even to go shopping? As cities focus more and more on clean energy, residents of Copenhagen – a developed city – have adopted cycling as the preferred mode of transport. Rosalia Omungo reports on the Copenhagen cycling experience.

Nearly 35 people were reported dead in Kenya in the first few weeks of January, following heavy rains. The Meteorological Department says the rains will subside by the end of the month, but the destruction in their wake is linked to years of environmental degradation. Rosalia Omungo reports on the reality beyond the Copenhagen summit.

‘If you take 3 billion dollars out of the 10 that is being offered here, what will be left for the rest of the world?’  Michuki posed

The amount is considered low given that Kenya would be drawing it from the 10 billion meant for the continent.

The  proposal put forward by Zenawi calls for a three year, 30 billion dollar  fund starting in 2010. This means 10 billion dollars  per year initially, to finance all developing countries in dealing with climate change.The effects include rising sea levels, droughts, floods and changing rainfall patterns. 

Kenya’s geothermal steam reserves are among the resources earmarked for exploitation under its Climate Change Response Strategy. These are estimated at 7000 megawatts, and are expected to reduce the country’s dependency on fossil fuels. Environment Minister Michuki said that wind energy initiatives in particular must be scaled up, noting that Kenya needs to borrow a leaf from the Danish government’s commitment to wind power.

According to the minister, the proposed 3 billion dollar fund is expected to grow to 20 billion US dollars by 2030. The launch of the Kenya Climate Change Response Strategy coincided with an assurance from the US government that it will help raise 100 billion dollars to assist developing countries in coping with climate change.

Michuki says that Kenya aims to become a green energy economy by 2020, as part of the ‘Vision 2030′ strategy. Kenya Vision 2030 is an economic  development plan by the  Kenyan Government to develop several different economic zones in various parts of the country. The plan aims to produce annual economic growth rates of 10%.

Michuki said that private investors will be invited on board. ’These projects are expected to provide an additional 1230 MW and 1500 MW by 2012 and 2014.

The response strategy’s mitigation and adaptation components cover key areas including health, agriculture and wildlife conservation.

Climate change has impacted greatly on wildlife and humanity. Kenya has had its fair share of calamities, from extreme prolonged droughts which occasioned crop failure, hunger and even death in extreme cases, to recent flooding from El Nino rains. How seriously the Kenyan government is taking climate change is perhaps indicated by the large number of Kenyan delegates at the Copenhagen negotiations, where a deal that would see vulnerable communities get help to cope with the vagaries of climate change is expected to be signed.

‘This is an ambitious and comprehensive programme.  It will not only address the adverse impacts of climate change on Kenya, but will also contribute significantly to taming global warming’, said Michuki.

Wildlife and Forestry Minister Dr. Noah Wekesa underscored the need to conserve Kenya’s water towers which are currently under threat of extinction due to massive encroachment by settlers. A case in point is the Mau Forest Complex: this initially spanned an area of about 400,000 hectares, but about 100,000 hectares have been excised  for agriculture use. Dr. Wekesa said that engaging in partnerships with the private sector and even international organizations will help increase Kenya’s forest cover, which is currently below 2 percent.

‘The issue of concessioning is at the forefront. We are asking foreigners to come so we can give them huge tracks of land to plant trees.’

Issues to be addressed in the strategy include reafforestation, arresting land degradation, the protection of wildlife, flora and fauna, and how to help people mitigate and adapt to climate change.

Wetangula noted that Africa is endowed with tropical rain forests. He urged for a deal to be reached in Copenhagen that will save its resources and its people.

‘I have every hope that the voice of Africa, the needs of Africa,  the continent that pollutes least but suffers most will be listened to; the continent that has been at the very centre and in the firing line of all the problems of climate change is going to be given a clear hearing and above all be at the center of solutions that are being set out to cater for climate change.’

The two week conference comes to a close on Friday.

The fate of climate negotiations in Copenhagen hangs in the balance after African nations suspended talks today. Even though the talks later resumed, the African Group and G77 plus China accused the Danish host government of trying to sideline talks on setting more emission cuts under the Kyoto Protocol. The Africa Group is rooting for a two track system, in which the Kyoto Protocol is continued in conjunction with other long term agreements.

With farmers producing the trees for economic gain, Professor  Maathai says they should be removed.

“Surely there must be some things that would be more appropriate than eucalyptus”, she told journalists at the World Agroforestry Congress in Nairobi. “It’s about the long term impact of trees on land versus the short term economic benefits.”

Farmers have ventured into planting eucalyptus as a way of increasing their income. Some farmers in Lari in Kiambu district even abandoned coffee to grow the trees, because of their enormous potential. The tree is used for building, fences and electricity posts.

“The long term damage to the environment is not worth the short term economic benefit of an individual farmer, so we really have to replace them with more appropriate trees, otherwise we will one day be left with a desert”, Professor Maathai said.

She argues that the original aim of introducing the tree from Australia was good, but now has been misinterpreted, since “they have been so over-promoted in every aspect of our land, including cutting our indigenous trees and replacing them with monocultures.”

The eucalyptus controversy  has long been debated in Kenya. At one point the Environment Minister, John Michuki, directed that all eucalyptus along riverine areas should be uprooted.

Professor Maathai argues that it is not about how much or little water it takes from the ground.

The tree, known in one Kenyan dialect as munyua mai, ” the water guzzler”, has drawn mixed reactions from researchers in the field. A tree specialist with a Kenyan non-governmental organisation disagrees vehemently with Professor Maathai’s call, and says the benefits of the tree far outweigh its detrimental aspects. He says it poses no threat to the environment if planted in the right place.

“It’s all about site matching, because different species are suited to different places”, he said.

He actually advocates the planting of more eucalyptus in the country.
“There are only 100,000 hectares of eucalyptus, and not the four million being touted by many people. We need more trees”, he said in an interview.

Professor Maathai says beneficial trees which do no harm to the environment should be encouraged instead of eucalyptus: “As long as we continue using these trees on farms and especially along the rivers and in our forests,we will continue experiencing water shortage. And it will become even more of a problem in the future as climate change hits us.”

Dr. Robert Brook, of the University of Wales in the UK, wonders why the spotlight is on the eucalyptus when there are so many other trees that extract large amounts of water from the soil.

“I think the criticism has been overdone, ” he says. “From my personal observation, teak, an exotic tree, extracts more water.”

Dr. Brook believes the criticism arises from the fact that the tree is easy to grow. “I’ve seen it planted in solid blocs in india. Nothing grows underneath, and when the heavy monsoon rain comes, the soil is washed off, and that leads to the silting of dams.”

Therefore, he says, the advantage lies in planting in the right place.
“When planted in singles, twos, threes, or in rows, it should not be a problem”, he says.

“I have spoken to farmers in Swaziland and India . They said because of its good price upon maturity, they will plant more of it. ”

“It’s an investment, because it will earn money for me or for my son”, one farmer told him.

Mr. Musyoka told participants at the second World Congress of Agroforestry in Nairobi that this would make everyone more concerned about and responsible in how they use the environment.

Kenya is currently facing major food, water and energy crises, which experts say are linked to environmental degradation and climate change.

“As we concretize the idea of a constitution for this country by hopefully next year, and in recognition of the seriousness of disappearing forests in farms and our water towers,” Mr. Musyoka said, “Kenya should now begin to think in terms of writing conservation in our constitution so that everyone will grow up thinking that if you have an acre of land, at least a quarter of it can be put to afforestation.”

He added: “This will quickly get us out of the crisis.”

In a speech read for him by his deputy, President Mwai Kibaki also told the over 1400 participants at the Congress that the government was in the process of developing appropriate legislation to ensure that ten percent of agricultural land is put under agroforestry.

The government had also commenced an “aggressive reforestation campaign” to conserve the country’s natural forests.

“These interventions require a lot of seedlings as well as sufficient resources to enforce the legislation,” said Musyoka.

Currently the law mandates the National Environmental Management Authority (NEMA) to manage the environment while the Kenya Forest Service is charged with the protection of the country’s forests. Both have been criticized as “toothless dogs” as wetlands and forests continue to be destroyed under their very noses.

The World Congress of Agroforestry is taking place in Nairobi at a time when national attention has been on the Mau Forest complex, the largest water tower in the country. The Mau is the source of 12 rivers, which feed at least five lakes. The destruction of the forest has been blamed for the drying up of rivers and lakes. The government’s plans to evict thousands of people who settled in the forest illegally have met resistance from politicians from the Rift Valley, including ministers and Members of Parliament.

Kenya’s forest cover stands at less than two percent, way below the recommended 10 per cent per country.
Nobel Laureate Wangari Maathai, the founder of the Green Belt Movement, says besides taking responsibility, all must prepare themselves to deal with the consequences of a destroyed environment.

“We may blame climate change, failure of rains and crop failure, but it’s extremely important for us to remember that we have an opportunity at this time especially because of the crisis to convince everyone to protect forests,” she said at a press conference on the sidelines of the congress.
At the same time Prof. Maathai welcomed a new study that offered “convincing evidence that farms and forests are in no way mutually exclusive”.

The study showed that half of all farmed landscapes in the world include “significant tree cover”, contrary to widespread fears that agriculture leads to massive deforestation.

The findings of the study, conducted through detailed satellite imaging, were announced at the opening of the congress.

The Director-General of the World Agroforestry Centre, Dr. Dennis Garrity, said the government should invest in the enormous potential of agroforestry as the answer to the environmental and climate change crisis.

“A crisis is a terrible thing to waste,” he said. “It opens up new opportunities for sustainable solutions. This is where agroforestry fits in. And here in Africa, it is now too late for us to be pessimistic.”