Future of Lamu World Heritage Site in doubt

The largest impact on the World Heritage Site will be the Lamu port project.

The completed port, so close to the island, poses a threat big enough to recommend inclusion of the island in the World Heritage in Danger list.

The Unesco team said it was not given adequate details on the port project. It therefore relied on unofficial sources and newspaper accounts to come up with a possible impact assessment.

The report says a port large enough to berth 22 supertankers and allow them to sail in and out four abreast means there will be plenty of dredging.

This will cause changes in undersea currents which will directly affect the island. Local fishermen are likely to lose the Dodori fishing area next to the port.

The port sits at the edge of a 60,000 hectare area on the northern coast that was in 1980 designated as a Biosphere Reserve under Unesco’s Man and the Biosphere project.

Lamu has international conservation importance. In addition to its mangroves, corals and sea grass, it is home to the endangered dugong.

The experts also took issue with the various laws on the World Heritage Site, as they fall under various Acts — such as the National Museums and Heritage Act, Land Control Act, the Trust Land Act and the Lamu County Council by-laws. Many countries with a World Heritage Site have a World Heritage Act.

Among the key recommendations made by the team is that the buffer zone be extended to cover the whole of Lamu archipelago for better conservation and protection of the island and that the under maintained informal settlements be upgraded.