Kenya pushing for three of its lakes to join the World Heritage Site list

Kenya has submitted Lakes Nakuru, Bogoria and Elementaita for inclusion in the prestigious Unesco World Heritage List, meaning that the country is likely to benefit from global conservation funds.

Being in the World Heritage List means that a cultural site or landscape has been recognised for its unique universal value to humankind.

Once listed, sites cease to be the property of the host country and become a global property.

Thus, if listed, the three lakes will receive funds from Unesco for conservation and protection of the Kenya Lakes System.

Kenya already has four sites in the World Heritage List: Lamu Stone Town, the Kaya Forests, Mt Kenya National Park and Lake Turkana National Park.

The three lakes provide unique biodiversity and sustain 75 per cent of the globally threatened population of the Lesser Flamingos, Lesser Kestrel and White-headed Vulture among others.

This exceeds the one per cent global threshold for congregations making the Kenya Lakes System a critical site for the conservation of Lesser Flamingos in the world.

Besides, the three lakes form an important stopover site for the migratory birds flying in from other sites in Europe, Asia and South Africa.

Thus, the system is part of global network of Important Bird Areas, migratory flyway and wetlands of global significance.

Besides, the zone supports significant populations of threatened mammal species like the black and white rhino, the African wild dog, lion, cheetah, and leopard.

However, a round trip of the three lakes reveals that human activities such as farming, destruction of forests, poaching and excessive exposure to tourists threaten these fragile ecosystems and call for elaborate conservation efforts.

Secondly, the local community around Lake Bogoria, the Endorois, are apprehensive that listing is tantamount to auctioning their natural resources.

As a result, they want evidence that they are likely to benefit from the listing.

The nomination is the first phase of a serial national and transnational nomination of sites within the Great Rift Valley covering several countries in the region.

Officially known as the Kenya Lakes System in the Great Rift Valley, they can be compared with the St. Lucia World Heritage site of South Africa.