Tracing the Possible Root Causes for Fleeing Flamingos in Kenya’s Lake Nakuru National Park

A Fishbone diagram was used to identify possible root causes for the diminishing number of flamingos in Kenya’s Lake Nakuru by analyzing twelve authenticated articles published in 2007. Human activities at the lake’s catchment area particularly deforestation was found to be the major cause for the flamingo situation in the lake. Wanton destruction of vegetation at the Mau Forest Complex has caused rivers to dry up, therefore reducing the inflow of water into the lake. Due to negligible monetary benefits from tourism trickling down to host communities in Kenya, the poor population in Nakuru’s upstream strives to make ends meet through agriculture and exploitation of forest products, unaware of the detrimental impacts of their actions on the flamingos downstream that attracts over 200,000 tourists annually. This necessitates adoption of an integrated, sustainable development approach in planning and management of the resources. Keywords: Lake Nakuru; Tourism; Fleeing Flamingos; Sustainable development; Deforestation; Climate change; Pollutio

An African dilemma : pastoralists, conservationists and tourists - reconciling conflicting issues in Kenya

Kenya is facing irreconcilable tensions by competing interests from conservationists, tourism developers and pastoralists. Concerns arising from the well-being of flora and, in particular, fauna by conservationists; tourists and commercial tourism; and the increasingly restricted use of traditional lands and herding animals by pastoralist indigenous communities, have populated the discourse of land use in Kenya. In this paper, we look into the varying perceptions of each group of stakeholders and seek to analyse the current narrative that gives priority to wildlife protection and the commercial exploitation of wildlife through high-end tourism development to the detriment of the rights and interests of pastoralism. As pastoral land becomes more appropriated, our analysis shows that the antagonistic relationship between conservationism, commercial tourism and pastoralism is likely to deteriorate. We therefore propose a more participatory model of tourism development that will allow pastoralist communities to have a voice in the process