Pollution in Lake Simbi Nyaima sends away flamingos

Lake Simbi Nyaima in Karachuonyo, Homa Bay County, is known for seasonal flamingos. But pollution and human encroachment could end all that. PHOTO | FILE | NATION MEDIA GROUP

What you need to know:

  • Lately, locals say flamingoes have stopped flocking the lake as farming, sand harvesting and other human activities opens up the lake to pollution.

  • The change has irked environmentalists who are blaming residents and authorities for neglecting the lake.

  • Willys Okeyo, chairman of Aluora Makare, a local conservation lobby in the county, has blamed residents and state agencies for the pollution.

Lake Simbi Nyaima in Karachuonyo, Homa Bay County is known for seasonal flamingos. But pollution and human encroachment could end all that.

Lately, locals say flamingoes have stopped flocking the lake as farming, sand harvesting and other human activities opens up the lake to pollution.

The change has irked environmentalists who are blaming residents and authorities for neglecting the lake.

Mr Willys Okeyo, chairman of Aluora Makare, a local conservation lobby in the county, has blamed residents and state agencies for the pollution.

HARMFUL EFFECTS

"Residents should be blamed for the land encroachment near the lake and pollution choking the lake ecosystem. The lake risks losing its tourism status," says Mr Okeyo.

The National Environment Management Authority says it has a plan to protect the lake from harmful effects but it is yet to implement the plan.

Homa Bay County Director John Maniafu told the Nation the plan involves ensuring that residents do not empty waste into the lake and that farming takes place away from the shores.

"Our plan is  to boost eco-tourism for communities living around the lake," says Mr Maniafu.

The local Luo community believes was formed due to a rainmaker’s wrath. In Dholuo, "Simbi Nyaima" means the village that sank. Some locals believe it came about a result of the villagers' greed and arrogance.

CRATER LAKE

Legend has it that there once existed a community on the site. The village, however, disappeared in a violent storm when residents refused to shelter and feed an old woman who sought refuge there, creating a large depression that formed Lake Simbi Nyaima.

Mythical as it is, geologists say it is a crater lake formed about six centuries ago as a result of earthquakes accompanied by volcanic eruptions.

Lake Simbi Nyaima is a seasonal home of migrating flamingos.

They arrive from lakes in the Rift Valley, such as Nakuru, Baringo, Natron and Elementaita, every year.

SPECIALISED DIET

According to Mr Okeyo, flamingos require a very highly-specialised diet and habitat.

"The increasing rise in the water levels due floods adversely affects the ecosystem of the lake. On the other hand, during the dry season when the lake recedes, drought and pollution destroy the flamingos' food," said Mr Okeyo.

"Promoting eco-tourism within the region and implementing measures to reduce pollution can make Lake Simbi a more hospitable habitat for these exotic birds is key," he adds.

The lake has been identified by the Lake Region Economic Bloc as a potential tourism site.

According to the Lake Region Economic Bloc blueprint developed by the Deloitte, the lake is listed as a potential site that is yet to be tapped in the western Kenya tourism circuit.

ALLOCATE FUNDS

The deteriorating state of the lake has attracted attention of other local environmental lobbies such as the Lake Simbi Nyaima conservancy which is seeking to have the ecosystem of the lake restored.

In 2014, the Homa Bay County government had allocated funds to have the protected from encroachment and pollution through fencing, but that has not been done.

County tourism and culture chief officer Julius Opala said the matter of conserving the ecosystem of Lake Simbi Nyaima is in the county's plan.

"We seek to engage local communities around the lake so that they protect it instead of endangering its ecosystem," says Mr Opala.