0 Cheap Roses Cost The Earth

Valentine's Day Roses Bought in UK Could 'Bleed Lake Naivasha Dry,' Warns Ecologist

ScienceDaily (Feb. 11, 2011) — A University of Leicester ecologist who has spent over 30 years researching wetland conservation at Lake Naivasha in Kenya has warned that the country is being "bled dry" by the UK's demand for fresh flowers. He called on UK supermarkets to show more concern about the health of the natural environment that the flowers come from.

Dr David Harper, of the Department of Biology, University of Leicester, has been working at Lake Naivasha as part of ongoing research and projects on the ecosystem of lakes in Kenya.

Dr Harper said UK supermarkets should do more than simply selling "Fair Trade" roses. They should look beyond the farm gate at the sustainability of the natural resource that feeds the flowers -- Lake Naivasha.

He said: "A notable few of the farmers sending roses to Europe are showing concern and an eagerness to pioneer a sustainable way forward: the best flower farms have achieved Fair Trade status, which brings money back into the workforce for social welfare improvements. Two farms have even seconded senior managers to help Kenya's water management agency at Naivasha."

He warned that increased UK supermarket promotions of flowers over Valentine's Day, and subsequently on Mother's Day, without showing concern about where or how environmentally sustainable roses can be grown, will just increase the export of water -- the scarcest natural resource in Kenya.

"There are just a few good farms but many more that don't care how much damage they do to the lake. Seventy percent of the roses sold in European supermarkets come from Kenya and the majority of those are from Naivasha, many thus coming without any ecological certification. This has to change for the future of the industry as well as the lake and the country," said Dr Harper.

Switzerland is the only country in Europe that cares about selling environmentally sustainable Kenyan roses, says Dr Harper, because the Swiss Coop -- its largest supermarket -- recycles some of its profits to fund sustainability projects at the lake.

He said: "Over the past 20 years, Lake Naivasha has been seriously degraded by over-abstraction of water. The blame has invariably been put onto flower farmers, who use irrigation to grow the roses that adorn the vases in our homes -- especially on Valentine's Day and Mother's Day.

"The ecology of the lake has deteriorated due to lack of government enforcement of the laws that regulate water abstraction, prevent over-fishing or stop clearance of wetland vegetation."

"The European supermarket leader on sustainability issues -- the Swiss Coop -- is now putting money from its profits into a feasibility study for a project, led by me and Dr Caroline Upton, a Social Scientist from the Geography Department and our PhD student, Mr Ed Morrison, which will address key issues of sustainability of the whole lake basin with key local partner organisations. These include the Kenya management agency responsible for water abstraction, local conservation groups with whom we has worked for years and an innovative new NGO, making educational films teaching people, including flower farm workers, about water and sustainability."

Dr Harper would love to see UK supermarkets following the Swiss Coop's initiative, as the German-Austrian supermarket REWE is considering doing.

"The Kenyan Government, whom I have advised through the Prime Minister's Office, has launched "Imarisha Naivasha," a campaign to bring all parties together to change damaging behaviours and enforce laws. People who live and work around the lake are showing concern and eagerness to be taught a sustainable way forward. The few farms have led the way with innovations like hydroponics for growing flowers in minimal water and wetland systems for wastewater treatment.

"But what are UK supermarkets doing?" I see nothing positive, just plenty of platitudes. The Swiss Coop is the only supermarket to look beyond the farm gate, accepting that there cannot be sustainable roses from a failing lake system, no matter how many with Fair Trade status are grown. The Swiss Coop can see that sustainable roses must come from a sustainable lake ecosystem and not just a well-run farm. It's a pity that British supermarkets are so short sighted that they cannot see this too."

Dr Harper called for UK supermarkets to accept more responsibility by promoting sustainable management policies that reach beyond the farms and help to conserve the ecosystem which will allow flowers (and profits) to flourish beside a healthy, restored lake. If the flowers they sell could show a 'water ecological footprint' customers might be able to choose more discerningly, as they presently are seeking to do with food miles.

See also.....Cheap Roses Costs The Earth

Story Source: 

The above story is reprinted from materials provided byUniversity of Leicester. Science Daily.

0 ‘Streams - Many smalls makes big’

This is a continuation of my previous post ‘Going going gone:…..’. Often, we tend to blame others, droughts, floods, bad omen or climate change for our environmental woes. But the fact is, most of environmental degradation is 'our own doing'. First, we need to take individual responsibility of our actions and also collective responsibility as a nation. The suggestions outlined here are collective, most of them on policy.

Allow me to correlate the wetlands and watersheds areas to roads. In our Kenyan Road Network, we have Class A Roads – linking Kenya to neighbouring countries. Class B Roads link major cities and towns. These two road classes are under the jurisdiction of the Ministry of Roads and Kenya National Highways Authority, for maintenance and infrastructural development. Others roads fall under the Kenya Rural Roads Authority and local government through municipals and town councils, as well as constituency funding. Correlating this road network to our wetlands and watersheds environments gives us the following: Major water towers (e.g. Mau  Complex, Mt. Kenya, Cherangani Hills, Mt. Elgon, Aberdare Ranges) and minor water towers, Big and small rivers and their catchments; Lakes, dams, swamps and marshes, springs and streams. As in the case of Class A and B roads, the major watersheds and rivers are taken care of the central government through the relevant ministries. Management of such environments requires an integrated approach that involves all stakeholders on the ground. Disparity comes in at the level of the local small rivers, springs and streams. Here, nobody seems to bother. While these are the ones that feed to the big rivers like Tana River for instance, hence being of great economic value to the nation, we only tend to see the Tana in our 'narrow' watershed management plans. We fail to see Rathithi stream, Gakui stream and Gakui spring for example, while they are the ones that recharge River Tana.

Apparently then, a river is not like a road, because if the feeder road is passable, we will still see traffic in the main, possibly tarmacked road. That does not apply with rivers. Reduced water in the stream directly means reduced volume in the main river in a direct relationship. We have to see it that way, in order to think and plan backwards.  Kenya is investing heavily on alternative electric power sources such as Geothermal and Wind Electric Power Production. Nevertheless, the country still relies heavily on Hydro-Electric Power (HEP) in its national grid and this is likely to be so for a long time to come. To get HEP, we need volume flowing through our rivers, and wisdom call us to protect the sources and tributaries of ALL rivers. Otherwise one day we wake up and darkness, factories and industries have to work half day, jobs and families are affected etc as power is rationed. Woe unto us if we think distributing free Energy Saving Bulbs can help us. Is it sustainable? That's like taking a pill for headache, heals the symptom alright, but the disease the root cause, is still there. I'd rather we use such funds to plant more trees and create awareness on the importance of protecting and conserving the watersheds.

How do we protect our springs, and the streams that the central government cannot take care of because of their apparent small size and ‘insignificance’? Over to you. I will be glad to hear about your local springs, streams and rivers...........and what local people are doing to save them!