Conservation – Mazingira Yetu

Eurofishion Song Contest 2020

Sam Dindi — Thu, 29 Oct 2020 13:27:33 +0000

MAZINGIRA YETU SONG BY LARRY WINS THE EUROFISHION 2020 SONG CONTEST

World Fish Migratory Day is one day global celebration to create awareness of open Rivers and migratory fish. This international day of events is coordinated by the World Fish Migration Foundation. On world Fish Migration Day organizations from around the world coordinate their own event around the common theme of: CONNECTING FISH, RIVERS AND PEOPLE.

Eurofishion song contest on October 24^th, 2020 is part of global event about raising awareness for migratory fish and free flowing rivers. This contest is inspired by the famous Eurovision song contest, which was originally held on the same day. Their theme ‘’open up’’ inspired the World Fish migration foundation to use this momentum for river restoration and fish migration, because fish need open rivers.

The 2020 Eurofishion contest was the first time it was being held and it attracted 40 entries from across the world that attracted participants from every age. The 40 submissions were whittled down to 10 incredible finalist from New Zealand, Kenya, South Africa, Spain, Netherlands, Czech republic, England and the U.S.A.

A global audience was able to watch the 10 amazing videos together with the judges in a two hour zoom session Eurofishion-The Fishy Finale hosted by the World Fish migration secretariat and had a chance to place their comments and ask questions to each of the artist. The third place winner was the (save the fish by North west Children’s choir -nwcc-south Africa . The song was written and composed by an 11 year old Nico Smit that aims at promoting healthy free flowing rivers and the conservation of the fishes living in them.

The second place was swim on up by time-crawls from USA. The song was adapted from suber up and written by Ajr. The song is about the need of the salmons to enjoy free flowing rivers in order to enable them migrate from the ocean to the rivers and this can be achieved if obstacles like dams are removed from the rivers.

The overall winner was Mazingira yetu by Lawrence ochieng (Larry) and Shamir from Kenya. The song was written by Lawrence Ochieng and Shamir, audio recorded by Hit box studios , the video was done by sound34media and supported by Mazingira Yetu Organisation . Mazingira yetu (Our environment) was inspired by the ongoing restoration of River Ngong in Kibra sub county. Pollution of the Rivers in Nairobi through poor solid waste disposal, raw sewer and blocking of rivers is affecting the movement of fish or even killing them all together. Mazingira yetu song highlights the need of each and everyone to play a role in the quest of ensuring our rivers are free from pollution in order to make them habitable to aquatic life forms like fish.

A changed world after Covid-19

Sam Dindi — Mon, 22 Jun 2020 07:58:29 +0000

A changed world after Covid-19

by Victoria Wangui

The natural world is thriving as human beings are keeping a distance from each other and the outside world. However, let’s all note that nature has always been minding its own business in its own spaces even in our polluted cities. Birds have always been chirping, lions have been roaring, elephants have been transecting landscapes but we seem never to realize this unless we take some time to tune in to nature. Most species in the animal and plant kingdom, have not had life any easier as their habitats get destroyed, the paths used by their ancestors are filled with human settlements and they have become food and in worse cases their body parts have become medicine and statuses of wealth. Our current situation, the corona virus pandemic, should be a stark image of the damage humans have done and will continue to do to the planet if and only if action, policies and strategies to leave the world a better place are not put in place.

Let us now more than ever remember who we are; a part of nature at a time when a virus – Covid – 19 has taken a toll on our health, our systems and our economy.

As people across the world are connecting to their homes, let us remember that we would like to keep our houses clean, washing our hands often, sanitizing every corner to ensure Covid – 19 does not thrive. Let us also think about other species with which we share this earth. We pollute their environment, their homes, and since they have no ability to sanitize their surroundings, they run away or become part of the endangered species list. We keep our food clean at all times but are we making sure that food for other creatures and even plants is kept clean and safe or are we okay with dumping plastic and chemical waste everywhere with no regard to what other species will eat? In some cases we even choose to eat wild animals in large numbers.

Many animals are carriers of diseases. A term known as zoonosis is used to describe “a disease which can be transmitted to humans from animals”. In this effect, a study proposes that pangolins are the most likely link between the corona virus, bats and humans. To stop the spread of corona virus, China imposed a total ban on trade and consumption of wild animals. This brings in the story of Ebola and how it spread across central Africa. According to the World Health Organization (WHO), Ebola is a virus that is transmitted to people from wild animals and spreads in the human population through human-to-human transmission.

As we contemplate the damage we have been doing to the world, including ourselves, let’s develop a collective consciousness on how we are interacting with the planet to prevent future epidemics that will cost us even more than we are now experiencing. The skies have become so clear I could imagine it’s the first time for many people to see clear blue skies. The planet thrives with us locked in isolation for those who must, while others have to adhere to curfews and strict social distancing policies.

However, this does not mean the planet does not need us. We have evolved with the planet from time immemorial. We have impacted the evolution of some species and we have caused the extinction of others. At this particular time, with a pandemic breaking our economy which seems to be driving the human race to rethink what we do, we need to think more clearly about how and why we do what we do. We can choose to drive more species into extinction thereby threatening our own species, or we can choose to co-exist as our ancestors did.

We are social animals and cannot afford to lock ourselves in self-isolation for a prolonged period of time. We desire socialization. It’s in our DNA. Imagine if we didn’t have the internet, how would this experience have been? When we come through this we should remember our impacts as the human race. Climate change is a pandemic and the response, energy and techniques given to the Corona virus need to be reallocated to address not only climate change but poverty, access to education and global health care.

THE AFTERMATHS OF SIO RIVER BANKS BURSTINGS 2020.

Sam Dindi — Tue, 16 Jun 2020 08:32:56 +0000

THE AFTERMATHS OF SIO RIVER BANKS BURSTINGS 2020.

By Caxton G Juma. Coordinator, Samia Ecosystems CBO)

River Sio bursting it's banks has tremendously affected the farming community living adjacent in various ways, more specifically agricultural, ecological, health and economical brackets. During the flooding most of the farmers crops fields were submerged under waters as the flooding came two months after
planting when the crops height was over the knees. The floods have stayed for 3 months. During which all crops beneath waters on the farms were destroyed. Due to the prolonged floods on farming fields, the soils was saturated with water and eventually the soils turned acidic, a condition that hardly supports terrestrial crops life.

This soils acidic conditions might require some intervention measures to reclaim the affected farming fields back to its normal crops production. There also has been acute soil erosion due to large volumes of surface runoff as saturated soils could not withstand heavy rains experienced during this unusual erratic
long rains against the usual long seasonal rains that used to benefit the farmers with high crops yields. This situation entirely have subjected farmers to massive crops destruction. The crops field yields are by no means any harvest for the farmers eventually there is much hunger now and, until next season of
planting probably during short rains towards end of the year.

Ecological effects of Sio River flood evidently have been adverse. Firstly, the top soils microorganisms which supports crop growth have been destroyed due to prolonged floods submerging the farming fields. The mongoose that have been feeding on snakes in the ecosystem have drown and much numbers killed because the wetlands was saturated with water for prolonged period. They have faced extinction because on the main landscape they only scavenge on poultry unlike in the wetlands they feed on snakes, birds, caged black snails and fish among others insects.

A lot of biodiversity in the wetlands have River banks bursting eg Bees among other been tremendously affected by the Sio insects. Birds like guinea fowl also hibernated due to prolonged floods as they normally nest on the ground of wetlands. Sio Siteko wetlands for the first time witnessed massive pollution by on-farm chemicals washed by surface runoff from the farming fields as the floods waters in the wetlands would smell and even change the colour to black and whoever stepped in would itch on body contact. There is Lake Victoria back flow along the mouth of Sio River for the first time in history of Samia Sub County and unlike the case of Budalangi along the mouth of River Nzoia that has been common. Subsequently, fish populations have been affected as fishing require deep lake unlike when fish catch was evident along the Sio River mouth which experience much silt deposits and pollution from on-farm chemicals.

Siltation is rampant due to sugar cane plantation that Busia Sugar Company has tried to establish on Sio Siteko wetlands on wetlands encroachment because had they observed community participation on the entry point they would not be encountering the losses.