Kenya to host global conference on lakes

World's governments and leading researchers on lakes will meet in Kenya next week to review state of lakes and explores new frontiers in their management, Kenyan officials said here Wednesday.

The 11th World Lakes Conference (WLC) to be held in Nairobi from Oct. 31 to Nov. 4 will be attended by over 500 participants including 12 ministers in charge of water/environment from across the globe, a statement from Kenya's Water and Irrigation ministry said.

The conference whose theme is Management of Lake Basin for their Sustainable Use, will be attended by world governments, top researchers on lakes, civil society, institutions of higher learning, lake management bodies, city mayors, youth and school children.

The meeting, organized by International Conference on the Conservation and Management of Lakes (ILEC) and Kenyan government, will also review progress on ongoing lake basin initiatives as well as set future goals for Lake Basin management.

This is the first time that the global assembly on lakes is taking place in the African continent.

Previous conferences have been held in Japan, the United States, Hungary, China, Italy, Argentina and Denmark.

The conference comes as leading scientists in East Africa warned that development in Lake Victoria has created fears that the lake was destined for extinction any time.

Stephen Njoka, Lake Victoria Environmental Management Program (LVEMP) Project Co-coordinator who confirmed the fears, blamed the problem on adverse climatic changes that had led to drastic decline in rainfall patterns and adverse evaporation from the lake.

Njoka said the lake, whose resources are shared by Kenya, Uganda and Tanzania depended on rainfall for 80 percent of its water, adding that it was regrettable that there has been less than enough rainfall even to replenish the 75 percent evaporation experienced.

But fishermen, shipping agents and lake transport operators blamed the receding water level on alleged massive hydroelectric power project undertaken by the Ugandan government in the country's eastern city of Jinja.

Analysts say the low water level has also interfered with lake transport and cargo ships were now forced to reduce tonnage, as loading to capacity would make the ships to get stuck at the piers.

Source: Xinhua