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"id": 127496,
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"content": "As I conclude, there is need to look for funds and Office of the Deputy Prime Minister and Minister for Finance are aware of this fact. However, we will also plead with stakeholders, business people, major international companies and friends of Kenya, who are represented here by the Ambassadors and High Commissioners. We are looking forward to making a case to all the stakeholders, who love the environment, knowing very well that what happens in Kenya will affect other countries as well. The destruction of our water towers has caused lower levels of water in our rivers. Some of our rivers have dried up. In Lake Victoria, the levels have gone down. Lake Naivasha is almost drying. We are told by our experts that in eight years time, we will not have Lake Nakuru because there is no river today that is flowing into Lake Nakuru. All the other lakes like Lake Elementaita are about to dry. The water from Lake Victoria serves other African countries. I am emphasizing that what happens in this country has devastating effects in other countries. So, we are using these facts to plead with the international community that they should come to our aid. We have both long-term and short-term requirements. If you allow me, I will read the short-term ones. For short-term interventions, adequate financial resources for the protection and the conservation of the Mau Forest Complex should be provided by the Government. Priority areas to be fully supported include boundary survey and marking, resettlement, including purchase of land, livelihood development, law enforcement and management. Just to mention a few long-term recommendations, whereas financial support can be secured from development partners, private sector and civil society organizations, the Government should take the lead as an investor in the conservation of the Mau Forest Complex. (a) Budgetary allocations should be made for forest management to match the contribution of the forests which are often undervalued. To the national economy, the valuation of the environmental services should be carried out to guide the budgetary allocations. (b) The conservation and sound management of Mau Forest Complex is not a forest, environmental or water conservation issue alone. Consequently, managing this resource should be considered a responsibility of many Ministries, in particular the Office of the Prime Minister, Ministry of Environment and Mineral Resources, Ministry of Forestry and Wildlife, Ministry of Water and Irrigation, Ministry of Lands, Ministry of Agriculture, Ministry of Industrialization, Ministry of Regional Development Authorities, Ministry of Energy, Ministry of Tourism, Ministry of Local Government, Ministry of Gender, Children and Social Development, Ministry of State for Special Programmes, Ministry of State for Provincial Administration and Internal Security and Ministry of Youth Affairs and Sports. You can see that conservation of our water towers will involve all these Ministries, and we will be going to all sorts of people to come to our aid. So, sustainable financial resource for the long term conservation of Mau Forest Complex should also be generated based on payment for service. We will bring in legislation for people who are consuming to contribute to conservation efforts. To complement Government funding, a Mau Conservation Trust Fund should be established to support mobilisation of resources."
}