Will your Valentines Day kill wildlife in Kenya?

Lake Naivasha (credit: joebeone)

Kenya is a fast growing flower supplier. One in three roses sold in the UK will come from Kenya. Over the last few days Virgin Atlantic has flown in 15 tonnes of roses from Kenya for Valentines Day on Monday. That is a 44% increase in numbers supplied last year. Unfortunately some of Kenya’s 5,000 plus flower farms are having a devastating impact on Lake Naivasha.

Lake Naivasha – a dying wildlife oasis.

Lying in the Great Rift Valley to the north of Nairobi, Lake Naivasha stretches across 139km² and is one of the most important freshwater sources in the region. The lake has become a hub for the rapidly expanding cut flower export market of the country. Uncontrolled extraction of water from the lake is now degrading the quality of the eco-system in the area.

The swamps and wetlands around Lake Naivasha are slowly drying up as water is extracted from the lake. As the farms that line the shores of the lake suck in water they also release waste water that is packed full of chemicals and pesticides. This has had a devastating impact on the aquatic organisms of the lake. Pesticides are known to bioaccumlate as they move up the food chain and this puts pressure on birds and wildlife of the area.

The lake was once a good source of food for local residents and fishing was plentiful for the locals. Last year though due to chemical contamination of the lake and fish, fishing was banned. With drought being a regular occurrence in Kenya the loss of a quality freshwater resource due to pesticide contamination could have major consequences for the local population.

As water levels in the lake drop – the flower farms pump directly from the lake for free – wildlife such as hippo’s pay the price. Lake Naivasha is a hot spot for wildlife tourism and the tourism industry comes second behind the flower farms for the economy of the area. Naivasha was once considered to be one of the top 10 birdwatching sites in the world – and then the flower farms started to move in. Some researchers have estimated that at current use the lake will be dried up and useless for both growing flowers and wildlife within 20 years.

Supermarkets have a responsibility to sustainable flower growing.

A University of Leicester ecologists who has been studying the wetlands of Lake Naivasha for 30 years, Dr David Harper, has now warned that our demand for fresh flowers is bleeding the lake dry. He is calling on British supermarkets to follow the lead of the Swiss Co-op and take a more active interest in the sustainability of their supplies. The Swiss Co-op channels some of it’s profits from flower sales back into the region and into sustainability projects.

Dr Harper warned that increased UK supermarket promotions of flowers over Valentine’s Day and 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.

Dr Harper points out that there is a lack of enforcement by authorities over both extraction of water from the lake and also the clearance of wetland vegetation for additional growing lands.

“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”, he said.

Dr Harper is calling on UK based supermarkets to follow the lead of the Swiss Co-op. Leading German supermarket chain REWE is currently looking at following the Swiss lead.

Fairtrade flowers are just a step in the right direction.

Sadly less than a handful of the flower farms around Lake Naivasha have Fairtrade designation. This means that protection of the environment falls on the buying power of the supermarkets to require minimum standards to be met in order to protect the lake’s eco-system. In turn the supermarkets will only respond to the buying power of it’s customers. If customers refuse to buy roses that are not produced sustainably then the supermarket giants will change their buying habitats – they don’t want to buy flowers that they can not sell.

While buying Fairtrade certified flowers may not be the perfect solution – there have been problems in the past with Fairtrade standards not being met by suppliers – it is a step in the right direction. Look for the Fairtrade symbol when you buy your flowers but remember it is only a step in the right direction and there’s still a long way to go to protect the wealth of biodiversity found around Lake Naivasha.

Fairtrade growers at Lake Naivasha tend to have lower direct impacts on the lake itself . They use modern hydroponic techniques which uses less chemicals. some have their own bore hole from which to extract water from the ground rather than extracting from the lake directly. But the impact of failing groundwater levels on the lake needs to be studied. One Fairtrade supplier, Oserian Flowers has established wildlife corridors across their land to allow wildlife from Hells Gate National Park to have access to Lake Naivasha.

When you go out to buy a Valentines Day treat for your loved one this weekend show a bit of love for the hippos and elephants of Kenya. Look for the Fairtrade symbol or preferably buy a European grown rose if you must buy a flower.