“Apart from the colobus monkey, the Tana river delta is home to a number of birds which are under threat of global extinction”, says the RSPB’s Country Programme Manager for Eastern and Southern Africa Paul Buckley.
“One bird we are particularly concerned about is called the Basra reed warbler. Actually, that’s a species which has been the subject of an international agreement to try and protect both its breeding and wintering grounds.
“In fact, that agreement was sponsored and proposed by the Kenyan government, so it’s kind of ironic because the delta is probably one of the most important places in the world.”
“The plans for the sugarcane are in fact not even viable given the amount of water in the river and the effect of the hydrology”, adds the director of Kenya’s Mwamba Bird Observatory Colin Jackson.
“It will be a total disaster if the project goes ahead and simply a money-spinner for a small number of people behind the project.”
The RSPB and local environmental group Nature Kenya have also commissioned their own consultants who have strongly disputed the company’s figures for the biofuel plant. Whereas Mumias claims that the plant will bring in an annual average of £1.25 million over 20 years, the consultants’ report calculates a yearly return of less than £400,000.
In contrast, the value of farming, fisheries, tourism and other incomes derived from land and wildlife is already more than £30 million, the consultants say. What is more, the “irreversible loss of ecosystem services” the scheme will cause “defies valuation”.
In an exclusive interview with this website, Mumias Sugar production manager John Omuyoma defended the plans and said there was broad support for the project in Kenya.