Global News - June 2008

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Experts warn biofuel plan could harm Kenyan delta

Tue 24 June 2008 14:00 UK — Africa,Elephants, Rhinos, Hippos

Local wildlife groups have warned that recent plans to turn a wetland area of Kenya into land that biofuel crops are grown on could threaten rare animals and birds.

Reuters reported that around 207 square kilometres of the Tana River Delta could be planted with sugar cane to provide fuel.

However, wildlife groups have warned that this could threaten 350 species of birds, lions, elephants, rare sharks and reptiles.

One conservationist, Paul Matiku, told the news agency: "The Tana's ecology will be destroyed yet the economic gains will be pitiful. It will seriously damage our priceless national assets and will put the livelihoods of the people living in the delta in jeopardy."

Reuters added that it was unable to contact any Kenyan officials for comment on the subject.

The Tana is Kenya's largest river, running for nearly 1,014 kilometres from Mount Kenya and the Aberdare Mountains to the Indian Ocean. Its banks are the only place in the world where rare Hunter's antelopes live.

At the river's delta, numerous animals are found, including hippos, reedbuck, topi, buffalos, bushbuck and elephants. It is also famed for its birdlife, with flocks of egrets, pelicans, ibis and storks on every sandbank.

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