River Yala Water Fund Lead and Co-Director Dr. Stella Wanjala led the WWANC team during the GEF 8 Design mission that aimed at collecting public views on the Yala-Nyando Conservation Water Fund.
The week-long design mission was spearheaded by the Ministry of Environment, Climate Change and Forestry, IFAD, and The Nature Conservancy (TNC).
Yala-Nyando Conservation Water Fund will involve the community in the efforts to restore, conserve, and protect the larger Yala ecosystem.
Ms. Agnes Yobterik, Director of Programs, Projects, and Strategic Initiatives in the Directorate of Environment led the team in collecting public views from various stakeholders in Nandi, Kakamega, Vihiga, Kisumu and Kericho counties.
She noted that the Project targets to save the larger Yala ecosystem through nature-based solutions and also offer alternative sources of income to communities living within the ecosystem.
She said the design mission aimed at involving the community in getting interventions that will be managed and implemented in the restoration, conservation, and protection of the larger River Yala ecosystem.
“The interventions we are looking at must be nature-based solutions and we have to align them with the national government priorities,” she said.
In her remarks, Dr. Stella mentioned that the community is the cornerstone of any development project noting that the community should be supported with alternative livelihoods as they conserve the environment.
She suggested poultry keeping, aquaculture, apiculture, indigenous tree nursery establishment, and involving youths in conservation efforts as part of the interventions.
Mr. Ronald Ajengo (IFAD) and Mr. Fred Kihara (TNC) underscored the importance of watershed management in protecting the ecosystem and addressing environmental degradation.
