Kisumu
  20/12/07
 
EAST AFRICAN COUNTRIES TO DRAFT LAWS ON INVASIVE SPECIES.

By Leo Odera Omolo

Kenya, Uganda and Tanzania are among 10 African countries set to draft laws on invasive species such as Lake Victoria water hyacinth weeds.

To achieve this 20 parliamentarians and legal experts from 10 East and Southern African countries were recently trained in drafting legal and institutional framework for the management of such species.

The training took place in the Kenyan capital Nairobi and the other countries are Ethiopia, Ghana, Lesotho, Malawi, Mozambique, Swaziland and Zambia.

The training course was sponsored by the World Bank and it will help policy and legal experts draft policy documents to prevent and manage the spread of invasive species in their countries.

It involves equipping the participants with skills on key issues such as effective identifications and monitoring of ways, in which the species are introduced, regulatory and enforcement challenges; and ways to promote regional and international co-operation and collaboration in the fight against such species.

According to the World Bank, many countries in Africa lack the capacity and infrastructure to central and manage the spread of invasive species.

The Bank warns that if not controlled, such species can cause serious ecological, environment and health effects.

Adverse impact of invasive species can impede economic growth and the geographical range of their spread are increasing with the rise in international trade, travel and transport, climate change is expected to further exacerbate this problem.

Invasive species are non-native species – plants annuals and microorganism that are accidentally or intentionally introduced to new geographical areas or ecosystem. Despite their threat to biodiversity and economic development, these species rarely receive the consideration from policy – makers especially in Africa, says Dennis Rangi, chairman of the Global Invasive Species Programme.

In Kenya, invasive alien species that has caused particularly significant environment and economic damage in the water hyacinth in Lake Victoria. It has caused environmental degradation.

A free-floating aquatic plant believed to have come from tropical America, the water hyacinth has reduced the fish population in the lake through de- oxygenation of water, hindered operations at a hydroelectric plant and caused electrophication of water leading to adverse impacts on domestic, agricultural and industrial uses of the lake.

It has sent the prices of fish skyrocketing. The popular fish species such as tilapia and the economically important Nile Perch have disappeared.

It has also increased the cost of purifying water due to higher concentration of suspended delaying organic matter. The annual cost of the ‘’hyacinth infestation’’ has been estimated at between USD 66 million and USD 10 million.

Invasive species in other African countries have had similarly damaging effects. In Tanzania, for instance, it is estimated that the larger grain borer (Prostephanus trancatus) caused more than USD 90 million in maize losses annually.

In South Africa, wattle and other foreign trees are taking over the mountain catchments areas around Cape Town, and experts warn that if they continue at current rates, they may reduce water supply to the city, by as much as 30 per cent.

Globally, the damage caused by invasive species has been estimated at close to USD 1.5 trillion annually – about five per cent of global gross domestic product (GDP).

In developing countries where agriculture accounts for a higher proportion of GDP, the negative impact of invasive species on food security and economic development is estimated to be close to 20 per cent of GDP.

Ends.

leooderaomolo@yahoo.com