Effects of human activities on river Kipranye riparian area in Kericho County, Kenya

Abstract

Governments and environmental conservationists agree that riparian resources need to be utilized sustainably to ensure the continued presence of riparian and their ecological goods and services. Ideally, sustainable use of riparian should be integrated into the national and local land use plans to ensure sustainable use and management of the resources. However, this is not the case as far as Kenya is concerned. Instead, there is rampant exploitation of riparian by individuals, organizations and even government agencies with no regard for environmental conservation. This can be done by promoting sustainability of utilization of riparian zones by ensuring that local and international regulations are in tandem with the community living in riparian zones. Therefore, the general objective of this study was undertaken to establish the effects of human activities on the River Kipranye riparian area. The specific objectives of the study were: To establish the effect of human activities on Kipranye riparian ecosystem, To assess the effect of agricultural activities on Kipranye riparian ecosystem, To find out the possible riparian policies and strategies on conservation of Kipranye riparian ecosystem. The study was grounded on by the Systems Theory and tragedy of common. The study was based on concurrent triangulation as the choice of research design which entailed combination of both qualitative and quantitative data. The target population for the study were 700 Households living upto 6km from the riparian area in the selected study area together with 1 national environment officers and 6 County environment officers that enforce regulation in the riparian zones in the study area. The sample size for the study area were 255 household members that were selected randomly with the aim of collecting quantitative data using questionnaires. Qualitative data was collected from the 6 county environment officers and 1 national environment officers through interviews. The study established that human activities such as farming, logging, construction, drilling, building and construction, and settlements were immense in the study area and they have hampered the conservation of Kipranye riparian. It also found that there is a gap in the integration of legal framework to manage the riparian is in the study area. From the findings, the study concluded that the Kipranye riparian ecosystem needs urgent redemption and reclamation. Consequently, the study recommends that the creation of awareness against these problems among local communities. Inclusion of the local communities in the conservation of the ecosystem will enable the people to take responsibility and own the solutions to the problem.