Post by Bozur on Jan 26, 2006 3:04:23 GMT -5
Trouble in Kenyan Paradise: Poverty, Poaching and Death
Guillaume Bonn for The New York Times
A hippo in Lake Naivasha, where the human population has soared and many fish without licenses.
By MARC LACEY
Published: January 22, 2006
LAKE NAIVASHA, Kenya, Jan. 18 - There is trouble beneath the surface of this majestic lake in Kenya's Rift Valley.
Reuters
Joan Root, a conservationist, was killed near the lake this month.
For one thing, huge carp, introduced years back, are stirring up the bottom where tilapia, which had been the dominant fish, reproduce. Also, unlicensed fishermen are dragging finely sewn nets through the murky water, trapping species before they come of age. Then there is the pesticide problem, the sewage and the steady decline in the water level, additional signs of an ailing ecosystem.
But it is on the shoreline that Lake Naivasha's real problems lie, and this month it all led to homicide not far from the water's edge.
Joan Root, a noted conservationist, lived for decades on a prime piece of Naivasha's lakefront before gunmen stole her life. From her veranda, she could see fish eagles soaring above the trees and hear the chirping of the lilac-breasted roller and the red-billed fire finch, some of the hundreds of birds on Naivasha. Hippos would emerge from the water at night and rumble through her 88 acres of wonderland.
But like everyone else who lives around Naivasha, Ms. Root, at 69, had seen the pristine surroundings lose much of their charm. Huge flower farms bought up much of the lakefront, using the water to irrigate their roses and carnations, which are exported to Europe. Some of the farmers introduced banned pesticides into the lake, government officials say.
Even more of an affront to Ms. Root were the illegal fishermen - poachers, she called them - who treaded out along the shoreline with their nets, scooping up sackloads of undersize fish. By hauling in the juveniles, they depleted the lake's stock and cut off the eagles' food supply.
Overfishing in Naivasha has for years been at crisis levels. In 2000, the fish population collapsed, with fishermen seeing their catches drop to virtually nothing. The government, which has largely taken a hands-off approach toward Naivasha, stepped in and imposed a one-year ban on fishing.
The approach seemed at first to have the desired effect. When fishing was permitted again in 2002, authorities issued fewer commercial fishing licenses and yields grew steadily. But the human population of Naivasha grew nearly tenfold in the last 20 years, and the poor residents ringing the lake struggled to make a living. Many turned to unlicensed fishing, taking in hauls that exceeded those of the commercial operations and raising the question of whether of Naivasha was a doomed lake.
Not if Ms. Root could do anything about it. Joining with others, she helped prepare action plans aimed at protecting the fragile ecosystem. But Ms. Root got far more involved than most.
"Her dedication to conservation of wildlife was unbelievable," said Barry Gamer, a neighbor and fellow conservationist who is president of the Nakuru Wildlife Conservancy. "She was tireless at it. She never gave up."
Ms. Root, the daughter of a British settler in colonial Kenya, was a quiet but determined woman who became known for the innovative nature films she produced in the 1970's with her husband then, Alan. But in recent years, she entered a world of nefarious characters, where bribes were taken and threats were made. Ms. Root's property became the unofficial headquarters of the conservation effort - until unknown assailants crept up to her bungalow on Jan. 13 and shot her dead.
"She felt like the Titanic was sinking before her eyes, and she was trying to save it," said Dodo Cunningham-Reid, a neighbor and fellow conservationist.
The police say the men who sneaked onto her property appeared to be looking not to rob Ms. Root but to kill her. When the men spotted the light from a flashlight that she had turned on in her bedroom, they fired at it, hitting her twice in the chest, said police officers, who based their account on security guards on Ms. Root's property who had watched the attack after activating an alarm. The assailants then moved in closer, fired two more shots into Ms. Root's legs and fled, the police said.
The police have taken in four suspects for questioning, including, they say, an unlicensed fisherman and one of the men Ms. Root was paying to chase down the poachers.
If she was killed for her conservation work, she would not be the first. George Adamson, for instance, who owned a house just down the lake from Ms. Root's, was killed by poachers in 1989 near his remote lion sanctuary in Kenya.
While the investigation of Ms. Root's killing continues, it is clear that she knew in the final weeks of her life that she was a target. Intruders tried to gain entry to her home in December, but she escaped through the back door and the security man who lived on her premises fired a shot to scare the intruders away. After that incident, she reinforced the doors and windows of her house and improved the alarm system.
Ms. Root had been financing what was known as "the task force," a quasi-official group that would go out onto the lake to round up illegal fishermen. The group included government officials but was mainly made up of poachers familiar with the lake. The task force succeeded at first in reducing the illegal fishing, but then the group seemed to veer out of control.
Conservationists say some members of the task force began roughing up fishermen, stealing their catch and engaging in other rogue acts. Still, the members would visit Ms. Root for their pay.
Even after community support for the task force eroded, the men continued to come by Ms. Root's place. A friend of Ms. Root's said some of the men began to make thinly veiled threats, telling her that if she did not pay them, the poachers would get her.
Shortly before her death, the task force was disbanded and Ms. Root's payments stopped. The police are investigating whether a disgruntled task force member was behind her killing. Or perhaps, they say, it was a poacher threatened by her efforts to reduce overfishing.
"It's like a war on that lake, with so many people out to get each other," said Simon M. Kiragu, the police officer in charge in Naivasha. "It's premature to establish a motive but it looks like they hunted for her from one room to another until they got her."
Guillaume Bonn for The New York Times
A hippo in Lake Naivasha, where the human population has soared and many fish without licenses.
By MARC LACEY
Published: January 22, 2006
LAKE NAIVASHA, Kenya, Jan. 18 - There is trouble beneath the surface of this majestic lake in Kenya's Rift Valley.
Reuters
Joan Root, a conservationist, was killed near the lake this month.
For one thing, huge carp, introduced years back, are stirring up the bottom where tilapia, which had been the dominant fish, reproduce. Also, unlicensed fishermen are dragging finely sewn nets through the murky water, trapping species before they come of age. Then there is the pesticide problem, the sewage and the steady decline in the water level, additional signs of an ailing ecosystem.
But it is on the shoreline that Lake Naivasha's real problems lie, and this month it all led to homicide not far from the water's edge.
Joan Root, a noted conservationist, lived for decades on a prime piece of Naivasha's lakefront before gunmen stole her life. From her veranda, she could see fish eagles soaring above the trees and hear the chirping of the lilac-breasted roller and the red-billed fire finch, some of the hundreds of birds on Naivasha. Hippos would emerge from the water at night and rumble through her 88 acres of wonderland.
But like everyone else who lives around Naivasha, Ms. Root, at 69, had seen the pristine surroundings lose much of their charm. Huge flower farms bought up much of the lakefront, using the water to irrigate their roses and carnations, which are exported to Europe. Some of the farmers introduced banned pesticides into the lake, government officials say.
Even more of an affront to Ms. Root were the illegal fishermen - poachers, she called them - who treaded out along the shoreline with their nets, scooping up sackloads of undersize fish. By hauling in the juveniles, they depleted the lake's stock and cut off the eagles' food supply.
Overfishing in Naivasha has for years been at crisis levels. In 2000, the fish population collapsed, with fishermen seeing their catches drop to virtually nothing. The government, which has largely taken a hands-off approach toward Naivasha, stepped in and imposed a one-year ban on fishing.
The approach seemed at first to have the desired effect. When fishing was permitted again in 2002, authorities issued fewer commercial fishing licenses and yields grew steadily. But the human population of Naivasha grew nearly tenfold in the last 20 years, and the poor residents ringing the lake struggled to make a living. Many turned to unlicensed fishing, taking in hauls that exceeded those of the commercial operations and raising the question of whether of Naivasha was a doomed lake.
Not if Ms. Root could do anything about it. Joining with others, she helped prepare action plans aimed at protecting the fragile ecosystem. But Ms. Root got far more involved than most.
"Her dedication to conservation of wildlife was unbelievable," said Barry Gamer, a neighbor and fellow conservationist who is president of the Nakuru Wildlife Conservancy. "She was tireless at it. She never gave up."
Ms. Root, the daughter of a British settler in colonial Kenya, was a quiet but determined woman who became known for the innovative nature films she produced in the 1970's with her husband then, Alan. But in recent years, she entered a world of nefarious characters, where bribes were taken and threats were made. Ms. Root's property became the unofficial headquarters of the conservation effort - until unknown assailants crept up to her bungalow on Jan. 13 and shot her dead.
"She felt like the Titanic was sinking before her eyes, and she was trying to save it," said Dodo Cunningham-Reid, a neighbor and fellow conservationist.
The police say the men who sneaked onto her property appeared to be looking not to rob Ms. Root but to kill her. When the men spotted the light from a flashlight that she had turned on in her bedroom, they fired at it, hitting her twice in the chest, said police officers, who based their account on security guards on Ms. Root's property who had watched the attack after activating an alarm. The assailants then moved in closer, fired two more shots into Ms. Root's legs and fled, the police said.
The police have taken in four suspects for questioning, including, they say, an unlicensed fisherman and one of the men Ms. Root was paying to chase down the poachers.
If she was killed for her conservation work, she would not be the first. George Adamson, for instance, who owned a house just down the lake from Ms. Root's, was killed by poachers in 1989 near his remote lion sanctuary in Kenya.
While the investigation of Ms. Root's killing continues, it is clear that she knew in the final weeks of her life that she was a target. Intruders tried to gain entry to her home in December, but she escaped through the back door and the security man who lived on her premises fired a shot to scare the intruders away. After that incident, she reinforced the doors and windows of her house and improved the alarm system.
Ms. Root had been financing what was known as "the task force," a quasi-official group that would go out onto the lake to round up illegal fishermen. The group included government officials but was mainly made up of poachers familiar with the lake. The task force succeeded at first in reducing the illegal fishing, but then the group seemed to veer out of control.
Conservationists say some members of the task force began roughing up fishermen, stealing their catch and engaging in other rogue acts. Still, the members would visit Ms. Root for their pay.
Even after community support for the task force eroded, the men continued to come by Ms. Root's place. A friend of Ms. Root's said some of the men began to make thinly veiled threats, telling her that if she did not pay them, the poachers would get her.
Shortly before her death, the task force was disbanded and Ms. Root's payments stopped. The police are investigating whether a disgruntled task force member was behind her killing. Or perhaps, they say, it was a poacher threatened by her efforts to reduce overfishing.
"It's like a war on that lake, with so many people out to get each other," said Simon M. Kiragu, the police officer in charge in Naivasha. "It's premature to establish a motive but it looks like they hunted for her from one room to another until they got her."