Save Lamu Calls Upon NEMA to Refuse Issuance of ESIA License for Lamu Port

Save Lamu has called upon the National Management Environmental Authority (NEMA) to refuse the issuance of an Environmental and Social Impact Assessment (ESIA) License for a proposed Lamu Port, which environmentalists say will destroy delicate marine life and choke coral reefs and mangroves. A report by Reuters states that the Kenyan government is spear heading a $25.5 billion project to link landlocked South Sudan and Ethiopia to the Indian Ocean port of Lamu by constructing a major highway, a railway and an oil pipeline, which would take many years. The Kenyan government recently awarded a Chinese firm the first tender for the Lamu Port Project. Save Lamu has criticized the report published by the ESIA, citing lack of proper methodology, poor consultation, and inadequate mitigation plans. Researches acknowledged that the study was carried out in haste, overlooking numerous steps. Among many other concerns, marine surveys were not undertaken due the Ministry of Transport’s financial constraints.

Lamu Island falls within a UNESCO World Heritage Site. Its ecosystem has worldwide recognition as one of the richest along the coastline of East Africa. Its preservation and protection is a point of national significance, as well as an international concern. Other concerns, besides inadequate research, listed in Save Lamu’s petition to NEMA include inadequate assessment of project alternatives and a lack of comprehensive public consultation which is required under the Kenyan Constitution. Save Lamu’s petition to NEMA is available here.

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Katiba Institute's Strategic Litigation Conference in Nairobi

On 1 March 2013, Gino Cocchiaro (Natural Justice) attended a regional forum on Litigating Minority/Vulnerable Groups’ Rights in Nairobi, Kenya. The forum was organized by the Katiba Institute which works to promote the understanding and implementation of the Kenyan Constitution. The workshop provided an opportunity for lawyers involved in public interest law from a number of east African countries, including Kenya, Tanzania, Burundi, Rwanda, to share lessons on strategies and on litigating on behalf of minority or vulnerable groups. Natural Justice was invited to present on the use of biocultural rights as a strategy for securing minority rights and community protocols as a tool to strengthen minority communities' capacity to advocate for themselves.

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Submission to UN Working Group on Human Rights and Transnational Corporations and Other Business Enterprises

On 1 March 2013, Natural Justice with the Centre for Indigenous Knowledge and Organisational Development (CIKOD) made a further submission to the United Nations Working Group on Human Rights and Transnational Corporations and Other Business Enterprises regarding indigenous peoples, business and human rights.

The submission was in response to a concept and discussion note prepared by the Working Group, given its decision to submit a thematic report to the 68th session of the General Assembly that will focus on the situation of indigenous peoples with regard to the prevention of negative impacts of business activities on the rights of indigenous peoples.

Public consultations were held on 14 February 2013 in Geneva and these, and other, submissions addressed the following focus questions:

1. Focus: What specific issues and challenges should the Working Group take into account in drafting this report? 
2. Existing guidance and standards: What existing standards and documents should the Working Group take into account in drafting this report? 
3. Existing practices and initiatives: What existing practices and initiatives should the Working Group take into account in drafting this report?
4. What focused insight can the Working Group bring to the issue of business impacts on indigenous peoples, given the role and thematic scope of other UN bodies on the rights of indigenous peoples? 
5. The submissions included case studies on gold mining in Tanchara, Ghana and Lamu, Kenya. 

This, and other submissions, are available here.

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LAPSSET Dialogue Meeting in Nairobi

On 15 February 2013, Gino Cocchiaro (Natural Justice) attended a stakeholder dialogue meeting on the on-going plans and sharing of updates on the implementation of the Lamu Port and Lamu Southern Sudan-Ethiopia Transport Corridor (LAPSSET) in Nairobi, Kenya. The meeting was facilitated by Save Lamu and included over 50 participants from communities affected by LAPSSET, national civil society organisations, multinational organisations and Kenyan government agencies. The meeting resulted in the drafting and adoption of a statement on the aspirations and concerns of communities affected by LAPSSET projects. 

From the statement, “As communities that have long been disenfranchised, and that are in dire need of development, we commend the Kenyan government for its commitment to upgrading and modernising the country’s infrastructure as per the proposed Lamu Port, South-Sudan, Ethiopia Transport (LAPSSET) Corridor outlined in the Government of Kenya’s 'Vision 2030'. We appreciate the need for connecting communities along the northern corridor to facilitate national and international trade. However, we are deeply concerned by the lack of community consultation and transparency in the implementation of the project and hereby wish to express our concerns.” 

Read more about the meeting here. Download the community statement here.

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Pastoralist BCP Programme Planning - Nairobi

Natural Justice's Gino Cocchiaro met with Life Africa Trust, Kivulini Trust and the Marsabit Accountability Forum in Nairobi, Kenya on 14 February. The meeting was to plan the two-year programme, supported by the GEF Small Grants Programme, that is being coordinated by the organisations to support the Borana and Samburu pastoralist communities to strengthen community governance systems through the development of community protocols with the aim of enhancing resource management and securing community land. Throughout the project Natural Justice will partner with Kenyan lawyers to build the capacity of the Borana and Samburu to proactively claim their resource and land rights.

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Major Court Victory for Tana River Delta Communities

Photo via www.facebook.com/pages/Kenweb

In a significant victory for community land rights, the Kenyan High Court Judge Mumbi Ngugi has ruled that all land use plans for the Tana River Delta must be developed with the full participation of local communities. The Court also ordered that the Tana and Athi Rivers Development Authority must share current short and long term land use plans and that plans will be periodically reviewed. The ruling is a major triumph as tens of thousands of hectares of multi-use floodplain would have been converted for sugar cane production under the current plan and many residents of the Delta were to be removed. 

The case was brought by representatives of farmers, fishermen, pastoralists and conservation groups in the Tana River Delta and sought to halt large-scale commercial developments in the Tana River Delta until a master plan was developed. They were supported by the Kenya Wetlands Biodiversity Research Team with funding from the East African Wildlife Society and Nature Kenya. 

Read more about the ruling from the East African Wildlife Society’s press release here and the Business Daily here.

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Major Publication on Multi-Stakeholder Processes

Natural Justice’s co-facilitator of the African BCP Initiative, ETC COMPAS, has released a significant new publication, “Power Dynamics in Multi-Stakeholder Processes: A Balancing Act,” together with six other Dutch development NGOs. The publication, which has been released together with a web portal with relevant resources, summarises lessons learned from 12 multi-stakeholder process case studies in eight nations across Africa, Asia and Central America. The report includes documentation from two biocultural community protocol processes in Ghana and Kenya that Natural Justice supported. The web portal includes country case reports, videos and evaluation reports from the research programme. 

From the report, “this publication is a result of the Thematic Learning Programme (TLP) ‘Strategically dealing with power dynamics in multistakeholder processes’ (2011-2012) in which seven Dutch development NGOs investigated how they could address and incorporate a deeper understanding of these power dynamics in their work. This topic is important, because MSPs involve issues in complex contexts: land conflicts, natural resource conflicts or farmers at the bottom of the value chain. MSPs are not always harmonious; the stakes are generally higher for some than for others and the various actors may not necessarily have the same level of representation at the table. This TLP aimed to draw lessons for the different organizations involved and to enable them to deal better with power dynamics in MSPs.” 

The portal can be accessed here. The entire report can be downloaded here.

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New Report on Sacred Natural Site Protection in Kenya

As Sacred Natural Sites in Kenya and around the world are increasingly threatened, the African Biodiversity Network, the Institute of Culture and Ecology and The Gaia Foundation have released a new report on the protection of Sacred Natural Sites entitled “Recognising Sacred Natural Sites and Territories in Kenya.” The report was commissioned after the enactment of Kenya’s new Constitution in 2010 and authored by Adam Hussein Adam. 

The report is targeted at communities, civil society, lawyers and policy makers. It examines how the Constitution, national and international laws can support the recognition of Sacred Natural Sites and their community governance systems. It makes recommendations for securing greater recognition of Sacred Natural Sites and Territories, and the rights and responsibilities of the communities who protect these sites. It also explores some of the issues which need to be addressed in the pending Community Land Act in Kenya.  

The executive summary can be downloaded here. The full report can be downloaded here.

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Presentation to GEF SGP - Kenya

Natural Justice was invited to present at a meeting of the GEF Small Grants Programme (SGP) Kenyan National Steering Committee on 9 November, 2012. The National Steering Committee includes representatives from  governmental, intergovernmental and civil society bodies such as the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP), the Global Environment Facility (GEF), the Kenyan Ministry of Environment, Kenya Wildlife Service, Kenya Forest Service, WWF and Oxfam. It provides support to community based environment projects in the country with the aim of environmental conservation and sustainable livelihood development. Gino Cocchiaro presented on the work of Natural Justice, focusing on biocultural rights and biocultural community protocols as mechanisms to support the wellbeing of communities, conservation and sustainable use of biodiversity.

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Kenyan Civil Society Meeting on ICCAs

Natural Justice's Gino Cocchiaro attended a meeting of Kenyan civil society representatives investigating the promotion of Indigenous peoples' and community conserved territories and  areas (ICCAs)  on 7 November, 2012, in Nairobi, Kenya. During the meeting, which was facilitated by the GEF Small Grants Programme and UNDP, Natural Justice presented on the recently completed Kenyan ICCA legal review, developed by Natural Justice and its partners, and on biocultural community protocols, a legal tool being used by communities in Kenya to secure their ICCAs. Through its BCP Initiative, Natural Justice continues to work closely with Kenyan partners and lawyers to assist communities in the development and use of their BCPs and as they attempt to shape and leverage national law and policy that respect their territories and waters.

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Major Conference on Land Grabbing

Via www.cornell-landproject.org/

As international investors continue to buy large swathes of land in 'developing' nations, the Cornell University Department of Sociology and the Land Deal Politics Initiative hosted "Global Land Grabbing II: An International Conference on Large-Scale Land Deals" from 17-19 October, 2012. The conference built on the Global Land Grabbing conference held at the University of Sussex in 2011 and included papers and presentations on land grabbing from across the 'developing world.'

One paper considered land tenure security amongst the Boni community of Lamu County, Kenya, a community participating the Lamu biocultural community protocol process that Natural Justice is supporting. The paper was presented by Abdirizak Arale Nunow and is entitled "The Displacement and Dispossession of the Aweer (Boni) Community: The Kenya Government dilemma on the new Port of Lamu." The paper is based on "on-going research that is aimed at establishing and documenting the extent of displacement of Lamu communities, particularly the minority Boni, by the development of the new Port of Lamu with a view to recommending policy measures that may contribute towards the amelioration of the problem."

Download the paper on the displacement of the Boni here. Find all of the papers from the Global Land Grabbing conference here. Learn more about the conference here. 

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Tana River Delta a Wetland of International Importance - Kenya

Tana River Delta via www.ramsar.org

The Tana River Delta in Kenya, which includes part of Lamu County, has been officially designated as a Wetland of International Importance by the Kenyan government. According to the Secretariat of the Ramsar Convention on wetlands, the Delta covers 163,600 hectares, is an Important Bird Area in Coast Province, and is the “second most important estuarine and deltaic ecosystem in Eastern Africa.” The delta comprises a variety of freshwater, floodplain, estuarine and coastal habitats with extensive and diverse mangrove systems, marine brackish and freshwater intertidal areas, pristine beaches and shallow marine areas, forming productive and functionally interconnected ecosystems. Kenya presently has six Ramsar Sites, covering an area of 265,449 hectares.

Read more about the Tana River Delta's new designation here. Learn more about the Ramsar Convention here. 

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In-Depth Article on Tana River Massacre

After the tragic loss of more than 50 Kenyans on 22 August in Riketa, a village in Kenya's Tana River Delta, numerous commentators identified long-standing conflict between the agricultural Orma community and the pastoralist Pokomo. Paul Goldsmith, a researcher who has worked with Natural Justice in Lamu, has drafted an in-depth article for the East African that challenges some of these assumptions. He notes that "nothing in the literature alludes to a long-standing state of conflict between herders and farmers in this area," and argues rather that "symbiotic relations between mobile producers of animal protein and carbohydrate producing agriculturalists was a basic prerequisite for the emergence of the mono-cultural pastoralism practised by the Orma and their Somali counterparts." He concludes that rather than drawing from timeless animosity, "recent Orma-Pokomo conflict stems from the expansion of riverine farms that block herders’ access to the river," a development which took place in the early 2000s. 

The full East African article can be accessed here. 

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OPDP Seeking Interns in Kenya

Via www.ogiekpeoples.org

Natural Justice partner the Ogiek Peoples' Development Program (OPDP) is seeking two interns to support their work in their Nakuru, Kenya office. OPDP seeks to "provide a springboard from which Ogiek community," a marginalised indigenous community in western Kenya, "can take a lead role in articulating and advancing their developments, aspirations, priorities and social needs." The positions, one focused on human rights and the other on website design and development, will be for a minimum of eight weeks. The positions are currently unfunded but OPDP can work with prospective interns to source funding support. Accommodation will be provided by OPDP. 

Read more about the positions below. 

Ogiek Peoples’ Development Program (OPDP) - Nakuru, Kenya

Internship Position Opening (2 persons) – 

(i) Human Rights

(ii) Website Designer and developer

The Ogiek Peoples’ Development Program is currently accepting applications for the position of Human Rights Intern and Website designer & Developer. This position is available to Kenyan and non-Kenyan undergraduate or Postgraduate students who have demonstrated experience in human rights or in the field of Information systems or website designing and development. This is an unfunded positions but OPDP will work with prospective interns to assist them to apply for funding support.

About OPDP:

The Ogiek Peoples’ Development Program (OPDP) was founded in 1999, and registered as a Non-Governmental Organization (NGO) in 2001 by the Kenyan government. OPDP is dedicated to serving the interests of the Ogiek people of Kenya, who are the indigenous inhabitants of Kenya’s last remaining rain forest, the Mau Forest and Mt.Elgon Forest. Key issues that the Ogiek face include marginalization amongst ethnic communities in Kenya, loss of culture and group identity, forced evictions, violence against women, land grabbing, environmental degradation, and ongoing economic, social and cultural violations. The Ogiek currently are litigating their rights at the African Court of Human and Peoples Rights, only the second case to be referred from the African Commission to the African Court. OPDP works with networks of indigenous advocates and human rights defenders across Kenya, Africa, and the globe to raise awareness of Ogiek issues and to bring real benefits to the Ogiek people. You can learn more about the Ogiek at www.ogiek.org and www.ogiekpeoples.org.

Intern Duties

1. Human Rights and Indigenous Peoples

• Assist with human rights monitoring and documentation projects related to the rights of indigenous peoples
• Writing and editing human rights reports, advocacy briefs, and other publications
• International human rights research
• Research on Kenyan and African regional human rights standards
• Develop on-line content
• Participate in other projects as assigned by the Executive Director  or  Programmes Officer

2. Website  designer and  developer

• Assist in reviewing our current website
• Work closely with our administrator in uploading documents to the website
• Develop an E-newsletter
• Develop a portal for OPDP by working closely with OPDP  administrator to ensure future continuity
• Participate in other projects as assigned by the Executive Director  or  Programmes Officer

Note

An intern who has both the experience will have an added advantage. OPDP will provide accommodation for the period of internship, which does not include food. We will also provide transport when going to the field as per OPDP policies.

Duration:

Interns must commit to a minimum of eight weeks commitment to work with OPDP.

Application:

Send a cover letter and resume or CV to OPDP, via opdp2001@yahoo.com or opdp@ogiekpeoples.org. Please describe why you are interested in working with an indigenous peoples’ organization in Africa, your experience in human rights work, how you will fund your expenses during the internship period, as well as any other relevant information to help us evaluate your application. 

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Siu Community Petition on Lamu Land

The Siu community in Lamu, Kenya, have taken the step of developing and signing a petition, presented to the Kenyan National Assembly on 21 June 2012, on the irregular allocation of land in Lamu. 

The petition, signed by 294 members of the Lamu community states: 

"We, the undersigned citizens of Kenya who are residents of Siu Town in Lamu and squatters, draw the attention of the House to the following: 

That aware that a committee with a membership of seven people was established in Lamu; whereas the committee was created to facilitate land re-settlement of all landless people in the area, on the contrary, the committee has allocated most of the land to members themselves, their family members, relatives and friends as well as foreigners at the expense of more than 300 residents who are landless; 

whereas the committee was to facilitate the landless to be resettled, there has emerged an agency operating for rich people from Lamu and other areas willing to buy land from the region at some fee;

whereas the land from Kwang’ombe Area which is within Siu Location was allocated to Rasini residents of Faza Locations and such complaints were made to the office concerned, but nothing has been done to date. 

Therefore, your humble petitioners pray that Parliament and the Committee concerned, investigates the matter with a view to establishing genuine squatters and issuance of title deeds in an equitable manner to the residents and cancellation of all title deeds which have been irregularly issued and your petitioners will ever pray." 

Submission of the petition encouraged discussion within the Assembly, with recognition by members that the people of Lamu need protection from land speculators.

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Save Lamu Holds Stakeholder Meetings

On 25 and 27 April 2012, Natural Justice partner Save Lamu held two stakeholder meetings for Lamu County’s two districts: Lamu West and Lamu East. The meetings were designed to facilitate dialogue among community members, civil servants, and other organizations and individuals involved in and affected by the Lamu Area Port South Sudan-Ethiopia Transit corridor (LAPSSET) project. Over thirty stakeholders attended the 25 April meeting for Lamu West, including the District Commissioner and local chiefs. They listened to the community’s concerns and heard their demands, which included sharing of information by the government, preparation of an environmental and social impact statement, and investigating and addressing land rights violations. As the Chairman of the Lamu Council of Elders stated, the community “is informed, but never consulted.” Importantly, the District Commissioner acknowledged that an environmental impact assessment needs to be prepared for the entire LAPSSET project (as opposed to different phases of the project in piecemeal fashion) and that land rights are an important issue that needs to be dealt with. He committed to engaging with the community as plans for the port develop. 

The 27 April meeting for Lamu East took place in Faza, on Pate Island, and was attended by over fifty stakeholders, including community members, chiefs and religious leaders. Members of Save Lamu provided information on Save Lamu’s activities and goals. They shared assessments of positive and negative impacts of the port that had been prepared by community members during meetings held the previous month. Additionally, the Faza meeting allowed community members from Lamu East to learn about Save Lamu’s objectives, express their concerns regarding the port, and to raise issues with chiefs in attendance. With the 25 and 27 April meetings, Save Lamu took further steps toward ensuring that the community’s voice is heard in the development of the LAPSSET project. 

Save Lamu is a member of the African BCP Initiative, coordinated jointly by Natural Justice, CIKOD, Compas ED and the ABS Capacity Development Initiative for Africa.

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Save Lamu Hosts Community Meeting to Discuss BCP

For three days beginning 20 March 2012, at a meeting facilitated by Save Lamu, community members representing stakeholders from around the Lamu region gathered in Lamu Town on Kenya’s coast to continue developing the community’s biocultural community protocol (BCP). Dividing into six groups based on Lamu’s major nature-based livelihoods—fisherfolk, farmers, hunter-gatherers, mangrove cutters, pastoralists, and other-nature-based livelihoods—participants mapped the location and identity of the natural resources used by those livelihoods. Participants provided information regarding their use and conservation of Lamu’s natural resources, discussed the positive and negative impacts of the planned port, and proposed mitigating measures to address potential impacts. 

Other issues addressed included improving communication among community members and dealing with the misconception that Save Lamu is against the port when in fact its major concern is the lack of community participation in the planning of the port. Additionally, participants developed a vision statement encapsulating the community’s goals and aspirations, which will help to guide the development of Lamu’s BCP going forward.

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Presenting BCPs in the Mau Forest

With a long history of exclusion from their traditional homes and increasing pressures on land tenure from politically connected outsiders, the Ogiek community is engaging in domestic and international legal action to protect their rights. The Ogiek Peoples' Development Program (OPDP), a key organisation in this process, suggested that Natural Justice could assist in supporting the Ogiek to establish their rights over their lands and resources. OPDP and Natural Justice agreed that one mechanism to help consolidate community sentiment around land and conservation and supplement the pending court cases could be a Biocultural Community Protocol (BCP).

On 2nd December, Natural Justice travelled to meet with over 50 elders and other representatives of the Ogiek community of the Mau Forest, near Nakuru, Kenya, to explain the principles of BCPs and ascertain if the community was interested in pursuing a BCP. At the meeting Natural Justice presented on the process of developing a BCP, focusing on the importance of engaging the broadest possible section of the community through all stages of the BCP development.

After this presentation community members asked questions about the practical steps needed to establish a BCP. They offered suggestions on how to ensure full participation. The attendees unanimously endorsed OPDP's suggestion that a BCP process should be initiated.

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